One of the joys of being a gamer is listening to the ridiculous predictions that circulate at the start of the new year. Looking ahead to what 2014 has in-store for gamers, I’m not even going to go with the ridiculous, I’m simply pointing out things I see happening in the current gaming climate.

The return of virtual

With the success of the Oculus Rift 3D headset, at least from a critic and developer perspective, it seems that once again the concept of virtual reality in gaming is on the up and up. I have no doubt that the consumer version, which is touted as being affordable for gamers (and their parents) will trigger another gaming virtual reality revolution that may or may not be successful.

As we head towards increasingly immersive experiences in games, on the one hand I’m excited and on the other hand this worries me ever so slightly. Do I actually want to feel like I’m IN the game?

There’s an app for that

It seems that companion apps for pretty much every game are the order of the day. Skyrim had one (albeit unofficial but very useful when it came to maps and markers), GTA V has one, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag has one. The increase in companion apps is no doubt linked directly to our reliance on smartphone/tablet technology, but they can be incredibly useful when it comes to tracking things, and of course developers are trying to get us to interact more with their products (like we don’t do this enough?).

I have no doubt that soon every game - from Watch Dogs (although how awesome would that app be?) to the latest LEGO game - will have a free companion app to go along with it (and I’m sure microtransactions will abound).

All the small things

On the subject of microtransactions however, this is the one point that I know I’m probably incorrect on. I would LIKE to see a decrease in microtransactions and the exploitation that goes along with those. I would LIKE to say that people will stop paying $0.99 for extra lives in whatever mobile game it is that they’re playing, but sadly I think there will only be an increase in these – the ‘free’ app that we all know will simply drain money from you in other ways. If I buy an app I want to know that that’s all I’m going to spend on it.

Letting off a bit of Steam

Of course we all know that next gen is here (if not immediately in our vicinity), but what of the whole ‘Steam Box’ thing we’ve all heard so much about? People often forget about this as we are bombarded by press about the big players in the console war, but considering that many gamers are already attached to Steam through their PCs, it makes sense that they might want to keep that link and move in the direction of Valve’s prototype Steam OS.

I’m interested to see how it plays out, but I won’t make any bets as to how successful it will be.

Photo courtesy of Adriaan Louw from we-are-awesome.com.

Article first appeared in TechSmart January 2014.