Technology evolves in amazingly rapid speeds. If you need any real observable proof of the speedy advancement of digital technology over the years, take a look at the gaming industry. From the very early years of black-and-white 2D games like Pong (1972) to the first 3D game, 3D Monster Maze in 1981, and from primitive first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D (1992) to complex, life-like shooters like Battlefield 3 (2011), there’s no doubt that the gaming industry has seen its fair share of technological evolution.
It’s has been exciting ride for all of us gamers, both casual or hardcore types. Most of us have a wishlist for how games will turn out in the future. Well, it’s hard to say if they will come true, but we might very well extrapolate from existing trends, which is the whole point of this article. Here are 5 features you can expect in the future of gaming.
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1. Immersive Gaming: The Return of Virtual Reality (VR)
Some of you may be surprised to know that 3D films have existed since about a century ago. The technology just didn’t really didn’t take flight since then due to high costs. It is not until In the recent years that we’ve experienced therevival of 3D technology not only in films like Avatar, but also for gaming screens.
We have also seen the evolution of video games in terms of its graphical quality, so much so that one would have difficulty differentiating a video game from a real-life scene today. It appears that there is a movement towards more immersive digital entertainment, from movies to games. The question is, where do we go from real-life 3D graphics and beyond?
A Virtual Reality Comeback
With major leaps in technology that resulted in improved hardware capabilities, virtual reality (VR) has started to resurface in the gaming industry. Of particular note is the upcoming Oculus Rift, a VR head-mounted display (HMD) created by Palmer Luckey.
Due to be released early next January for a mere $300, Oculus Rift features amassive field view (107 degrees), quick-response (ultra-low latency) head-tracking system, and incorporates immersive stereoscopic 3D rendering capabilities as well. Its prototype which was showcased in various gaming conventions has already received numerous positive reviews from game developers and internet reviewers alike.
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2. Secondary Screens for Gaming
With the booming market for handheld devices like smartphones and tablets, the console war between the three major brands (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) has intensified, with a rush to invent a secondary gaming device for players.
Wii U
Consider the newly released Wii U GamePad, which features a built-in touchscreen that can serve as a supplement to games. In first-person shooter games, a second screen lets you access the map or your inventory seamlessly without leaving the game field. What you can do with a secondary screen is not limited to that, it adds to the gaming experience which is demonstrated wonderfully in this ZombiU gameplay trailer out for an inside view (Warning:the video contains gore and violence).
SmartGlass
Even Microsoft is catching up with the competition with the advent of Xbox SmartGlass. However, unlike the Wii U, SmartGlass is an app that acts as an additional tool for gamers to interact with. It can be downloaded into and accessed from smartphones and tablets to enhance the gaming experience.
Sony Cross-Play
Sony has taken its first step to integrate their Playstation 3 console with their handheld device, PS Vita via the Cross-Play feature, allowing the gamer to stop playing on one device and resume on another device.
3. Open-Source Gaming
Look at the number of free (or cheap) homemade games available in the mobile market today and you will have an idea where future games may be heading: Open Source! For instance, Ouya is an Android-powered, upcoming video game console (to be released April 2013, pre-order here) that works under the concept that games should be cheap to build and cheap to buy.
Independent developers do not have to purchase an expensive software development kit (SDK) to create games and release them to the market. Ouya offers 1080p gaming experience and contains tons of free-to-play and affordable games at only $99, it’s hard not to see where the attraction lies with Ouya.
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