• 10Jun 06

  The next step...When will the industry be ready.

  
  When will we be ready for that matter. Will we be content to simply shell out insane amount of money for better graphics after we tire of ps3 and the 360? Even the successor to the wii will probably end up being pricey because by then Nintendo should be ready to jump into the HD bandwagon. We are the driving force of the gaming industry, the gamers. Without us there is no industry. I thik that our media of choice should be paying attention to what we want. Real immersion. Look the fact is, no matter how much the grahics improve in our new systems of choice , we are still staring at a flat image in our tv's , monitors or what ever. When will we feel like we are really part of the experience. Like we are inside the game. I think its time that one of the big three start thinking of a real solution to this and develop something that would make the experience feel more personal and immersive. Look as we all know innovation doesn't just mean that a company has to go out and develop pricey new tech to keep consumers happy. Its also about how a company might implement available technology and make it accessible to a mass market. Nintendo is taking a step in the right direction I suppose , but it's just not enough. Sure they may end up changing the way we play games but at the end of the day we will still be looking at nothing more than a 2d image on our screens. I'm not suggesting that they deliver a solution that would make a game fill a room , because i know that would be impossibly expensive for normal consumers. But how about using existing technology like motion tracking goggles that would read your head movements in 360 degrees? Couple that with technology similar to the wii-mote , but more advanced , like maybe two wireless gloves(yeah you can laugh and isert power glove jokes, but if done right and with today's technology this could be good) , then the experience could be really immersive. It would all have to be wirelessly connected to whatever console. Imagine being able to look around by using only your head. Reaching with your hands to grab your virtual weapon infront of you, while looking to the side to see if enemies are coming. Because the input devices are your hands and head and the motions they make , this would be highly intuitive. I know with technology like goggles you cannot be fully immersed, you will still be looking at an image infront of you , but you will feel immersed because you are using regular motions to play. Now you're thinking , this would be great for first person shooters, right? Yes, but it wouldn't be limited to any one given genre. Action games with behind the character camera's would also work great and really the only limits would be based on the developers imaginations. Anyways, these are just some of my thoughts, I really believe that in order for our industry to grow and thrive, immersion is the next step forward.
  If the industry keeps going like nothing's wrong then the same thing will keep happening, it will lose gamers as it gains new ones. The People like me who have been playing since the days of the Nes or before, will eventually lose interest , and that will leave the industry with only new comers.  People get tired of the same old thing. The video game industry has not evolved. Its been the same thing since the beggining, the next game system makes games look prettier than the last. Supposedly Spielbergh is working on something that should revolutionize the way people watch movies at the theater. That's because the movie industry has been operating on the same priciples of videogames, which is to make movies look better more spectacular and as a result the industry has become stale and watching movies (no matter how good the special effects are), is only mildly entertaining. I really thought that games would be the first to take us in a more immersive route before movies because games are interactive and movies are just something to watch, but since game companies are only concerned for how pretty their next killer app looks, a lot of us may find ourselves spending our entertainment funds on something else instead. Don't get me wrong I love gaming this isn't a good bye letter to my favorite past time. Its just a wake up call to the industry. I'm positive i'm not the only one that finds himself bored while playing game x now and then . No matter how good said game may be , there's just moments when you stop and realize that its just more of the same ...Again.
  
  • Posted Jun 10, 2006 3:19 pm PT
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