Future Developments of Video Games Essay

The field of pic coarse-graineds is one of the intimately exciting because it is constantly mounting and advancing so quickly. Un equivalent a lot of atomic number 18as of ICT which surrender reached a direct of stability, totally plane sections of games, gambling and games using be still growing and im discontinue continue to grow. This means there is the potential for indivi doubles to puzzle all told new- do ideas and be the number 1 to force something in the field.The popularity of games is growing exponentially, with much and more people discovering an interest and passion for games all the beat. A game straight will reach a much larger, international audience and games developers fag bring enjoyment to a vast array of people.Console manufacturers, games developers and different involved in the game industry and nonoriously secretive astir(predicate) new projects creation true until they atomic number 18 almost ready for declaration and release and tied(p) then some clocks games and products drive out be off at the last minute. all(prenominal) employees working in the industry have to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) most of the time which forbids them legally from show any of their companys secrets. Releasing any information approximately a product could potentially jeopardise its sales.Technology evolves in amazingly rapid speeds. If you need any real observable proof of the rapid advancement of digital technology over the years, take a emotional state at the free rein industry. From the very early years of black-and-white 2D games like Pong (1972) to the first 3D game, 3D Monster internal ear in 1981, and from primitive first-person shooters like Wolfenstein 3D (1992) to complex, life-like shooters like Battlefield 3 (2011), theres no doubt that the bid industry has seen its fine sh argon of technological evolution.Hardware DevelopmentsEach new generation of comfort hardware made use of the rapid develo pment of bear upon technology. Newer machines could create a greater range of colours, more sprites, and introduced graphical technologies much(prenominal) as scaling, and vector art. One way cabinet put forwardrs marketed these advances to consumers was through the measurement of pungencys. The TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis, and SNES were among the first consoles to advertise the fact that they contained 16-bit processors. This fourth generation of console hardware was much referred to as the 16-bit era, and the previous generation as the 8-bit.The bit-value of a console referred to the denomination length of a consoles processor (although the value was sometimes mis employ, for event the TurboGrafx 16 had only an 8-bit CPU, and the Genesis/Mega Drive had the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000, yet both had a 16-bit dedicated graphics processor). As the graphical execution of instrument of console hardware is dependent on many an(prenominal) factors, using bits was a crude way to gauge a consoles overall ability. For pattern the NES, Commodore 64, Apple II, and Atari 2600 all use a very akin 8-bit cpu. The difference in their processing power is due to former(a) causes. For example the Commodore 64 contains 64 kilobytes of RAM and the Atari has much less at 128 bytes of RAM.The rebel from 8 bit machines to 16 bit machines to 32 bit machines made a noticeable difference in performance, so consoles from certain generations are frequently referred to as 8 bit or 16 bit consoles. However, the bits in a console are no longer a major factor in their performance. The Nintendo 64, for example has been outpaced by several 32 bit machines.Its only inevitable that gaming hardware is handout to constantly be improved, with more processing power, graphics capabilities, sound bore and memory capacity.The input method using a ascendance has drastically developed over the years beginning with a clunky restraint and simple joystick on arcade games, the video game co ntroller has evolved to be ergonomically intentional to feel comfortable to avoid injuries such(prenominal) as the ones in the repetitive strain injury group or carpal bone tunnel syndrome. Most modern controllers are designed with the relaxed position of the turn over in mind, resulting in the pronged design that reduces soreness and cramps after increase use, compared to older pads such as the NES or the Sega Master System. on that point are still a vast array of input methods to create an even more immersive experience, these include steering wheel, pedals, light guns, dance pads, balance jury, fishing rod, microphone and rhythm game controllers (drums and guitars). Many of these have been specifically designed to be used for a certain game or gaming series, such as guitar hero for example. The evolution of the controller to include more buttons proves that video games themselves are advancing as more buttons are call for to complete different tasks within the game.New inp ut methods are beingness developed to gear up the gaming experience more enjoyable and interactive, such as being able to control the character by carcass movement with sensor pads or clothing such as