There was once a time when the world of gaming didn’t involve any type of technology. This was a point where a game console was still a distant dream and gaming was restricted to boards with pieces that you moved around. It’s hard to remember that point in time and this is largely due to the tremendous advances that we have seen in technology tied to the gaming world.
There are lots of different examples that are worth mentioning here. But rather than focusing on what’s already been it’s curious to explore where tech might take gaming over the next few years. We could definitely travel in some unexpected and fascinating directions.
Virtual Reality
You would be forgiven for thinking that virtual reality has become little more than a gimmick. Similar to 3D, the full potential has not been fully realised. Those who remember 3D gaming might recall that it wasn’t available on all devices. Some companies like Nintendo, fully embraced it with the 3DS. Other companies such as Microsoft virtually completely ignored it. While there were games to play in 3D, the numbers were never at the level that people expected or hoped for. It was also more of an add on that often didn’t add anything to the experience.
That brings us to VR. Virtual reality is available in a variety of forms right now including the Oculus Quest and the Playstation VR. The problem is that while these options might seem interesting, they aren’t really much more than a tech demo of what VR is capable of. It’s rare to find a full game that you can play on VR. Those promises by AAA companies were either disappointing or quietly disappeared.
It was hoped that the VR phase would return in a big way with the PS5 and Microsoft Series X. However, this didn’t happen at all. Instead, VR is largely being ignored by both major gaming companies. There are rumours that the Playstation VR 2 is being worked on right now and it will have far better tech capabilities. But these amount to nothing more than whispers in the industry right now.
However, that doesn’t mean that VR won’t return at some point in the future. It almost certainly will because the potential here is simply too great for developers to ignore forever. It’s just a case of ensuring that it’s easier for developers to create full size games that utilize VR technology with the right graphical support. A big problem with VR right now is that the graphics don’t match what you see if you use a projector, TV display or monitor.
More Immersion
VR is a form of immersion but it’s certainly not the only option that is being explored by gaming companies and developers. For instance, Sony made some waves with the PS5 when they started talking about personalised levels of 3D sound. Essentially, this is about ensuring that everyone gets the full power of a 3D sound system where you can hear exactly where sound is coming from when playing a game. The example they used was playing a shooter and hearing the sound coming from the relative direction to where you are in the game.
This would allow you to turn around, fire and take the win. As is often the case, it seems like this idea was ambitious and flawed. Currently, it’s only an option with headphones which limits the way people want to play. However, one of the aims Sony had was ensuring that it would be possible with soundbars and other devices too. It will be interesting to see whether this does develop in the future.
Another idea or way of making games more immersiver is to ensure that they feel alive and as though they are constantly evolving. There are already some great examples of this including GTA online. New online content and continuous updates ensure that this always feels like an evolving game. It’s one of the reasons why Rockstar have been dragging their feet a little releasing or even announcing GTA VI, much to the chagrin of gamers.
Despite the fact that GTA VI hasn’t been released, concrete rumours connected to the game are rather promising. For instance, one idea that has been talked about is that GTA VI will have a real, working crypto system that players can invest in to earn virtual money that they can then spend.
This isn’t the only ambitious idea that could make the game feel more real and exciting. There’s also been mention of weather systems with weather that replicates real weather changes as well as extreme weather such as tropical storms. It sounds fascinating but there’s no way to know how much of this is just smoke and fumes.
However, gamers can definitely expect similar, ambitious, working and changing or evolving gaming worlds in the future. This is the next step, particularly in open world gaming.
Of course, we’ve heard about this level of ambition in other titles. Marvel’s Avengers was also marketed as a world that would constantly evolve. Thus far the add ons have been few or far between. However, this might be because the game didn’t really take off the way people were expecting it to. So, there’s no real incentive for developers to keep pouring money into it. It also isn’t as monetized as something like GTA VI presumably would be for players.
Of course systems like this are going to need a deeper level of control and support. This means that gaming companies are going to either need to hire big teams or more likely, lean further on AI. Game companies already use basic AI systems such as a Click4Assistance chatbot provider. With a system like this it’s easy to ensure that issues for gamers are resolved quickly without needing the support of larger teams.
Earning Through Gaming
A lot of people have already found ways to earn through gaming. You can look at Twitch streamers and YouTubers for examples of people like this. But there are ideas floating around the internet right now that could completely change how people earn through gaming.
For instance, Ubisoft has recently suggested that they are fascinated by the idea of using Blockchain technology as part of their gaming experiences. This would allow players to invest in products in virtual worlds that had real value. They would then be able to trade, sell and buy these products in a community online. This is tied to the idea of nfts which you have no doubt already heard about. With blockchain tech it would be possible for players to sell nfts such as screenshots taken in a game or perhaps skins on games such as Fortnite. Thus far, it’s not possible to sell skins on Fortnite but this could change in the future.
Although those thinking that a system like this would be designed to benefit players are in for a rude awakening. It will of course be used to help businesses make even greater amounts of money. ‘For the players’ is a great brand slogan but there’s no realm of reality where that is the first thought for these companies. Just look at EA for concrete proof of this.
Is this the only way that games will be used to help players make money in the future? Probably not and combined with the living, breathing worlds that we mentioned above, the potential of this idea is absolutely staggering.
Photorealism
Finally, it is possible that we will see photorealistic games in our lifetime. This isn’t so much a whether we could scenario but will likely be more related to whether we should. The ethics and morals surrounding creating photo realistic war games like COD or adult games like GTA are questionable to say the least. However, it’s definitely possible to add photorealism to gaming.
People have been able to achieve this using software like Dreams. To put that in perspective, this is a game that players can use to build their own worlds. If they can create photorealistic games then there’s no reason why triple A developers shouldn’t be able to do the same.
So, what will be the first game that edges towards photorealism? Well, it looks like Gran Turismo might come pretty close in terms of console possibilities. As for PC gamers, it largely depends on which graphic card and setup you have. With the right setup the graphics or any game developed in the last year or so can be astounding.
We hope this helps you understand some of the key ways that technology has completely shifted the world of gaming. Whether it’s difficult to say whether this is for the better or the worst, the reality is that there’s no turning back now. The tech changes are only going to become more dramatic and admittedly impressive. It will be fascinating to see what leap forwards we make in gaming over the next few years. Will games really become photorealistic or will we eventually hit a wall in terms of capabilities. The future could hold many exciting surprises.
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