Editor Chris "Pwyff" Tom checked out the game developers conference taking place just a few days ago in Vancouver, BC

The consensus among most developers seems to be that the social gaming movement must adapt or be left behind. With more traditional video game development, social gaming represents a high degree of community and connectivity, as well as lasting persistency that offline games tend to lack. Companies have responded to this by creating brands more than anything, by focusing on drawing out the revenue they generate through a wide variety of things. These days, it's not uncommon for companies to shorten their offline game, opting to focus on creating a more comprehensive online play so that they can then release downloadable content packs (like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, or Dragon Age: Origins) and continue to generate sales.

In this way, while many triple-A titles may not seem like they're becoming more "Farmville-esque," fundamentally, they really are. With less time spent in single player modes, and more time spent online, players are now interacting with their communities. One of the big reasons why Farmville remains so popular, even if there are farm games that are much better, is because Zynga Games focuses on creating brand loyalty. In this way, by enmeshing players within their community, most users don't move from Farmville simply because they develop more brand loyalty the longer they stay connected within their community, and many console games are attempting this style of community-focused gaming.

Similarly, MMORPGs have also been hugely affected by industry shifts, like World of Warcraft's newfound focus on "casual gaming," and the mentality to constantly reward their players. In this way, MMOs like Final Fantasy XI or Aion have had to make significant changes to their original product in order to accommodate to their market demands. One remarkable statement made by Kelly Zmak, the former President of Radical Entertainment (creators of Prototype) was that developers make the mistake in assuming that, when they develop a game, the industry will simply stand still. If, for example, Aion had begun development sometime in 2006 or 2007, the MMORPG industry was still getting used to the idea of daily quests and more "casual" gaming. With Aion's release in 2009, however, players were ravenous for easy leveling curves and accelerated progression, and it seems to have taken NCsoft by surprise by just how different the industry was in comparison to a few years back.

Ultimately, GDC Canada was really about sharing information about staying competitive and adaptive within the video game industry, and this lesson can be applied to all forms of game development. Social viral gaming will ultimately need to evolve beyond its simple frame, much like how MMORPGs will, one day, evolve from their own industry standards. We've already seen some attempts, like Darkfall Online's free-aiming combat, Borderlands' unique combination of FPS technology with RPG progression elements, or even Turbine's combination of social communities with online gaming. In the end, it's kind of interesting to see that social games are struggling to add depth, console games are struggling to add online communities, and MMORPGs are struggling to appeal to their casual audiences. Perhaps in the distant future, all three industries will meet at a final destination, and we'll just end up with a console-based Farmville-esque MMORPG, complete with daily crop gathering quests and hardcore farming raids. Wouldn't that be fun?