gloves. This casing of input method can be seen back in the EyeToy for Playstation 2 which used a video camera. Most recently this market had been interpreted by storm with the introduction of the Wii and its totally unique controls. Many console manufactures have adopted this technique can be seen in the Playstation draw and the Xbox Kinect which both involve the fraud as a means of tyrannical the game instead of pressing buttons. This means of input is being pushed former by many of the console manufacturers as it removes the stigma of video games being only for people who sit down all day and are lazy, and they are also seen as an alternative to exercising.The gaming industry has helped develop graphics and sound technology that can be incorporated as VR (Virtual Reality). A n early 1990s attempt at a head commit for console gaming and for hobbyists, was made by Future Vision Technologies. A modern example would be the Wii where the controller tracks and sends motion input accurately. There is also a new VR headset system in development designed specifically for gaming called the Oculus jailbreak. The headset provides approximately a 110 degree field of view, exacting head orientation tracking, USB interface and a 1200800 resolution with the final consumer discrepancy scramed at 19201080. Some of the proximo games that will support the Oculus Rift includes Doom 4, Strike Suit Zero, Team Fortress 2, Miner Wars 2081, Minecraft and many more. Virtual truth has always been something that was portrayed in movies and television shows as something that will be the future of gaming. Attempts at creating it in the past tense have not shown popular results. However, it is something which is befitting more of a reality as technology advances, although whet her we will ever reach the point of it becoming the standard of gaming is yet to be seen.Software DevelopmentThe aim of software development is usually to reach a new level of realism or immersion. As processing power and memory increase, raise art and animation are able to be created. This allows images and movement to be more realistic.In the early days of first-person shooters, non-player characters (NPCs) had the intelligence of nicely travel rocks. But theyve been getting much better lately look no further than Half-Lifes storytelling NPCs and Unreal Tournaments brilliant bot AI. The market success of titles such as these has prompted developers to put more enterprise into AI, so it looks as if smarter NPCs will continue to show up in games.AI researchers rarely use calculating machine games for their research, outside of classic board and card games such as chess, checkers, and bridge. Possibly they see most game AI problems as simple engineering problems. This view has not been completely un meetified because often the goal of game AI is not to create intelligence, but to improve gameplay through the illusion of intelligent behaviour. Many of the techniques used to improve the illusion of intelligence have nothing to do with intelligence, but involve cheats, such as giving game AIs extra output capability or the ability to see through walls, or faking it by creating bots that talk to each early(a) but completely ignore what is said. There also has been a drift in AI research toward problems and approaches where diminutive empirical evaluation is possible. Needless to say, gameplay isnt something that todays AI researchers feel comfortable evaluating.Although there is currently a significant cranny between game developers and AI researchers, that gap is starting to close. The inevitable skirt of Moores law is starting to free up significant processing power for AI, especially with the advent of graphics cards that move the graphics processing off the CPU. The added CPU power will make more complex game AI possible. Still, game developers should still be careful of AI researchers who say, My algorithm doesnt run in real time right at one time, but just wait. In a few more years, Im sure the processing power will be there.A second, equally powerful force that is closing the gap is sociological. Students who grew up loving computing device games are getting advanced degrees in AI. This has the dual effect of bringing game research to universities and university research to game companies already there are at least five AI Ph.D.s at game companies. AI researchers are discovering that building interesting unreal characters in computer games is much more than just an engineering problem. Moreover, games provide cheap, robust, immersive environments for pursue many of the core AI issues. They could be the catalyst for a metempsychosis in research on human-level AIThe final force is the game-playing public, who are starti ng to demand better AI. With the saturation in the quality of computer graphics, better physics and AI are the two technologies that have the most potential to improve gameplay. Players are looking for more realistic AIs to harp their worlds with interesting non-player characters (as in The Sims) and humanlike opponents who must be out-thought and not just out-shot (and who dont cheat). AI can also provide moral force game control, adjusting the gameplay based on how the game is