Future of video and computer gaming...

[Danielos]

The history of video- and computer games are fascinating. I was born in the early 70s and experienced the first basic steps into the wonder of games (Pong, Pacman, Space Invaders). Now, we have games with incredibly advanced 3D graphics and advanced EAX sound (Crysis, Bioshock, Oblivion). In 30 years the advances in technology have been staggering.

So what will the next 10-20 years be like? I imagine as technology gets more and more advanced it will get more difficult to take huge leaps forward anymore. Will we ever see games with movie-quality graphics (photo-realism)? I assume since movies have made very realistic CGI-creations that is it possible, but will ordinary personal computers be able to handle it? Is it possible for economic reasons to put that much resources and effort into games to create realistic worlds?

How will the physics and sound develop? Grand Theft Auto 4 create many of the characters animations with the engine and are not pre-rendered. This is a fascinating breakthrough...

You may also ponder what genres will dominate in the future. In the day of C64 shoot´em ups and platform games dominated. With the Amiga we got turn-based strategy games and graphical adventure games. Now, the market is dominated by RPGs, RTS and FPS.

Will some of these genres die off and new ones emerge? How will the online gaming develop? Will new advances in interactivity emerge? For example, Battlefield 2 introduced a squad that interacted live with head-sets.

 

[Grisu]

If you want to be pessimistic you'd say that graphics and sound effects will continue to improve, while story/depth will continue to evaporate

 

[Danielos]

If you want to be pessimistic you'd say that graphics and sound effects will continue to improve, while story/depth will continue to evaporate

Yes, as games get more and more expensive to develop, they tend to get "dumber" and more mainstream. Of course, there are some brilliant exceptions like Civ 4 and Hearts of Iron 2.

I feel sad about the decline of the old adventure game genre , though. I loved the Monkey Island games, and think that with the technology of today, it would be possible to make an absolutely awesome, non-linear Monkey Island game...

 

[Tee Kay]

I feel sad about the decline of the old adventure game genre , though. I loved the Monkey Island games, and think that with the technology of today, it would be possible to make an absolutely awesome, non-linear Monkey Island game...

Well, that's when a little modding comes in handy.

If Spore is anything to go by, I'd say future games are going to be more customisable and gameplay will be more flexible.

 

[GoodGame]

I think eventually physics cards will be mainstream successful as the 3D games continue to push the cutting edge of PCs.

Procedural generation of animation seems to be a new hot item (Spore at least; not familar with GTA4 using that).

Casual games are likely to become more common as computers are populating the planet more and more. I think PC gaming is at risk of becoming very niche--with most of the games limited to the pushing the cutting edge. The main problems with PC gaming are issues of piracy, malware, and DRM making running a gaming computer more difficult for Joe average; Consoles have nearly zero risk of those problems. A very cheap, highly competent console system could potentially outcompete the PC, maybe within the next two generations.

Overall I think games will become more immersive (audiovisual wall panels, force feedback, 3D body sensors, Wifi communicators) and more cross-genre comprehensive (e.g. Spore, a role-playing FPS hybrid, a role-playing hybrid of Civ, etc..). As said above, in-game modding (e.g. Spore) will likely become more common; Modding in general will become more accessible to the average user.

Any decline in setting/story depth is likely cultural. But it is curious that solo puzzle-adventure games are mostly only found at the indie level. Probably to a degree the MMORPGs have sucked up that market--though I wonder if anyone reads quest stories.

How will the physics and sound develop? Grand Theft Auto 4 create many of the characters animations with the engine and are not pre-rendered. This is a fascinating breakthrough...



Will some of these genres die off and new ones emerge? How will the online gaming develop? Will new advances in interactivity emerge? For example, Battlefield 2 introduced a squad that interacted live with head-sets.

 

[Rashiminos]

We'll run into more brick walls in hardware developments (a la P4 heat) and have to redesign the cooling system to be more effective than fans and more user-friendly than liquid cooling.

To continue the rate of innovation, new gameplay interfaces will be designed. A slowdown in graphical development, but an inundation of new ways to interact (a la WiiMote).

 

[GoodGame]

IIRC, there are self-contained water-cooling systems that require minimal installation. Thinner chip processes are pretty much guaranteed and have been minimizing heat---e.g. the current 45nm processes

 

[Mowque]

think Matrix....

