James GordanDevelopers of dedicated fishing games and angling mini-games within larger offerings have traditionally focused on making the pastime seem as realistic as possible. Many titles have done an excellent job at making players feel as though they are casting a line and battling to hook a catch, and this explains why the genre is so popular.
Fishing is expected to be a huge genre for virtual reality, but there is a chance that the games could branch in two directions, with realistic games splintering off on their own. The popularity of unrealistic fishing slots suggests that these fantasy offerings could also have a place in VR.
Slots Show that not all Players Seek Realism
When online slot players play Fishin’ Frenzy, they are clearly not seeking a title that’s going to make them feel like they’re sitting by a lake. The offering from Blueprint Gaming uses colourful and cartoony imagery on the reels, with the developer going for a carefree and fun theme that takes players away to an underwater fantasy world.
The title was released in 2014 and remained one of the standout lures in slots lists, underlining how much of a hook this game is to pull players in. When glancing through other fish-based games in slots lists, you’d be hard pushed to find a title that tries to replicate the real-life experience. Instead, there are other games like Big Bass Bonanza that also offer a less serious atmosphere.
Virtual Reality Expected to Create Real Fishing Experiences
Part of the appeal of VR is the fact that it will be able to offer people realistic experiences that they may not have been able to find before. For instance, people will be able to travel to any great landmark on the planet, learn to fly a plane or ride on any of the world’s rollercoasters. As console games become even more immersive and realistic, it seems natural that the next step will be for players to enter these pixilated landscapes through VR and struggle to notice the difference between them and the real world.
There are already a few fishing simulators for VR, including Real VR Fishing and Ultimate Fishing Simulator VR, and these have been lauded for the way they manage to capture the authentic sensation of angling. Games like these are only going to get more advanced as technology progresses.
Aside from these state-of-the-art offerings, there is likely to be a subgenre of VR fishing games for people who want something more fantastical when playing. Some gamers won’t want the realism, and they’ll instead go in search of brightly coloured imaginary titles more reminiscent of Fishin’ Frenzy. They’ll want to have a chance to catch magical prey that couldn’t possibly exist within a true-to-life offering.
With VR not quite in the mainstream yet, it’s hard to say what the most popular games will look like. It would be a safe bet to predict that developers will seek to replicate real-world things, but there could also be a branch of more dreamy offerings. In the fishing genre, this seems highly likely.
Simon Leonard