As an avid gamer across multiple generations, I‘ve noticed certain cyclical patterns in gaming culture and mechanics that closely mirror the "four turnings" generational theory proposed by historians William Strauss and Neil Howe.
Just as the Fourth Turning crisis transforms society every 80-100 years, gaming too reinvents itself each generation through shifts in technology, graphics, game mechanics and even toxicity in the community. By mapping gaming eras onto the four turnings model, we can gain insight into where games and society overall are heading next.
The Cyclical Nature of Gaming
Popular game franchises follow a predictable cycle of decay and renewal timed to generational shifts. Series like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy reinvent themselves to appeal to the Archetype coming of age, while retaining brand familiarity.
Gaming Generations
| Era | Turning | Game Tech | Archetype | Popular Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8-bit | High | 2D sprites, MIDI music | Artist | Super Mario Bros, Tetris |
| 16-bit | Awakening | Bit graphics, CD audio | Prophet | Sonic, Final Fantasy VI |
| 3D | Unraveling | 3D polygon worlds | Nomad | Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid |
| Online | Crisis | Persistent worlds, F2P | Hero | World of Warcraft, Fortnite |
Analyzing this timeline, we can predict the next crisis will give rise to blockchain-based gaming metaverses to satiate the passionate community-builders of Generation Alpha.
Game mechanics also follow cyclical patterns. The 2020s gaming era distills previous generations while innovating on revenue models, combat complexity and open worlds. Franchise reboots like God of War (2018) epitomize how the cyclical nature of turns mandates reinventing classics to satisfy the current Archetype.
Annual US Video Game Revenue Over Time
The above sales data vividly illustrates the cyclical nature of the gaming industry over time as technology enables successive turnings. Periodic turnover of console generations leads to volatility tailored to Archetypes.
Gaming as the Consummate Unraveling Experience
As a gamer, I resonate with the Fourth Turning‘s description of our current Unraveling era of amplifying toxicity and individuation. Gaming in many ways epitomizes the cultural mood of recent decades with its isolationism, hostility and widget-like dopamine hits.
Multiplayer games confront us with all the polarized disunity of an era whose social fabric is unravelling. Surveys indicate 75% of gamers have witnessed abusive behavior and only 8% think gamers are inclusive.
| Percentage of Gamers | Experienced Abuse | Think Gaming is Inclusive |
|---|---|---|
| 75% | Witnessed Toxicity | 8% |
This data mirrors surveys showing society’s soaring disillusionment with institutions and lack of community bonding. Episodes like Gamergate perfectly encapsulate the growing atomization and hostility characteristic of our current crisis turning.
Having grown up gaming through decades of widening inequality and cultural fragmentation, Millennial and Gen Z gamers are well equipped as the Hero archetype to instill order through bold reforms.
Gaming Innovations that Could Shape the New High
As Strauss and Howe’s four turnings model predicts, today’s crisis period will give way to a prosperous new High around 2030 anchored around the values of the Hero generation. Gamers will play a key role in driving positive transformation.
Blockchain integration with virtual worlds represents a hugely disruptive Crisis innovation. The resulting decentralized gaming metaverses could fulfill Millennial gamers’ communal and creative ethos while incentivizing real-world social capital building.
Similarly, currents trends like crowdsourced development and play-to-earn gaming offer signals of this generation’s community-first orientation. The Hero archetype’s spirit of cooperation and heroic imagination will permeate gaming’s new High era.
Exciting immersive technologies like VR and neural laces will make the 2050s gaming golden age feel as far removed from today’s polarizing titles as Pong feels to us now. Yet the cyclical forces described by the Fourth Turning theory suggest future gamers will inhabit analogous generational archetypes despite the altered tech.
Conclusion: Cyclical Turns Recur Throughout Games
The “Fourth Turning” provides a compelling model for not just societal change but also the underlying rhythms of gaming. Mapping gaming generations onto the four turnings reveals enlightening historical patterns in game technology, mechanics and community. Today’s unravelling toxicity and inequality sets the stage for Millennial gamers as the Hero archetype to spearhead radical reforms ushering a prosperous new High era. If cyclical history holds true, blockchain virtual worlds could anchor the next saeculum. By illuminating turnings across eras, we better understand where games and civilization transverse next in their endless cycles of decay and renewal.