 

[Harald]

Yes, as games get more and more expensive to develop, they tend to get "dumber" and more mainstream. Of course, there are some brilliant exceptions like Civ 4 and Hearts of Iron 2.

I feel sad about the decline of the old adventure game genre , though. I loved the Monkey Island games, and think that with the technology of today, it would be possible to make an absolutely awesome, non-linear Monkey Island game...

Yeah the death of adventure games is a sad one. Unfortunately RPG:s seem to be heading the same way, mostly due to hybridization and to some part loss of interesting and deep storyline´s.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Hey, there's hope for Fallout 3, I'd say. FO2 was a masterpiece of open-ended gaming, especially if you used the unofficial patches.

 

[Murky]

There will be multiple threads of innovation with hardware and software. Yes, we can make kick ass gaming systems, but at a high cost and power consumption rate. We can also make our computers more mobile and more efficient. On one front, you'll have the power hungry gaming desktops that cost around $4000 and make your electric meter spin like a disco ball. On another front, you'll have a mobile computer that fits in the palm of your hand that can do gaming well enough to keep you from being bored. Games will be developed for both and for all things in between. The majority of new software will be written with the concept of doing more with less.

 

[Onionsoilder]

Hey, there's hope for Fallout 3, I'd say. FO2 was a masterpiece of open-ended gaming, especially if you used the unofficial patches.

I agree. It seems that F3 will be even more open-ended then Oblivion, which was pretty open-ended to begin with.

 

[Fifty]

Software is rapidly approaching a complexity ceiling!!!

 

[Bigfoot3814]

Nick Swardson knows.

 

[Till]

If you want to be pessimistic you'd say that graphics and sound effects will continue to improve, while story/depth will continue to evaporate

Fortunately tools continue to improve so that only small teams are required to make a functional game. I think there will be a growing amount of independent developers producing creative games for all the niche markets that are being abandoned by the big studios.

 

[Danielos]

The major breakthrough I wish for now is in AI. Just imagine a game like Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights or the Sims where all NPCs are independent "beings". What if other sims went shopping, expanded their house and went out and made friends and dated? What if a RPG not involved "quests" anymore, but the story is being progressed through independent actions by "intelligent" NPCs? Very few scripted sequences, no linear gameplay, no quests! This would mean that every game would be a completely new, unique experience and the replayability would be immense.

Oblivion was on to something with "Radiant AI", but the Ai would have to be a lot more radiant than that in the future...

 

[Masquerouge]

If there is one thing I disagree with, it's that games are now dumbed down and all about graphics. That's simply not true. For some reason people have that "Golden Age of video games" myth in their heads, but the stories were not significantly better - or worse - 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago.

Trouble is, people only remember the good games of an era and quickly forget about the 95% other crappy games.

Anyway, I think a big trend for coming games, enabled by better hardware, is much more interactivity. Not only will you be able to play with other human players, but you will play more and more with user-created content. Imagine a MMORPG where each player has the ability to create quests, monsters, places and such...

 

[WerBackIII]

Take a look at Portal. No story (or something said, like the end song from the computer), but a really gorgorious idea and good recreation. Finally, we ended up waiting for Portal 2. And not to forget - this was actually a modification for HL2.

I think we should be optimistic. Story is not everything, the better thing is the concept, which was little dead lately, but now we are getting better and better games. Just hope that Darth EA will die. Just. Hope.

 

[JtheJackal]

Take a look at Portal. No story (or something said, like the end song from the computer), but a really gorgorious idea and good recreation. Finally, we ended up waiting for Portal 2. And not to forget - this was actually a modification for HL2.

I think we should be optimistic. Story is not everything, the better thing is the concept, which was little dead lately, but now we are getting better and better games. Just hope that Darth EA will die. Just. Hope.

Portal did have a story. Remember where you the character had to escape from a deserted scientific facility and avoid being killed by a homicidal computer. That was all the Portal's story.

It probably didn't seem like a normal video game storyline because it didn't involve saving the world in any way.

 

[sourboy]

Virtual Reality. No doubt.

We have had visual goggles for some time now. We have the Wii for movement effects. We've had gloves and chest pieces for multiple uses. And per the Science Channel, I just watched a recent documentary about a VR that's used on a course (much like that of a driving course), where the goggles render images on the real life background. Fascinating.