The Next 25 Years of Video Games.docx

The Next 25 Years of Video Games.docx

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TheNext25YearsofVideoGames

TheNext25YearsofVideoGames

By:

SteveWoyach, DavidWongOctober02,2007

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Let'justsayitrightnow:

Videogamesaregoingtodominatethefreakingfuture.You'llseeitinyourownlifetime.We'rewarningyou,though,it'sgoingtogetweird.Beginningwith...

2008:

NeverendingGames,Sony'Model-TMatrix

Spore'sInfiniteUniverse

AnythingwesayaboutthefutureofgaminghastostartwithSpore,agamefromWillWright（TheSims,SimCity）thatnoonewouldhaveevenbelievedpossibleiftheyhadn'tactuallyseenitinaction.InSpore,youstartoutasasingle-celledorganism...

...andevolveintoacreatureofyourowndesign...

...thenformtribes...

...thencities...

...thenplanets...

...theninterplanetarytravel...

...whichletsyouvisitotherplanetsteemingwithinfinitevarietiesofalienlife.Yes,guys,youcanthenbuildwarshipsandwipethemout.

Thissoundslikearidiculouscrackfantasytoanygamerwho'severdropped$60onagameandblownthroughall12levelsineighthours.Howthehelldoyoufitan"infinite"numberofplanetsandaliensonafewDVD'worthofdata?

Theanswerisatechniquecalledproceduralgeneration,whichjustmeansthegamedoesn'thavetostoremillionsofcreatures,itjuststoresthemethodsbywhichtheycanbebuilt.You,thegamer,makethecreatures.

Yourmalformedabominations,alongwithallthecivilizationandtechnologiesthatspringfromyourderangedimagination,areautomaticallyuploadedonlinewheretheybecomepartoftheSporeuniverse.Thoseotherplanetsyougettotravelto?

They'reallcreatedbyothergamers.

They'replanningonhalfamillionstarswithmillionsofplanetsorbiting.Whenwesay"infinite,"wemeanit.We'retalkingaboutagameyoucouldliterallyspendtherestofyournaturallifeexploringwithouteverreachingtheend.

Whetherornotthisparticulargamebecomesahit,thismethodofgamecreationistheinevitablefuture.Awholelotofwhatsucksaboutgamesrightnow--specifically,thehugeartbudgetsthatforcepublisherstocashinwithshittylicensedgames--willgobythewayside.Gamemakerswon'thavetoconstructawholedigitaluniverse;theycansimplyprovidetheblueprintanddistributethecreationprocesstomillionsofpeoplelikeyouandme.

But,whatcouldwinduphavinganevenbiggerimpact...

PS3Home

SometimeintheSpringof'08Sonywillbreakgroundonthekindofvirtualworldthathasbeenpredictedby,well,about40percentofthescience-fictionstorieswritteninthelast50years.

It'calledPS3HomeandbasicallyanybodywithaPS3consolewillbeabletotakeahandsomerversionofthemselvesintoacleaner,more-awesomeversionoftherealworldandmillaroundwithothergamersdoingthesame.

Idon'tthinkwecansummarizethescaleofthisaswellastheinsightfulexpertsatPrisonPhaveHERE,withtheheadline:

SONYBRINGSREALLIFEMATRIXASTEPCLOSER

SETSPRECEDENTFORFUTUREARTIFICIALUTOPIAS

CONSTRUCTEDTOESCAPEHELLHOLEOFREALWORLD

Hell,yes.IfwewereSony,we'dputthatshitrightonabillboard.Notthatthisisatoughsell;everymovemankindhastakentowardavirtualcommunityhasdrawnastampede.FromMySpacetoWorldofWarcraft,thepromiseofbeingabletostartyourlifeoverasacooler,better-lookingversionofyourselfhasbeenirresistible.Lookatthepictureupthere.NoonewillbefatinPS3Home.

Sofar,SonyhasdoneanincrediblejobofconvincingusnottobuyaPS3（It'gettingpoundedbytheWiiandXbox360insales.）butevenifPS3Homediesonthevine,itwill,atworst,serveastheblueprintthenextvirtualworldisbuiltfrom.ItcouldbetheModel-Tofwhatcould,generationslater,turnintosomethingclosetoTheMatrix.But,we'regettingaheadofourselves.

Butknowthis:

Itwillhappen.Thevirtualutopiahasaspotreservedinourfuturerightnexttothesexrobot:

Peoplewantit,andit'justamatterofworkingoutthedetails.

WhatWillSuckAboutIt

Peoplearedicks.

Checkyourinbox.Howmanyofyouremailsarefromfriends,asopposedtospammers?

HowmanyofyourfemaleMySpace-friendrequestsaredummypagessetupforporn?

SporeandPS3Homearestillmadeupofpeopleandthereforeacertainpercentageofthosewondrousnewuniverseswillbecomposedofdicks.AtsomepointyouwilltraveltoawondrousnewSporeworldandfindthecreaturestherehaveevolvedtohavehidescoveredinpornURLs.

AsforPS3Home,doyouthinkSonyispouringtensofmillionsintodevelopmentsoyouandyourlittlefriendshaveaplacetohangout?

No,they'recreatingoneofthegreatesttargeted-marketingopportunitiesinthehistoryofadvertising.Howlonguntilbustyvirtualgirlsarechattingyouup,theninterruptingflirtyconversationstosaythey'llneed20buckstocontinue?

