Replying to a topic on "What if you felt the in-game pain your character suffered from?", it got me thinking; where is gaming going? As far as current trends go, we're going down the motion controls and 3D paths. This in itself raises some questions; will we progress from these onto newer technology, or are these dead ends?
Before I go onto where gaming could end up, I quickly want to cover what gaming is already doing.
The Present
1. Motion controls
Motion controls follow the basic principle of "you move, the character in the game moves". In theory, this should greatly increase the immersion factor of the game. "I point my controller at his head, that's where the cursor goes, no stuffing around with analogue sticks!" In theory anyway.
The truth of the matter is a little less cheery however. The Wii has shown that tracking tech isn't always 1:1. The PS Move has shown that even with the tech, it's down to the skill of the developer to make it responsive and your actions carry out on-screen. The Kinect I can't really comment on, aside from the fact that the lack of a physical controller is a negative point for many gamers.
2. 3D
Having never experienced it myself (in a gaming setting), I can't really comment from personal experience. However, from impressions and reviews I have read, it definitely ups the immersion, and in games where judging distance is important (e.g. racing games). However, with these positive points come plenty of negatives. The glasses are clunky, the glasses-free tech is more expensive and lower in quality, and a portion of the population can't even see the 3D effect.
The Future
Now, onto the future. Where is gaming going? Eventually I'm sure most of us would like to see games where we plug directly into the game, Matrix-style. Our brain sends signals for our body to move, which are picked up by whatever device we connect to and sent to the game, the process being reversed so the game tells our eyes what we see. Playing online, we could even get a lesser degree of pain, highly scaled down of course.
This would preferably be the pinnacle of gaming immersion. The hardware and software required for all this would take a very long time to develop, but eventually we could see this as the way we play games. However, a lot of ethical issues come into play here.
1. How does one differentiate from game and real life when the former is as convincing as the latter? That whole idea of games impressing the wrong sort of ideas on kids would be brought to a whole new level. Do games only get sold to adults, regardless of content? Should gamers have to take psyche tests to make sure they can deal with the content in said games?
2. How are hackers dealt with? Playing online, how can gamers know they are safe? With the game being literally connected to the player's brain, how can gamers be sure that the server doesn't contain a virus which could send the wrong message to the brain and potentially even kill the player?
3. What is considered acceptable game content? Although games with cartoony aesthetics won't have this problem to the same degree, the content in realistic games could very quickly border on Adult Only content. Blasting someone in the face with a shotgun in an online match would be a very messy affair, especially considering, at this hypothetical stage, it would be indistinguishable from real life.
My rant is running out of steam, so I'll end it here. These points surmise the thoughts I've been having lately. Try not to nitpick every little detail, I was ranting so no doubt I've either expressed something in the wrong way or with the wrong words.
Discussion: What do you think will happen to gaming in the future? Where do you think it will go? Do you agree with the direction gaming is going with currently?
Before I go onto where gaming could end up, I quickly want to cover what gaming is already doing.
The Present
1. Motion controls
Motion controls follow the basic principle of "you move, the character in the game moves". In theory, this should greatly increase the immersion factor of the game. "I point my controller at his head, that's where the cursor goes, no stuffing around with analogue sticks!" In theory anyway.
The truth of the matter is a little less cheery however. The Wii has shown that tracking tech isn't always 1:1. The PS Move has shown that even with the tech, it's down to the skill of the developer to make it responsive and your actions carry out on-screen. The Kinect I can't really comment on, aside from the fact that the lack of a physical controller is a negative point for many gamers.
2. 3D
Having never experienced it myself (in a gaming setting), I can't really comment from personal experience. However, from impressions and reviews I have read, it definitely ups the immersion, and in games where judging distance is important (e.g. racing games). However, with these positive points come plenty of negatives. The glasses are clunky, the glasses-free tech is more expensive and lower in quality, and a portion of the population can't even see the 3D effect.
The Future
Now, onto the future. Where is gaming going? Eventually I'm sure most of us would like to see games where we plug directly into the game, Matrix-style. Our brain sends signals for our body to move, which are picked up by whatever device we connect to and sent to the game, the process being reversed so the game tells our eyes what we see. Playing online, we could even get a lesser degree of pain, highly scaled down of course.
This would preferably be the pinnacle of gaming immersion. The hardware and software required for all this would take a very long time to develop, but eventually we could see this as the way we play games. However, a lot of ethical issues come into play here.
1. How does one differentiate from game and real life when the former is as convincing as the latter? That whole idea of games impressing the wrong sort of ideas on kids would be brought to a whole new level. Do games only get sold to adults, regardless of content? Should gamers have to take psyche tests to make sure they can deal with the content in said games?
2. How are hackers dealt with? Playing online, how can gamers know they are safe? With the game being literally connected to the player's brain, how can gamers be sure that the server doesn't contain a virus which could send the wrong message to the brain and potentially even kill the player?
3. What is considered acceptable game content? Although games with cartoony aesthetics won't have this problem to the same degree, the content in realistic games could very quickly border on Adult Only content. Blasting someone in the face with a shotgun in an online match would be a very messy affair, especially considering, at this hypothetical stage, it would be indistinguishable from real life.
My rant is running out of steam, so I'll end it here. These points surmise the thoughts I've been having lately. Try not to nitpick every little detail, I was ranting so no doubt I've either expressed something in the wrong way or with the wrong words.
Discussion: What do you think will happen to gaming in the future? Where do you think it will go? Do you agree with the direction gaming is going with currently?
