Gaming Musings: The Next Big Breakthrough

I just like most people who are gamers or keep track of the latest gaming tech, wonder often what the next big breakthrough will be when it comes to gaming technology. Will it be bigger, stronger and faster consoles with beyond HD or 4K graphic capabilities? Or will it be another perephrial, motion control advancement or further enhancements of VR?

I remember when the Nintendo Wii's motion controls were the next big evolution in gaming and being wowed by the simple act of bowling with the controllers. But that seems so quaint now and outdated. That's how fast gaming tech has advanced over the years. And I do ponder whether or not the advancement is happening too fast for us to appreciate the next great frontier in gaming and gaming technology.

Take the Power Glove for example. It was a collassal failure, but it was one of the first motion controllers to ever be released to the public. And for its time, it was state of the art. Now its a joke and a meme thanks to its inclusion in the film The Wizard. Which has also aged just about as poorly as the Power Glove did.

TOO MUCH POWER.

And with the current demise of motion controls, it seems like the once ground breaking Wii has now joined the same boat as the Power Glove. Maybe not as much of a massive failure, but still a software and mechanical development that has been tossed aside for more traditional controls or even more advanced motion control technology in the future.

What will be the next ground breaking gaming technology that will end up in the dustbin of time? VR? Sales are already down for VR helmets like the Occulus Rift and so is the development of games for them. Are we really in the midst of another instance of VR dying out like it did in the 90's? If so, does that mean that VR games just are not what the mainstream gaming public are into and if that is the case, what does that mean for the future of gaming? Or future advancements? Will developers find different ways to put the gamer into the game other than VR?

Time will tell and I for one cannot wait to see what is coming up next on the gaming horizon.

Comments

Halo Memories

Halo was a watershed game for me when I was a teenager. It was the first time that I was playing a game that was actually a legitimate part of cultural lexicon. Before I had only been playing games that were no longer popular or not as popular as they once were. But when my step dad bought an x-box and introduced me to Halo, that finally changed. I played it religiously with my step dad after school on the Campaign mode and sometimes by myself and I was blown away by the game. I had never seen anything like it before. The graphics were stunning, the controls were varied but not too complicated, and the story was just as well written as the best sci-fi films. Halo was also a landmark for me in the sense that it was the first video game I remembered beating and finishing to completion. So many hours of my teenage years were spent playing Halo and it will always have a special place in my heart and it is one of the few games that made me feel a sense of euphoria and elation up...

What I Am Playing(Day 2) | NES

Now, I am playing with power. I actually grew up with an NES in the 90's. The SNES was all the rage and so was the Genesis but my parents didn't have the money to get me one of those consoles or if they did, I never really asked for one. I wasn't what you would call a hardcore gamer. I was casual to the core. But when my Aunt got me an original NES, I really became infatuated with the console. I didn't have that many games. I only had a small bag full, but I played the heck out of all of them. I would have gotten more games and played those too if it wasn't for my cousin not following my directions and taking the game out of the slot while the system was on. He broke the system, my spirit and my will to buy another console let alone more games. In honor of my late NES, I decided to head over to a friend's house who had a Retron-5 and play the games of my youth. I started out with a true classic. Super Mario Bros. This was the game I played the most. I...

Machine Acts

There are two types of Machine Acts in video games. The diagetic and the non-diagetic. Here are a couple examples of the two. The loading screen for any level on Halo: Combat Evolved is an example of a non-diagetic machine act because you cannot skip the loading screen, nor can you interact with it in anyway and it does not change the form of gameplay or the way you play the game. As for a non-diagetic machine act, a prime example of this is the kill animation. There are kill animations in multiple video games. But the one that comes to mind most of the time is the Fatality animation from the Mortal Kombat series. The kill animation forces the player to just sit there and watch the animation as the machine plays the code and the animation to the player.

Brown's Bit By Bit

Search This Blog