9 Video Game Innovations That Happened Earlier Than You Think
Thought Gears of War had an original cover system? Think again.
As one of the most creative and constantly forward-thinking entertainment mediums on the planet, video games and innovation go hand in hand.
Largely, it stems from games themselves sitting in the venn diagram between "tech product" and "piece of art". And it's not to say those can't be the same thing, but as games went from 2D blips n' bloops to gorgeous motion-captured stories presented in 4K resolutions, the technology to literally tell stories has been moulded and crafted alongside the medium itself.
That's led to the very idea of what a video game "is" changing on the fly - a conversation that spiked at the advent of "walking simulators" like Gone Home and Firewatch circa 2013 onwards, and that continues into the monetisation side of things, with free-to-play live services clashing with narrative and character development.
It's a fascinating time to be a video game fan, but looking back, many of the industry's milestones were actually hit before those who dominated the spotlight set their reputations in stone.