Asssignment 4 - We are the future
The future of games is in our hands now and with more powerful technology comes a more difficult challenge for the programmer.
Personally, I am a little nervous about what the future holds when the next new generation of consoles are revealed. I'm just starting to learn the basics of C programming and Assembly language and it has me trembling.
I think there is pressure to make innovative and outstanding games that seperate themselves from the mass of mundane mediocre titles. That is a job for the developer. Publishers don't feel the same way as "the publisher mentality tends to dismiss quirky new game ideas in favor of sequels and licensed properties from movies, comics and TV shows" which was stated on this website.
I feel that like all mediums, which are all essentially businesses, eventually dull to this idea of repetitive strategy and even the consumer becomes less favourable of buying the same title over and over with a new name. I still strongly believe innovation can give you those classic titles that will forever remain in peoples minds and hearts.
This generation saw giants Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo battle it out with the Xbox, PS2 and GameCube respectively. Many gamers split off into different categories and share very different views on "which is the best" but this has been the case for a very long time with the earliest I can remember being the NES/MasterSystem war and continuing with Nintendo and Sega for years.
All three consoles began to show new ideas for the future; pressure sensitive buttons on control pads; the USB headset and keyboard compatibility for the PS2; Xbox Live bringing online gaming into the console. Sony and Nintendo also attempted online gaming with Nintendo's being a very niche market in Japan and Sony's showing little success with figures paling in comparison to those of the Xbox and PC gamers.
The Xbox360 is bringing more of an "entertainment" vibe to it rather than just a video game console and Sony are following with the PS3 using Blu-Ray technology and Microsofts upcoming HD-Drive for the Xbox360. Nintendo are left in the tracks of Sony and Microsoft with their "next-gen" console which takes a step back from simply improving processing power and technology and brings back the simple innovations which introduced them to the gaming world.
The Wiimote allows gamers to wave the controller around in one hand and the "nun-chuk" with an analogue stick in the other hand. The remote works like a light gun but is also motion sensitive in that twisting and turning the controller also has it's benefits. This allows developers to focus on new ways to make games more enjoyable and with the technology not differing much from the GameCube allows developers to make games quicker than those that will feature on the PS3 and Xbox360s complicated new structures.
Development costs are rising and games are becoming ever more expensive to make and this is a worrying factor when entering into the gaming industry - Publishers will go for surefire titles rather than something that is risky and may not sell great enough - and with competition becoming more fierce the gaming industry will become even more interesting as companies try to differentiate themselves from the pack.
I believe that with the introduction of HD and more powerful CPU games are becoming more realistic visually and with sound mimicking the quality of the cinema-experience only time can tell what innovations will occur between now and the next-gen. Whether it be still visual or maybe something completely different - is the possibility of Virtual Reality making a comeback likely?
Personally, I am a little nervous about what the future holds when the next new generation of consoles are revealed. I'm just starting to learn the basics of C programming and Assembly language and it has me trembling.
I think there is pressure to make innovative and outstanding games that seperate themselves from the mass of mundane mediocre titles. That is a job for the developer. Publishers don't feel the same way as "the publisher mentality tends to dismiss quirky new game ideas in favor of sequels and licensed properties from movies, comics and TV shows" which was stated on this website.
I feel that like all mediums, which are all essentially businesses, eventually dull to this idea of repetitive strategy and even the consumer becomes less favourable of buying the same title over and over with a new name. I still strongly believe innovation can give you those classic titles that will forever remain in peoples minds and hearts.
This generation saw giants Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo battle it out with the Xbox, PS2 and GameCube respectively. Many gamers split off into different categories and share very different views on "which is the best" but this has been the case for a very long time with the earliest I can remember being the NES/MasterSystem war and continuing with Nintendo and Sega for years.
All three consoles began to show new ideas for the future; pressure sensitive buttons on control pads; the USB headset and keyboard compatibility for the PS2; Xbox Live bringing online gaming into the console. Sony and Nintendo also attempted online gaming with Nintendo's being a very niche market in Japan and Sony's showing little success with figures paling in comparison to those of the Xbox and PC gamers.
The Xbox360 is bringing more of an "entertainment" vibe to it rather than just a video game console and Sony are following with the PS3 using Blu-Ray technology and Microsofts upcoming HD-Drive for the Xbox360. Nintendo are left in the tracks of Sony and Microsoft with their "next-gen" console which takes a step back from simply improving processing power and technology and brings back the simple innovations which introduced them to the gaming world.
The Wiimote allows gamers to wave the controller around in one hand and the "nun-chuk" with an analogue stick in the other hand. The remote works like a light gun but is also motion sensitive in that twisting and turning the controller also has it's benefits. This allows developers to focus on new ways to make games more enjoyable and with the technology not differing much from the GameCube allows developers to make games quicker than those that will feature on the PS3 and Xbox360s complicated new structures.
Development costs are rising and games are becoming ever more expensive to make and this is a worrying factor when entering into the gaming industry - Publishers will go for surefire titles rather than something that is risky and may not sell great enough - and with competition becoming more fierce the gaming industry will become even more interesting as companies try to differentiate themselves from the pack.
I believe that with the introduction of HD and more powerful CPU games are becoming more realistic visually and with sound mimicking the quality of the cinema-experience only time can tell what innovations will occur between now and the next-gen. Whether it be still visual or maybe something completely different - is the possibility of Virtual Reality making a comeback likely?
posted by The Horror @ 12:26 am
1 Comments:
At 1:55 pm,
Michael Powell said…
VR - ohmigod no, please no! hey do you remember VRML? Probably not, you;re maybe a bit young but it was a hoot.
Actually it was shite, thank god for game engines!
OK, so pretty good blogging - interesting to get a technical perspective on things. not so sure I want to hear about your visits to the freat white telephone or naked men stealing wheelie bins (why bins, surely clothes woulda been more use?)
but otherwise peachy
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