If you consider it within the broad framework of entertainment, this is an extremely important event for the gaming industry. After all, an unprecedented number of amateurs are now participating in activities that were previously in the professional domain, and vast amounts of interesting content are being created and shared freely via the internet.
From an entertainment perspective, this is a very significant matter for the gaming industry. In the past, only experts ventured into these fields, but now there's an unprecedented number of amateur enthusiasts involved, producing even more interesting and creative content, which is then shared freely through the internet.
At this point, there should be two options. One is to provide works of far higher quality using professional ideas, techniques, and financial resources — this is the route of the "Heroic Era" we've seen so far. The other method involves incorporating user-generated content into games, thereby harnessing the immense creative power of users as allies.
As IT technology continues to develop and the barriers to expression decrease, I believe that incorporating user-generated content into games is the right path. This means transitioning from the "Heroic Era," where a single player becomes the protagonist in a world fully prepared by game developers, to an era of collective portraits where many players express themselves and share their creations with everyone.
When I mentioned earlier that the protagonist isn't just one player but all the players, this is what I meant.
I think this isn't just limited to games. As IT technology advances and anyone can disseminate information, isn't society as a whole starting to notice the interesting aspects of ordinary people rather than focusing solely on the stories of special heroes? Everyone may be the same in some ways, yet different from others, showcasing individual uniqueness. And the culture born from the collective of these individuals forms a cultural mosaic.
The gaming industry has excellent conditions for fostering this cultural mosaic. Creators don't need to provide high-quality expressions to compete with users; instead, they can offer expressions that stimulate the creativity of users. They can also provide tools within games for users to engage in creative activities. Furthermore, through game consoles or PCs, online services can connect users together. And this process has already begun, albeit gradually.
For example, Second Life, an online virtual space where users can freely create objects and enjoy them together, might be a pioneer in this field. Decorating your own room or designing your own clothes in Nintendo DS games like "Animal Crossing" and sharing them with family and friends could also be considered part of this era of collective portraits. Features in Xbox 360's "Halo 3" and Wii's "Super Smash Bros. Brawl X" that allow players to create and exchange battle stages are examples of this trend.
Still, I believe that playing games online remains somewhat inaccessible, so in this sense, the arrival of the era of collective portraits might still take some time. However, I feel that this trend is slowly but surely moving forward. When the era of collective portraits truly arrives, the content generated by the collective of users will likely be something entirely new and unexpected.