Allthatisjustaroundthecorner.Now,let'skipaheadageneration...

TheNext25YearsofVideoGames

By:

SteveWoyach, DavidWongOctober02,2007

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2013:

BadassHandheldsWithEvenBadderassWebConnections

APS3inYourPocket

We'llbeatthegenerationofthePlayStation4andtheXbox...720orwhatevertheydecidetocallit.

Now,thegamingindustry'greatestobstaclehasalwaysbeenthefactthathumanseventuallyhavetogooutside.ThisiswhyhandheldgamingissuchabigdealthesedaysThebest-sellinggamemachineisn'ttheWii,PS3or360.It'thehandheldNintendoDS,byahugemargin.

Peopleneedsomethingtodoinallthosesettingswhere,intheolddays,theyusedtoreadapaperback（atthebeach,waitingattheairport）andkidsneedsomethingtodooncartripsorindetention.Bothgroupstendtobeavidnon-readers.

Come2013,youshouldhaveaportableaspowerfulasaPS3or360（portablesrunaboutagenerationbehind）,whichispushingthelimitofwhatthehumaneyecanevenperceiveonalittle4-inchscreen.

Now,sayinghandheldgamingisthefuturerightaftersayingonlinegamingisthefuturemaysoundlikeacontradiction.Afterall,wirelessInternetaccessisspottyandcellphoneInternetmakesyoufeellikeit'1997alloveragain.But...

TheMiracleof4G

Thisiswhere4Gcomesin.

4Gistheupcomingstandardthatwillgiveyouawirelessconnectionat100Mbit/s,anywhere.That'morethan30timesfasterthanthebestDSLconnectionyoucangetathome,kids.

Above:

TheNokia4Gphoneconcept,currentlyinthe

"Make-an-awesome-Photoshop-of-it"phaseofdevelopment.

Whateverthevirtual-gaminguniverselookslikeatthatpoint,beitWorldofWarcraft2orthesecondgenerationofPS3HomeorasprawlingdescendantofSpore,youshouldbefreetoaccessitanywhere,atanytime,fromyourhandheld.

Also,thisnearly-unlimitedWebaccesswillprobablysignaltheendofphysicallybuyinggamesofftheshelf.ElectronicArtsisnotgoingtoseethepointinsellingboxedgamesfor$60,whentheycanhaveyoudownloaditforafee,thenpayanothermonthlysubscriptionfeetoplayit（theschemethatmadeBlizzardrichoffWorldofWarcraft）.

WhatWillSuckAboutIt

Asyoumayhavealreadyguessed,thiseraof"downloadanything,anywhere,anytime"alsointroducestheeraofyourmomscreechingupthestairsaftersheopensupa$600monthlygamingbill.

Thatbillwon'tjustbefromlittleTimmybuyingnewgamesorpayingsubscriptionfeesonexistingones,either.It'llbefrombuyingin-gamecontent.AlreadyyouXbox-360gamerscanspendreal-worldmoneytogetextracarsinForza2.

Itwillbeamoney-makingbonanzaforthem.Forus,well,somedaywe'llreachthefinalboss'castleandmeetadragonwhotellsusthattheonlywaytoprovewehavetheheroicheartoftheChosenOneistogivehim20bucks.

Ofcourse,beinggamers,we'llstillspendmostofourtimewishingfortheNextBigThing.Whichbringsusto...

TheNext25YearsofVideoGames

By:

SteveWoyach, DavidWongOctober02,2007

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2018:

GraphicsFiredDirectlyintoYourEyeball,TheEndoftheGameConsole

SizeBecomesaNon-Factor

Computerstendtodoubleinspeed（orshrinktohalftheirsize）everytwoyears.Ifthatcontinues,by2018,we'llbegettingclosetotheendofhowsmallthecircuitscanget（oratleastthat'swhattheysay）becauseatsomepointyou'reusingcircuitsthatareonlyone-moleculewide.Effortstomakethemsmallerthanthatwillprobably,like,makeyoutravelbackintimeorsomeshit.

FromHERE

Bythatpointthough,asystemquiteabitmorepowerfulthanyourPS3wouldfitonadevicesmallenoughthatadogcouldswallowit.So,we'retalkingaboutgamingoveracellphone-sizeddevicethat'justshortofmoviequality.

Ofcourse,theproblemwithmakinghandheldssmallerandsmalleristhatyou'remakingthatscreensmallerandsmaller,too.Whatgoodarespectaculargraphicsonatinylittlescreenyouhavetosquinttosee?

Theansweris,ofcourse...

YourEyeballBecomestheMonitor

VRD（VirtualRetinaDisplay）isasystemthey'reworkingonattheUniversityofWashingtonthatwillprojectimagesrightintoyourdamnedeyeball.

TheidearightnowisforHeads-UpDisplaysforpilotsandsoldiersandsuch,butit'llbejustamatterofmakingitsmallenoughandcheapenoughfortherestofus.By2018,adevice,nomoreintrusivethanapairofsunglassesandaBluetooth,shouldbeabletoputyourightintoavirtualworldthatfillsyourwholefieldofvision.Thegraphicswon'tbereal-lifequality（that'sfurtherawaythanpeoplethink）,butitshouldstillbereallyfuckingcool.

That'whywetalkabouttheendofthehomeconsolehere.You'llbegettingtothepointwhe