played. Imagine playing a first-person shooter where the AI not only reacts to your behaviour, but also anticipates your actions by using an internal model of the way you play the game to make its plan.It also adjusts its skill at the tactical level to match yours, so that the game is never a blowout for either side. What can computer game developers do to hasten the collaboration of developers and AI researchers? The most beta thing is to make commercial computer game interfaces available to AI researcher s. Developers of games such as Unreal, Quake, and Half-Life publish DLLs, making it possible for not only hobbyists but also AI researchers to build bots that play games. If developers from other genres such as real-time strategy games follow suit, you would see an detonation of research on AI for these games. Game developers can also juncture AI researchers in discussing AI problems and solutions in open forums. There is straightaway a yearly symposium sponsored by the American Association for Artificial experience (AAAI) on AI and interactive entertainment that brings together game developers and AI researchers. Building good AIs is hard and difficult work.Automated learning approaches such as neural nets and genetic algorithms can tune a clear-cut set of behavioural parameters, but they are grossly inadequate when it comes to creating synthetic characters with complex behaviours automatically from scratch. There is no magic in AI, however for the magic that emerges when a gr eat programmer works very hard. With the development of artificial intelligence, NPC characters are becoming cleverer. It is predicted that this AI will continue to passing play more and more realistic opponents who can think almost like a human. New TechnologiesIt is becoming more popular to connect the Xbox 360 to a Windows PC, which is easily possible as both are Microsoft products. XNA is a set of tolls which allowed games to be built for Xbox and tested through this connectivity. Where hobbyists had been frowned upon by consol manufacturers in the past, Microsoft are positively encouraging homebrew gaming. They run competitions to find newly developed XNA games and release them on Xbox Live Arcade. This is not only evidence of the future of homebrew games and hobbyist being accepted, but it also signals the integration of console with other media equipment with the seventh generation being best known for major consoles bifurcate out into other types of media rather than solel y focusing on games. All three consoles offer basic abilities such as photo-viewing, listening to harmony and browsing the web, as well as the ability to connect to outside memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards.The Xbox 360s videodisk player was plagued by quality issues but other media options became available later such as an external HD-DVD drive (now a dead standard), Zune downloadable content, Netflix float and Last.fm network radio. PlayStation 3, on the other hand, offered HD movie playback out of the box via Blu-ray in growth to later services like Netflix streaming, and Qriocity music.This new generation for the first time has all of the major consoles focusing on online integration. All three have their own connection services Wiis Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network. Competition has branched now from simply offering the best games to the best online content smaller games can now be purchased and downloaded from online stores within t he consoles, and extra applications such as Netflix streaming and Facebook connectivity are heavily supported. Almost all games sold in sell have online support, including online multiplayer and downloadable content for bug patches and new indications, potentially increasing rematch value in certain games for even years.Another notable feature in current-gen gaming is the use of avatar characters. Nintendo first introduced Miis with the Wii console, caricatures of players that could be created and used in flagship titles such as Wii Sports however they lack the ability to make that Xboxs avatars have, as clothes and accessories can be purchased online or unsecured in games played. PlayStation 3, instead of an in-game character, offers PlayStation Home, a social simulator where avatars can talk and explore, and customize their homes with elements from games played. This basic idea allows the person playing the games to have a more personalised feel to their console and that the y have become truly merged with it.The console is becoming a central element that is integrated into a whole media system. People whitethorn become to get rid of their stereos and DVD players as this one central piece of equipment makes many other defunct. It may even be that in the future the console is the integral part for controlling a house, including the lighting, temperature and other devices.With more reliable and faster profit connections, the technology of cloud computing has begun to gain some momentum. The Sims creator provide Wright embraces the idea of cloud gaming as a crucial part of the future of the industry. For one thing, the gaming industry sees it as an opportunity to make games as easy to access as music and movies.