New Technology in Video Games

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/features/five-technologies-that-will-change-the-future-of-gaming-6403158/

There are always new possible technologies emerging, and none of them tends to make it to the market or to fame and fortune. Why are they unsuccessful? Too bold, too complicated, unrealistic, are some possible reasons. Which technological innovation will be featured in the next 2 consoles by Sony and Microsoft? Are people tired of technological innovations? Maybe they just want to play a game with a standard controller: control sticks, D-pad, some buttons, maybe they don't want to jump around the room, slapping holographic images out of mid-air.

Well, I'm not sure what Sony or Microsoft plans for the future, but Technology is changing, and the old controller style could be a relic. Consoles are moving half-heartedly away from classic gaming and into motion controls, peripherals, and what some might call a gimmick market. Gimmicky controllers and ideas that are supposed to make games more accessible for the masses; not just core gamers. Notwithstanding the fact it can drive core gamers away, it's a business model that's been fairly successful.

Microsoft's IllumiRoom project is very interesting to me. Some sort of device that projects images on your walls, helping you feel like you're more immersed in the game. Making a copy of your walls, and beaming a duplicate image of your room on the wall, then adding motion blurring effects to it in driving games to make you feel like you're moving fast. It is a novel idea and I think it's very clever.

Beyond that, we've got Oculus Rift, a new head-mounted virtual-reality type system. Developed for the military, and featuring a wide field of view, gyroscopes and plenty of other features, its certainly interesting. Is it perfect? I highly doubt it, but if it does take off and become successful, it will probably need to ship with a console, but I see it being possibly successful.

At the end of the day, all these new technologies are interesting, but technology is never as great as it sounds. I want holographic images and displays, and jet packs, and all the futuristic technology we see in video games, and in movies, but that technology is either years away from being feasible, or more likely it was never feasible at all. Seeing all the new technologies is interesting, but until next-gen consoles are released from Sony and Microsoft, its all just possibilities and ideas.

-Mark Johnsen