10 Ways Gaming Is Better (And Worse) Than Ever

3. Better & Worse - Where Are The Heroes?

Weirdly, although the industry is of course, thousands of people contributing to one entity over time, its fads do replicate the whims of an average western human.

Take the mid 80s as the "birth" of modern gaming (yes, it existed many years prior, but that's when Tetris, Mario and Zelda hit the scene, with the NES launching in North America). Those early years were dominated by cutesy characters and mascots like Mario, Crash and Sonic.

Then, in the "teenage years", gaming's faces became those of Solid Snake, Tekken's Jin Kazama, a more mature Link from Ocarina of Time. We even had the "angry hormonal phase" of God of War, Gears of War, Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto.

Now gaming is - vaguely - in its thirties. Its outgrown cutesy mascots and has no need for one batch of characters to exemplify a given company. Like many of us who grow out of such identifying factors, we're into more relatable, human stories and interactions.

There's a reason Joel & Ellie get slapped on every PlayStation highlight reel alongside Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy. The industry and its patrons have grown up... though you can't help but miss the age of heroes.