The Future of Computer Gaming

The future of video games lies not only in advanced graphics technologies and powerful computer engines, but also in innovative gameplay and online community interaction. Gamers today are just as interested in original, exciting game designs as they are in the latest, most impressive graphics and franchise sequels.

Nearly all video games today are built with a multiplayer, online component. Game genres such as the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) can only be played with others through a high-speed Internet connection. Video games can no longer be thought of as private, one-player adventures. Instead, the world of video games today can be described as one where gamers from all over meet to have fun, compete, and make friends.

In fact, video games have become such a popular, global phenomenon that they can even be found outside of your local arcade or your home console or PC. The world of mobile gaming allows people to play video games on the go simply by downloading the latest titles to their mobile phones. Playing video games through your Internet Web browser without having to download any software at all, known as Web-based gaming, has a bright, exciting future in the video game industry as well.

With the industry growing exponentially every day and in new and exciting directions, now more than ever is the perfect time to be thinking about a career in computer gaming.

How to Prepare for a Career in Computer Gaming

Every person working today in the video game industry started with a passion for video games. Becoming familiar with the different genres of video games, focusing your attention on what elements of the video game production process interest you, and envisioning the types of games you would like to one day create are all excellent ways to prepare for a career in computer gaming.

With more powerful technology and greater means of storing video game data comes more room to focus on story. After all, video games at their essence are interactive stories that allow a gamer to enter a world he or she wouldn't normally visit and to do things he or she wouldn't normally do. Reading books is an important way to learn the mechanics of storytelling and to find inspiration for stories of your own. What types of stories excite you? What types of stories do you think would lend themselves best to a video game?

Finally, by understanding the different people and the technologies involved in creating your favorite video games, you'll begin to see video games as more than just a disc you pop into your home console or a piece of software you download onto your computer. You'll see them as a creative industry in which you might be able to one day create the game of your dreams.