Recently, we have seen the announcement of multiple gaming systems, the complete and utter failure of Sony’s security system and the continued lack of a portable from Microsoft. So here is a recap, as well as my own vision for the future.
In my last article, I covered Sony’s reveal of the PSP NPG, basically the Playstation Portable 2, but they have also finally officially revealed the Sony Ericsson Z1. The PSP phone, as it is being called, is a fully functional smart phone that is also capable of playing Sony games. Another one of Sony’s worst kept secrets, the Ericsson Z1 has been leaked in photos for months and actual units have surfaced and been completely disassembled, so once again Sony is a little late on the ball for actually issuing the announcement. It will be very interesting to see how Sony is going to attempt to separate the two peripherals. If the Z1 is capable of playing full NGP games while also offering standard smart phone capabilities it could detract from sales of the NGP. Hopefully, Sony can successfully implement games to take advantage of the new controls of the NGP while not relegating the Z1 to be the final resting place of dumbed-down games for its simpler controls. That will be an interesting challenge to watch.
Next, a quick update on the Sony PS3 hack saga. Sony is now widening the target area for their mass lawsuit war. Sony has put in a new proposal for Google to release the information of anyone who has reposted the root code hack – which many people are calling completely ridiculous. On an entertaining side note, Sony PS3 spokesman Kevin Butler has seriously impacted his own reputation, or at least the people who manage his Twitter account did. Butler tweeted a string of letters and numbers, along with a battleship related joke – unfortunately, the string was actually a code that was used to hack the PS3 last year. Now this hack was fixed soon after it appeared through a firmware upgrade, but still, Kevin Butler has now taken part in spreading a PS3 hack. Ouch, that can’t be good for publicity and credibility.
Nintendo is now releasing their newest generation of the Nintendo DS, the 3DS, which features a revolutionary screen capable of displaying 3D images without glasses. Meanwhile, Sony is now releasing the second generation of its own Playstation Portable, featuring a touch screen, a rear touch panel, and dual analog controllers (finally). And Microsoft has done…. um, nothing. I have been waiting years for Microsoft to finally enter the portable gaming market, but there haven’t been any announcements, there haven’t really been any solid rumours – basically nothing. Microsoft needs to offer their own portable, with full gamepad controls so that they can just skip the awkward stage that the PSP has been stuck in since its initial release. An Xbox Portable would be a great platform for Xbox Live Arcade games, or even full console type games distributed through digital downloads. New tech shown off in the iPad, iPhone, PSP NGP, has shown that full console level games are now possible on a portable system – they can run the newest physics and 3D engines, instead of just the standard simplified portable games to which we have become accustomed.
Now to the future, and my vision of the Future of Gaming. Both Kinect and Move have provided a glimpse into the future of the gaming industry and I am optimistic of the future development. I think that full motion gaming is here to stay, with more advanced tech of course, and much greater accuracy. I think the future of motion gaming will be a combination of both the Kinect and the Move systems, taking the benefits of each and bringing the entire industry forward. Imagine playing a full motion control game, standing in the middle of a room in front of a Kinect camera and holding a Move type controller in each hand; finally let’s insert a tech that isn’t really viable yet, headset goggles. Let’s say you are playing a first person shooter (FPS) and you hear something over your left shoulder, so you look over your left shoulder and find the enemy, take aim and get a perfect headshot. The controllers you are holding provide the buttons required for precise control and rapid feedback for hardcore gaming applications. The use of controllers is a direct response to one of the common complaints about the Kinect-the lack of accuracy. As a Kinect owner, I fully agree that the Kinect lacks the accuracy necessary for a lot of current games, though this could be related to the games that are currently available. None of the launch titles have actually offered anything similar to an FPS game, so we really can’t say how accurate it is – I’m still hopeful. Anyway, when you heard that enemy over your left shoulder you instinctively turned toward the sound, the motion camera sees the movement and turns the image viewpoint at the exact rate and direction to match your actual movement. To achieve this connection and level of realism the goggles you are wearing need to be fully incorporated into the system, offering an image that matches the limits of your own peripheral vision.
So that is my vision of the future of gaming, mostly using tech that already exists with a few improvements, maybe a few years ahead of the present. This kind of set-up is the level of integration that I am looking forward to in the future. So many games try to draw you into their world through the story, the surroundings, the music and sound effects – and then you see the edge of the tv screen, or you realise you are sitting on your couch. These limits to gaming interaction and immersion have plagued the industry for too long.
Bring on the new technology, look toward the future, and, as always, Keep on Gaming.
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