HTML5 Game Development
   
  • HOME
  • News
  • Tutorials
  • Engines
  • Demos
  • Tools
  • Partners
  • Mobile HTML Game
  • Guess The Celebrity
  • About us

HTML5 Gaming: The sound of inevitability

There’s a scene in the original Matrix near the end where one of the Agents is holding Neo in front of a train and says: “Do you hear that sound Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability.”

With the cacophony of discussion of whether HTML5 is ready or not as a gaming platform, that phrase always pops into my mind (Let’s ignore, for the sake of the bad metaphor, that the Agent was wrong)

2012 will most likely be a gap year in HTML5 gaming. It’s not there yet, primarily because on mobile, HTML5’s sweet spot, the platform is still underpowered for games. But I’d guess that at some point late during the year, when hardware accelerated canvas has reached a crucial level of market penetration, there’s going to be a game that captivates the masses that could only have been written in HTML5. Much like the shot in the arm of Indie developers everywhere that MineCraft gave, this game will do the same.

But that is actually beside the point. It doesn’t matter if there is never a game that does that. The die have been cast and the tea leaves have been read. The reason for the inevitable sucess of HTML5 gaming over competing platforms is access. Everyone in the world with an electronic device has access to a HTML5 Game development environment (the Browser) with a full debugger (Dev Tools, Firebug) already installed on their Desktop. Throw in a text editor and you have a world-class IDE.

A discussion I had with some colleagues at a meetup recently drove this point home. Every one of them had gotten into programming by developing games. Out of 5 people in the conversation, every single one had the same story.

The next generation of programmers (and game programmers) are already weaning themselves on the most accessible programming environment at their disposal: JavaScript. Online courses like Codecademy teach JavaScript because there’s an interpretor already built into every browser. Programmers in training aren’t going to buy a $500 program (Flash) or download gigabytes of IDEs (Visual Studio, XCode) to learn a development environment that’s more difficult with less instant gratification unless they have to.

As soon as HTML5 Gaming as platform is “Good Enough” for whatever it is you want to build (which it is dangerously close to being,) the battle is going to be over. Look at the success of JavaScript versus all the alternatives that have come and gone. Simplicity and availability win the day.

When that next generation starts building indie games and starts entering the workforce, they are going to come pre-packaged as HTML5 Game Developers and have their say on the next generation of games being developed.

It may be in a year or so or it may be a few, but it’s a train that’s a coming.

Share List

You might also find this interesting:


  1. Google working on a unified gaming platform Google is working on a unified gaming platform aiming to unify it’s various gaming initiatives under a single umbrella of Google Games. So says google project manager Punit Soni: By...

  2. HTML5 Gaming 2011 and 2012 Justin Siegal , the CEO of Boston based mobile social network MocoSpace was written an article on forbes titled The 10 Most Important Events In Mobile Gaming In 2011. Regarding...

  3. HTML5 Gaming – what are we talking about? Mark from Spacemonster.co.uk has written a post titled “HTML5 Gaming – what are we talking about?” discussing the ever changing conversation from “Hey this looks like cool tech” to the...

  4. HTML5 as a gaming platform Jussi Kalliokoski has a nice post on his blog titled “HTML5 as a gaming platform” that talks about the HTML5 as a gaming platform in general, put the meat of...

  5. Study: U.S. gaming population has nearly tripled in three years Venturebeat reports: The number of people playing video games in the U.S. has risen 241 percent since 2008, according to a new study from market research and consulting company Parks...

HTML5 News

License HTML5 Games

Are you a company looking to license HTML5 games? We recommend MarketJS.com, a B2B platform for licensing games.

MarketJS has over 300 HTML5 games for licensing. They also provide additional services such as game reskin, custom development, and white label portals.

Html5 Game Development


Follow @GameDevHTML5



WHAT’S NEW

  • Unity Game Engine Pricing Fee

  • Open-source 3D Game Engine with Sketchfab Integration

  • MODD.IO Updates – Improved No Coding Required Game Engine

  • GPT3 Voting Board

  • Game Localization For Food Delivery App



NEW DEMOS

  • Creating a Mobile HTML5 RPG – Guidelines for Beginners

  • How to Use HTML5 Games To Engage Social Media Followers

  • Running HTML5 Games for Online Competitions

  • Vertical Platformer Games Using GDevelop

  • HTML5 Games for HR Technology


ENGINES

  • Unity Game Engine Pricing Fee

    Early in September 2023, Unity Technologies announced the Unity game engine pricing fee. Starting on 1 January 2024, the company will charge game developers a fee (2 tiers) for each …Read more

  • Open-source 3D Game Engine with Sketchfab Integration

    PlayCanvas, an open-source 3D game engine, has added Sketchfab integration into its latest updates. This improvement gives game developers access to Sketchfab’s high-quality 3D, AR, and VR content. To access …Read more

  • Using HTML5 Games For Corporate Events

    Using HTML5 games for corporate events is an example of transforming casual games into icebreaker activities. Pick a straightforward game and reskin it into a new game to feature the …Read more

SEARCH OUR ARCHIVES

CONNECT

rss twitter

HTML5 Game Development is proudly run by 3P Solutions Inc

GOT NEWS?

Send new engines, demos, information and tips to hello@html5gamedevelopment.com

MONTHLY MEETUP

In boston? Join us for the Monthly HTML5 Game Development meetup.

BOOKS

We're in the process of writing a few books about game development. Coming soon!

Copyright HTML5gamedevelopment.com