The world wide web has brought about so much change into the world. Internet-based technology is helping advances in medicine and finance. It is also granting students far better access to information and resources; helping them with their studies and their theses. The web is also instrumental in the development of all forms of entertainment.
We often disregard the incredible strides we’ve made in entertainment as unimpressive. The reason is that many view entertainment as a negligible aspect of the human experience. But fun is integral to our lives. Most people use entertainment to cope with stress. Film and music bring joy to customers when they need it most. That is why it is key to study different forms of entertainment.
Greater Access to Entertainment
The most impressive part about entertainment in the new era is just how accessible it is. The internet is a hub of free entertainment from different mediums. There are free to play online games that are keeping the retro gaming scene alive. Anyone can easily find versions of Tetris or even Super Mario Bros games if they just do some light Googling. But traditional video games are not the only sort of gaming available online.
The world wide web is also home to plenty of online casinos; which grant their users quick and easy access to all the classic gambling games. It is fair to say that Casino Days is the best online casino for Canadian players. The website hosts live versions of blackjack and roulette, along with a slew of other casino games that players may enjoy. There are also countless slot games that new fans might be keen on experiencing.
Available media online goes beyond gaming in general. The internet can lead you to incredible forms of art from most mediums. Independent filmmakers have put their products on YouTube for free; giving new players a chance to experience the joy and hard work that comes from filming on a budget. YouTube hosts music from the most popular to the most underground artists you can hope to find. Even TV has changed due to the emergence of streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
A New Era of Entertainment
The digital world has not just worked as a revolutionary force in existing entertainment. The internet has helped to usher in a new form of independent entertainment in the form of online content. It is safe to say that it all began with YouTube in the early 2000s. The video-sharing platform was a hub for funny cat videos and short comedic content for a while. That is until James Rolfe released his first ever episode of The Angry Nintendo Nerd.
The series had Rolfe dressed in traditionally “nerdy” attire raging out because of how bad Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is. We can’t say whether the creator expected the video to become a hit. But it is certainly fair to say that it was one of the first to put YouTube on the map. The ANN would later change his name and series to the Angry Video Game Nerd and quickly become a household name. It is not inaccurate to say that the AVGN was the first YouTuber and paved the way for an entire genre.
YouTube’s success would inspire other web developers to come up with their own video-sharing platforms. It is how we got sites like Twitch and Tik Tok. Tik Tok’s focus is on shorter content that fans can consume on the go. It is also instrumental in the music world; having launched the careers of many indie artists. The platform also follows the top songs charts and keeps fans up to date on the topic. Twitch focuses on longer livestreams and fan interaction. Both websites have found incredible success in the realm of online entertainment.
Technologies Evolve Along with Entertainment
Digital technology is changing at a rapid pace. Its development is why many of us are so impressed by new releases in music and cinema. Graphics in films look far better on average today than they did at any point during our history. This change would not be possible without the rapid advance of digital tech since the release of that very first Jurassic Park film in 1993.
Some technologies evolve so fast that people don’t have the time to keep up. Virtual reality is a relatively new development in entertainment. Few were left impressed by the first VR games that released. The VR games from the late 2010s were unpolished and poorly produced. The premature release of the technology soured many people’s opinions on virtual reality entertainment. But we are seeing positive developments in the industry. Many seem excited about the release of Deadpool VR. The tech is also being used by museums for virtual tours; which is quite an impressive development.
We can’t talk about digital technology without bringing up artificial intelligence. The problems with generative AI have been addressed by multiple professionals and creators. The technology is not at a stage where it can be accurately called truly AI. The environmental consequences have also been talked about multiple times. But generative AI is not the only form of machine learning available today. There are ways that entertainment professionals can use the new technology to improve the user experience without relying on plagiarism and harming the world around us.
The Digital Future
Online entertainment is likely going to be a big aspect of the future that we are heading towards. YouTube is growing as a platform with each of the top YouTubers today dwarfing the amount of subscribers and fans that their predecessors brought to the table. Getting a million views on a video is not just easier than ever; it is also not as impressive today as it once was. The reason is simply because there are so many more fans on the website now than there were in the early 2000s. Digital technology has not only changed the entertainment we consumed; it has brought about new forms of entertainment that are going to shape the future.