The Future of Games and Possible Problems

[Jarrid]

It has been going on for a while now with major MMO games. People are having troubles with having a productive live to absolutely doing nothing but involving themselves with a videogame. I know this as well as I am sure some of you here have been so attached to a game, reality and the things around you seem like they are not there at all. I remember this when I played Final Fantasy XI. I did nothing but play that game. I would rarely leave the house unless it was for more Mountain Dew and cigarettes.

I do have a question for everyone, however. We can all look back and see how much things have changed within games. Everything has improved so much, and a lot of things are now available such as online capabilities that nobody would had thought of back in the day. I believe with the way technology is going, and how much things are improving everyday, what are videogames going to be like in the future? Are they going to be so realistic in a sense that what you are visualizing is not on a TV screen, but through eye-glasses (or whatever) that enable you to have a virtual-realistic view around you interfering with different people across the globe? From just a what we have now like a vibrating controller, to something that effects your entire nervous system when you are hit in a certain spot? There are tons of other things to list as well.

I do find all of this very exciting if it were to say come true, and I truly believe it will in the near future, but think about all of the psychological problems people are going to have. It is scary to think that somebody could actually think that they are alive in this or that game instead of what they really are. I do see how many MMORPGs and such things like that are already having an impact on people, but to think that a game could cause somebody to be so confused to the point where they do not know the difference between reality and a game is very disturbing in a way.

What are your takes on the future of videogames? Do you find this could happen in the future, or do you already see it now?

[Atlas]

I remember the warning FFXI gave before you played. It said something about how players shouldn't neglect their own lives and should be careful about how much they play. I laughed, but it was true -- people get way into the false-reality and after a while it consumes them until they burn out (like most of us have).

[Siyama]

Is it possible that all this happened to you guys alone? And you end up generalizing the situation, thinking that everyone had the same problem?

Well, when I was playing RPG games, I went on doing all sort of things - learning Japanese language, learning Martial Arts, go out with my friends, go to the movies, go and window shopping and so on.

So, it is not the problem of the game, but it is more toward the mentality of the gamers. They are just too addicted and possibily don't have other things to do with their time.

[Raidou]

Q: The future of video gaming industry?
A: More recycling of previous ideas, and more recycling of previous ideas.

[Sushi_b]

I do have a question for everyone, however. We can all look back and see how much things have changed within games. Everything has improved so much, and a lot of things are now available such as online capabilities that nobody would had thought of back in the day. I believe with the way technology is going, and how much things are improving everyday, what are videogames going to be like in the future? Are they going to be so realistic in a sense that what you are visualizing is not on a TV screen, but through eye-glasses (or whatever) that enable you to have a virtual-realistic view around you interfering with different people across the globe? From just a what we have now like a vibrating controller, to something that effects your entire nervous system when you are hit in a certain spot? There are tons of other things to list as well.

The Matrix?

It's really exciting but also scary to think that we could all be logged into a computer program and living life that way. It wouldn't be bad if we had the control to do what we wanted to in that simulation and such, but people might have trouble drawing the lines of reality and fantasy. It could become detrimental to someone's life. If we all understood how to control our emotions and behaviours with such a system, it would be really cool.




Raido, I think we all could say the very same thing for the Movie industry. Which has been tapping into old TV shows, old Movies and the like for all of it's "ideas" in the past decade or so. Seems to be much worse then the game industry at times.

[Raidou]

Raido, I think we all could say the very same thing for the Movie industry. Which has been tapping into old TV shows, old Movies and the like for all of it's "ideas" in the past decade or so. Seems to be much worse then the game industry at times.

The motion picture industry is worst. The recent Departed was taken from a HK release earlier. And all those horror Korean movies and even horror Thai movies are turned into deviated work in English by the Hollywood. Have they no shame huh? Lazy too!

[Priest4hire]

"Actually our work depends on how much we can appropriate from other people's work! Painting, music, films, literature . . . it's all grist for the mill. We think of our work not as individual creativity but like a lifelong baton relay. Your work passes through your body and your life; you transform it into something, and then you pass it on to the next generation." - Hayao Miyazaki

I think it's going to be a while before we manage a true simulated reality--one in which it's no longer possible to distinguish reality from virtual. Yet what exactly is the difference between a flawless virtual world and the real one? We can't even say for 100% that we aren't in some sort of simulation. Think of the benefits of ignoring reality such as effective immortality and freedom far beyond what the 'real world' can offer. If we really can build a Matrix then I think it would be a defensible position to prefer it.

For the immediate future I'm thinking games will show diminishing returns unless some new method of creating 3D graphics is developed. Real simulation is the holy grail but it's a ways off yet. Virtual reality is cool but the technology still has issues and it's never going to achieve Matrix like immersion. That would require a neural interface. I don't think that people being unable to distinguish reality from game is a serious issue now or in the immediate future. That kind of talk just reminds me of all the Dungeons & Dragons silliness.

[Raidou]

Seriously, IMO I think Augmented reality is the future of gaming. Imagine playing paint ball anywhere you want in the real world using this technology. Cool. Totally awesome I say.