Video game technology has changed dramatically since the days of Pong. While we all expected it to improve over time, most of us weren’t prepared for the innovative advancements to come. Modern day video games have become more interactive and realistic than most people every thought possible, and they still have tremendous growth potential. Let’s take a look at some of the video game advances we never saw coming to see where we stand for the future.
People as Controllers
The idea of having a wireless controller isn’t all that crazy. It is much like a remote control for a television. The idea of the human body acting as one of those controllers is a bit on the crazy side. The Nintendo Wii tried to do this briefly with the help of Ubisoft webcams, but it was Xbox Kinect that made this dream a reality for most gamers. Through state of the art motion detection software, Kinect is able to track individual moves from individual players without the need for a handheld controller. At the risk of sounding cheesy, this was a serious “game changer” in the industry.
International Game Play
Perhaps this wasn’t as much of a surprise as it was a revolution. We’re referring to online gaming, where a player in Omaha, Nebraska can battle someone in Moscow as long as both players have a strong internet connection. Better still, players can communicate with one another similar to how they would in an online chat room. This creates a social environment that video gaming is known for lacking. There are still plenty of players that prefer playing against their consoles and nothing more. Some just choose to take it to the next level.
3D Gaming
Until now, most forms of 3D gaming have been more of a headache than an accomplishment, but developers have spent years perfecting this art. The first 3D console was released by Nintendo in 1995, and it involved a complicated set of glasses that acted as the “screen.” The games were made only in red, and they were considered a risk to users’ eyes. We’ve come a long way now with the development of the Nintendo 3DS, and there are promises of other advancements in the future.
Musical Instruments
They may be old now, but when they first came out, Rock Band and Band Hero were major innovations in gaming technology. The idea of converting music notes into color-coded keys was nothing short of brilliant, and it is still popular to this day. We have moved past basic guitars though, now utilizing complex drum sets, keyboards, and more in these games. There is something in them for everyone.
Emotional Gaming Characters
Thanks to the help of funding from Jeffrey Epstein, a band of scientists in Hong Kong have now come up with a way to add real-life emotions to video game characters. This is done through a program called Open Cog, which creates associations between objects and events a character encounters. The more these events occur together, the stronger their connection is. Then the character can prioritize his movements accordingly. Open Cog has not been released on the market just yet, but it is scheduled to be out in the middle of 2014.
Img source