The future of gaming: Don't you love the smell of napalm in the morning?

Ah, the days of Mario Bros. When graphics resembled a Tetris screen and console design was equally as square and creatively redundant. Now, gaming is on a completely different level. A bonus level- where you might believe you actually ARE Tidus, and find yourself searching for Ability Points in the kitchen.

It's not surprising to hear that the birth of the video game happened in 1949 when a young man (Ralph Baer) was instructed to build a television set. The speedy evolution of gaming is constantly on the heels of the latest television technology. Hi-def, Blu-Ray. We want to feel as if it's real when we're gaming. It's an escape, it's a fantasy, but give us something to sink our teeth into- and we'll bite.

Where we are now: No one can kick Sony's PS2

The PlayStation 2 beat out all next generation consoles in Nielsen’s popularity statistics for April 2009. According to the gaming ratings service, 21.6% of all gaming time during April was spent on the PS2.

The PS2 is nine years old, but remains the most used console on the market. With an enormous Greatest Hits list and a nearly endless selection of cheap, used PS2 games- the 10-year life span that Sony pushes for its consoles is clearly working for the PS2.

Nielsen ratings showed the Xbox 360 capturing 21.1% of all minutes, the Wii with 17.6%, and the PlayStation 3 coming in last place with 10.5%. Of course these statistics are for April, and we can expect these figures to change as all three consoles release exclusive titles over the year and into 2010.

Sony may be poised for a big push in the coming months, as Sony CEO Jack Tretton announced 15 first-party exclusive games in development for the PS3, not to mention Rockstar’s Agent and Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIV.

The future of gaming: Don't you love the smell of napalm in the morning?

Many have written on the future of home gaming, and the prospects are exciting. If you're already suffering from 'Halodiction' or a similar affliction you might want to close your eyes. Gaming's not getting any less addictive. In fact, the ideas for the future are about as exciting as finishing your favourite game and then, wait, a secret level!

However, no matter how far technology advances, certain aspects of gaming will remain constant. The plots and characters of today’s role playing games will likely stay in tact. Such elements as the marksmanship of shooters, the thrill of speed in the racing genre, the classic dogfight of flight sims, and required problem solving and strategizing will all continue far into the future.

One of the major outcomes of the Internet is social gaming, online gaming. The ability to connect via your console and play against other people around the world. This social, group aspect of gaming might change the playing field slightly as companies realise the potential of harnessing this draw card.

Games that are centralised around multi-player functions should become more available and popular as gamers crave the virtual social interaction. There might also be games developed that are specifically deisgned for online, social use- imagine if you can a 'Second Life' but with levels and missions and check points. But it doesn't stop there.

One of the most fascinating and believable visions of future entertainment systems is Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Holographic Environment Simulator or Holodeck. Designed unabashedly for the purpose of relaxation and recreation on long, stressful, interplanetary voyages, the Holodeck allows users to run programs to experience a historical period, work out a personal problem, or just have fun. The Holodeck does such a good job of simulating reality that crewmembers sometimes have difficulty distinguishing real characters from virtual ones.

What other general characteristics might we find in a future gaming console?

As we said, It will be social

The need for an opponent or team-mate will always exist, so the emergence of clans that compete in ladders and leagues are just a foretaste of what will happen when social gaming becomes mainstream.

It will arouse all 5 senses

We want to 'feel' as if we are in the game, and as if the game is real. Today’s typical hardware stimulates senses of sight, hearing, and perhaps feeling (ForceFeedback). We should be seeing hardware devices reach beyond a simple view screen and speakers to stimulate the other senses as well.

Eventually, there must be some type of hardware display revolution that visually immerses the gamer instead of simply painting a flat screen with pixels as today’s computer monitors and television screens do. Electronic gaming will make a quantum leap when a new type of display device is invented to replace the monitor/TV screen. Such a device, once developed, standardized, and mass produced, will provide the level of realism needed to attract large numbers of consumers to the electronic gaming playground. Perhaps at this point electronic gaming will enter the mainstream and compete with the film industry.

Ethereal Technologies has developed a graphics display which may lay the groundwork for a new visual display revolution. The Volumetric Imaging Systems or VIS4D workstation allows users to perceive real-time 3D images without the use of glasses. According to the company’s website, interacting with 3D video game characters and environments is one of the potential uses. Even if this specific technology is not the one that revolutionizes the visual experience of gaming, it does show that developers understand the potential for a realistic holographic display device. We've already seen huge leaps in 3D movie viewing and even 3D cameras- 3D gaming is next.

Listen up. Instead of merely hearing the sound of an explosion and seeing its effects, a future gamer will feel the shock waves as well. One current product that demonstrates this idea is the Rumblefx™ headphones, which according to the company “actually shake and vibrate for a totally addictive sensation that takes the virtual reality of positional audio all the way.” Perhaps someone will even develop a audio device for games that transmits sound through the skin similar to Dr. Patrick Flanagan’s Neurophone, currently used to assist the deaf in hearing.

We have all seen arcade racers that tilt and jolt players for effect. Some flight sim maniacs even use gaming chairs to simulate position. When discussing the sense of touch, Microsoft’s ForceFeedback technology immediately comes to mind. As a stick, its vibratory effect is limited; but if adapted to future hardware, it could portend some serious seismic fun. Imagine simulating an earthquake in the Holodeck.

Plans to utilize the sense of smell in future games are already underway. A company called Digiscents has developed the iSmell device, which they say is a “speaker-sized computer peripheral device that attaches to the serial or USB port of your personal computer and plugs into a standard electrical outlet and emits naturally-based vapors into the user’s personal space.”

Jonathan Seidenfeld, a Director at Digiscents says, “Just as the PlayStation revolutionized interactive games, the iSmell will take games to the next level of immersion and realism.” It’s said that this thing actually works. Over 2000 game developers have signed up to use the sdk.

How game developers might integrate the sense of taste into future games is unknown, and will probably be the last sense to receive attention from gaming. Although, the connection between smell and taste is commonly known and understood so, anything is possible.

It will be affordable

One of the factors that allowed pc sales to explode in the 80’s was the low cost. If we accept that computers and gaming consoles are affordable today, then tomorrow’s gaming platform will likely sell in a reasonable price range.

It will be customizable

User maps, skins, models, will likely be traded throughout Internet user communities just like they are today. Of course a 3d holography file will be a lot bigger and more detailed than the current Quake variety.

The ideas for the future will eventually immerse us in a virtual world very similar to the real world. We will have our senses stimulated, be surrounded by 3D images, be able to communicate with other real people. One wonders when and if this will all go from being an exciting temptation to a disastrous addiction. Personally, I'm rather intrigued and look forward to playing a game that feels, smells, looks, sounds and even (possibly) tastes real! But I will enjoy with caution and keep in mind the old saying; if it looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Sources: www.clickfire.com, wikipedia, www.cracked.com, www.tgdaily.com Written & Edited by Natasha Chapman