Could There Ever Be A Master Video Game? An All In One Game?

[oldgamerz]

Has anyone ever thought about a video game. that you can do anything you could do in just about any other video game. (in one video game) It is a scary thought. If possible One video game that could surpass every genre in existence. and could vary well be a video game that lets  you do everything you could possible in millions of other video games. (But this don't exist yet)
9-25-2018


imagine an open world video game that is so huge you could practically do or play anything in this one game. you could in any other video game on the market. I can see this games skeleton in The Sims 3 games for PC.

imagine if that game actually let you take full control of a video game character and add a features where you can control your person or people while they actually play in a sports stadium. or control the game character while they work in the office building and see them working. The closest game on the market today as far as I seen to becoming the master game would be the sims 3 series on PC


Unfortunate for other gaming companies whoever makes that master game will put everyone else out of a job in the gaming industry

[seether]

In GTA V you can play a first person shooter, a third person shooter, a racing game and a golf game all within the same package.

[tripredacus]

There does exist a concept that is quite old... I don't know if there is an actual name for it, but it does involve the Sims. I certainly knew about the concept before the Sims came out but it existing doesn't hurt the idea. To visualize the idea in how it functions, you can think of how gameplay in Katamari games works. In Katamari, you will realise quickly that there is only one level (for the most part) in that game, and if you were to progress through the game, you can actually start at the small level and move up to the big level. In between there are different phases or layers you can progress through. To relate this to Maxis games is to add links to all of those different layers.

The original idea comes from having some game that would allow people to play any of the different layers while the unplayed layers (or if it were multiplayer, the layers played by unseen players) would still exist and everything would interact. Think about these games:
- SimCity/SimCity 2000
- SimEarth
- SimTown
- SimCopter
- Streets of SimCity
- SimAnt
- SimFarm
- The Sims

Now try to imagine a single game that includes all of those together. This is the master game idea and Maxis did somewhat attempt some compatibility between those games, especially making it so you could use SimCity 2000 maps in SimCopter and Streets of SimCity.

Current game development seems very far away from this type of thing. We still haven't seen any real attempts at hyper-real environments... by that I don't mean graphics but functionality. Despite the advancements in technology, we still have games with doors that cannot be opened and vehicles that cannot be driven. We still have games with static objects that are just there for decoration and cannot be used or interacted with in any way.

So I think the complete game is still very far away.

[oldgamerz]

If anyone is interested in playing the Sims 3 and it's many expansions make sure to download the free "Create A World Tool" from the sims 3 website also. But you may need to download one of the expansions from origin in order to get a registration code that you'll need to legally access the world creator as with creating a The Sims 3 account

This game is a flop in my opinion unless you build with the CAW tool

[marvelvscapcom2]

As a kid I always used to think of a game that was basically planet earth morphed into a digital matrix.  I invisioned this infared containment facility that documented every micro movement, and put you in this virtual reality matrix and it'd essentially be planet earth.  Everything you can do in real life.  Same houses, landscapes.  Like traveling into a alternate universe.  An exact photo copy of your world.  Except as a digital matrix.  And of course in the game you could do whatever you wanted with no reprocussios that you'd have in real life.  It'd basically be a GTA V but with photo realism and first person with your headset.   You could ask out your crush infinitely and work on which method didn't get rejected .   It'd be so complex that I assume it's theoretically impossible.  But as a kid I tried inventing it and failed.


Compilation games might fill that void but I doubt they'll ever become staples.  It'd be pretty hard to encompass every genre in one game.  GTA is the only game to come close but they don't have much puzzle or turn based RPG elements. 

This is a interesting discussion

[shadowzero]

Wow, you guys went way deeper than my first reaction to the question.  I like where each of you went with this but maybe we should dial it back.  I am prepared for returning fire but let me say, the one game that first came to mind....Mass Effect 2.  No  its not a master video game with a super secret death blossom maneuver but hey, it brought a lot genres together beautifully and thats what I love about it.  Gamers who would claim to NEVER play a "sci fi shooter" were suddenly immersed into a RPG action adventure. 

I saw the same thing happen with PS1 and FFVII, gamers who never had interest in an RPG where busting out knights of the round at 3am.  I think a master video game wouldn't be a multi layered virtual reality, but instead a game that transcends genres and brings both old and new audiences to what we now call, timeless classics.

[betelgeuse]

I picture this like the movie “Gamer”, where real live people are controlled in “Society”.
I can’t see this ever happening in this life time, so some type of VR game will probably be the closest thing.