Where is the future of gaming going?

Whenever I see these new games like Alien Isolation, and how intense their graphics are, as well as the story, I wonder what kind of games were going to have in the next 2 to 3 years.

I know the Oculus Rift and VR technology are really cool, but what comes after that. Full immersion? With the speed that technology grows, I'm very curious about what we gamers are going to be experiencing.

In the next 2-3 years I don't expect much to change. The only use I'm interested in for the Rift (and similar VR devices) is for games like Assetto Corsa where you could use it to look around inside your car, rather than having to surround yourself with monitors to get the same effect. Really any games where you're in a cockpit would be cool. Other than that I like the traditional controller style gaming. I hope to see more detailed worlds, smarter AI (neural networks!), higher resolutions and higher frame rates just like anyone else. I'm hoping Nvidia will keep cranking out new, better and cheaper GPUs. Full immersion is still the holy grail of VR but until there is a 'holodeck' style system I'm not really interested.

I can see many flocking to first person despite not hurt more game than they help with the release of the 3D goggles including the rift (I refuse to call them what they are not) When people complain about the fetish with first person games, they will just get some answer about the immersion, a meaningless ideal. That right, anyone who does not join the cult of immersion will be attack with worthless argument and dogma.

we already arrived at a certain point where its harder to surprise the gamers with something "new" or extraordinary like when CRYSIS got released and everyone spoke about its graphics...not to mention not even half of all gamers could play the friggin game on ultra settings, even years after its release some rigs had a hard time making it run smooth on ultra.

so i dont really know how the future looks like, but what i know and what i already see and what happens is that...and who really would have thought about that ? gamers are retreating and stepping back enjoying those kind of games which were used to attract gamers 20 years ago....i mean sidescroller 8-16bit graphics jump n runs/shooters/shoot em ups, retro point & click adventures, indie games being plain and simple...and sometimes just such simple games with "shitty" graphics have more success than AAA titles with superb over the edge graphics

There's going to be a surge in games that use surreal graphics as opposed to "realistic" graphics, and I'll tell you why:

• Current graphics are reaching a graphical plateau; a point at which graphics aren't getting much better than they have been. The closer we get to "real life" rendering, the harder it is to make it look more realistic. At the graphical plateau, every game will look the same: "realistic", unless they add surreal elements like cel-shading, low-poly models, or unnatural lighting.
• Although the cost of reproducing hyper-realistic graphics will drop in the long, long term, they'll only rise in the foreseeable future. As the cost of games increase, developers will look to using artistic aesthetics to cut on costs. Similarly, the rising indie scene will continue to prefer artistic aesthetics over realism for the cost benefits. Unfinished Swan, Heavy Bullets, Superhot, Rime, among many examples.
• VR has three reasons to push games toward surrealism. Firstly, during this first generation of VR where our rendering power is not quite strong enough to handle hyper-realism at high enough framerates and resolutions, low-fi graphics will be preferred for comfortable play across the most hardware.
• Secondly (and this one is a bit unintuitive), surreal graphics in VR would help our minds accept virtual reality better. The uncanny valley is a real thing, and the discrepancy between hyper-realistic graphics and actual reality will make VR feel unnatural even with the best graphics. However, surreal graphics will allow our brains to accept why everything in VR feels different. An example is the lack of accommodation (depth of field blur)... it can't be done with VR and our brains would be like, "HEY, WHY DOES BOTH THE BACKGROUND AND FOREGROUND LOOK SHARP? THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!" But with cell shading, the mind may be more willing to accept these quirky details.
• Thirdly, if you're going to escape into another world in VR, why would you want it to look exactly like this one? Surreal aesthetics can aid in escapism. The reason animated movies can make us cry easier than live-action is because we can more readily accept the story instead of, say, the acting or the set. People who saw The Hobbit at 48fps complained that everything looked like a stage with props, and the clothes looked like costumes, and the characters looked like actors, and the immersion was counterintuitively broken with the added realism.
• Once games look hyper-real, how will developers wow gamers anymore? One way is more explosions, yes, but the better way will be when they start to replace realism in favor of surrealism. Less of an importance will be placed on the realism of the graphics and more will be placed on the aesthetics of the graphics.

So, yes, that's why the future of games will being to look less gritty and more dreamy (perhaps even nightmarish).

Money grab. Cash Cow what ever you want to call it :P.

I really hope it doesn't become a predominantly VR-based thing. I like having a controller in my hand and knowing I'm playing a game. Call me weird, but I like to be aware that I'm still in reality when playing a game, it keeps me calm. As for where I think it's going, hopefully to a point where Capcom decides 4-player co-op in their Resident Evil games should be a thing.

That's literally all I want.

I think we have hit the wall with current-gen consoles and PC's! The only thing that can improve with them are the graphics, I can't see any real innovation in gameplay mechanics. So I would say that VR will be the future of gaming in order for it to remain relative in the mainstream.