Summary
After making their first forays into true 3D, the era of experimentation seen in ’90s video games gave way to the suited-up, polished, HD-ready 2000s. Console developers began mastering and refining the work that had started in the 32- and 64-bit era, weening themselves off simple collect-a-thons and platformers and moving into more mature and realistic territories. Meanwhile, while PC games had seen a surge in the decade prior, gamers broadly turned away from all but a few mouse and keyboard classics.
The 2000s was a time when video games were beginning to be taken more seriously in the cultural realm, before AAA publishers began heapingunfathomably risky amounts of capitalon their investments, and before the indie scene made it to the big-time. While video games had its share of controversies in the 2000s, this was a time when games opened players up to social play (both in person and online), became more artful and thought-provoking in design, and cultivated a wider public appeal.
Massively Multiplayer Online Games
World Of Warcraft And The Would-Be-WoW Killers
The 2000s saw a rise in console popularity, but one genre of video games stood fast on the PC platform: massively multiplayer online role-playing games, and one, in particular, stood above the rest:World of Warcraft. While local multiplayer was a big hit in just about every teen’s bedroom thanks to stellar PVP shooters likeHalo, hundreds of thousands ofWoWplayers were tearing it up in the realm of Azeroth, while stepdads everywhere were undoubtedly tearing their hair out or tearing up credit cards and wondering what on Earth a six-month subscription to a company called “Blizzard” could be.
Games likeUltima Online,RuneScape, Asheron’s Call, andEverQuestbuilt the stage for a willing MMORPG audience, butWoWtruly captivated it. Hanging out with online friends in guilds and exploring the entirely loading-screen-free continents would take up entire weekends and vacations-worth of time. Of course, there wereplenty of challengers toWoW’s supremacy, includingGuild Wars,Warhammer Online, andAion, but despite their valiant efforts, none could topple the king.
Instrumental Rhythm Games
Plastic Guitars, Donkey Kong Bongos, And Buttoned Frets
Rhythm games had been around before the 2000s but focused more on the player following a beat, for example, 1996’sPaRappa the Rapper. But by 2005, thanks toGuitar Hero,gamers were able to live out their fantasy of jamming as a rockstar in front of their friends, neighbors, and grandparents by holding plastic guitar-shaped controllers and following the notes and riffs on-screen. Japanese studios had been capitalizing on the popularity of karaoke for years before this with games likeFrequency,Amplitude, and, of course,Dance Dance Revolution.
Nintendo commissioned their own spin on theTaiko no Tatsujin(Master of Drums) series withDonkey Konga, which allowed players to input Nintendo-themed beats with special “DK Bongos.” With the success ofGuitar Heroand other studios looking to break in, the next logical step was getting a whole band together, and theRockbandseries was born, which allowed a group to play tracks with various instruments. No nerdy college experience or kids' birthday party in the 2000s was complete without at least one sloppy rendition of “Painkiller” onRock Band 2.The format died away at the end of the decade due to an economic crash, but there has beena resurgence of rhythm games since. However, few of them involve plastic instruments.
Real-Time Strategy / Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
How A Modded Game Mode Became An International Esport Phenomenon
While the 2000s saw consoles step into center stage, PC gaming wasn’t completely out of the picture. The accuracy and depth afforded by a mouse and keyboard weren’t something that joysticks and trigger buttons could replace, and pixel-click accuracy and hotkeys were essential when it came to real-time strategy (RTS) games. The genre had its roots firmly planted in the ’90s with classics likeCommand & Conquer,StarCraft, andWarcraft. UsingWarcraft 3’s"world editor," mods began building the groundwork for what would later be known as the “Multiplayer Online Battle Arena” (MOBA).
The MOBA differentiated itself from the RTS genre by focusing on individual units rather than armies and emphasizing tactics over how fast players could smash clicks out of their mice. One modder named Eul took inspiration from a custom map created inStarCraft’s map editor calledAeon of Strife, making it his own and naming it “Defense of the Ancients.” A string of other modders built on the concept over the decade, and by the end,DotAsaw millions of players at its peak. Developers sought to createtheir own non-WarcraftlicensedDotA, and by the late 2000s, gamers had their pick of games likeLeague of Legends,Heroes of Newerth, andDemigod.
Life Simulation Games
A Virtual Dollhouse That Everyone Can Enjoy
Due to a boardroom meeting in the 80s that prompted marketing teams to advertise exclusively to young men, half of the population’s gaming appetite was going unfed. That is untilThe Simsseries came along and filled the food meter of this unserved demographic back to green. InThe Sims,players take care of AI families in an idyllic suburb and watch their lives play out as they see fit, choosing to intervene or not to help or hinder them.
Despite the skepticism of the publishers during its development, who also struggled to understand the appeal of its open-ended gameplay, slice-of-life subject material, and lack of goals,The Simswent on to appeal to PC players of every gender and age.The Simswent on to sell several expansion packs and sequels, making it one of the best-selling computer games of all time.Although there have been copycats, no other game managed to capture a fraction of the audience.
Zombie Games
Feeding The Consumer’s Great Hunger For The Living Dead
While the zombie survival horror genre was popular with gamers (especially in Japan) in the 1990s, the zombie fad was hard to escape in 2000s pop culture, thanks to the success of films like28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, as well as the film adaptations of a popular zombie horror PlayStation series of the “residential” and “evil” variety. The video game series itself was still going strong, withResident Evil 4having been released on the GameCube to critical acclaim.
Fresh new franchises from East to West, such asDead RisingandLeft 4 Dead, made the outbreak international. Something about the collapse of society brought on by a killable, mindless, violent mob of corpses appealed to the average movie watcher and video game player alike. The genre had such a powerful impact on audiences that it lasted well intothe next decade of gaming, inspiring games likeThe Last of UsandDying Light.
Exercise & Party Games
Bringing Video Games Back Into The Living Room
Just as they had done in the decades before, Nintendo dominated the video game scene in the 2000s, but in a totally unexpected fashion that threw off many long-timeZeldaandMariofans. The Wii was designed to appeal to consumers of all genders and ages, and family-friendly games that utilized motion controller inputs likeWii SportsandWii Fitbecame standard living room entertainment staples.
The Wii’s controller resembled a television remote, which likely disarmed non-gamers who never developed the hand-eye coordination required to use a regular game controller. The bright, poppy aesthetic of the Wii’s menus and UI squarely placed Nintendo into thesocial, family-friendly category(or “casual” category, depending on the gamer), allowing Nintendo to shift as many boxes as its rivals despite the lesser power of the hardware.
