Ahh, yes. It's that time of the semester, where everything starts to wrap up and we finally get answers to the question, 'Why did I take this paper?'
I was just reminiscing about one of my earliest game experiences. When I was a youngling, my parents were good friends with a guy who owned a gaming arcade; an awesome offshoot of this being we'd get a new 'spacie machine' delivered to our house every few months. The most memorable among them was 'The New Zealand Story' (pictured left), which some of you might recognise. It's a game about a kiwi called Tiki whose friends are kidnapped by a big seal, but I never managed to make it to the final boss (I was very young). How far games have come since then!
What does the future hold for games? My crazy prediction now is that we will start to see augmented reality interspersed with gaming. For example, will we see games of laser-tag in the streets with the only piece of equipment being a Bluetooth/infrared receiver on a phone, where people can just jump in via an online lobby. As augmented reality has already started to grab a hold on iPhone apps and the information market, it is only a matter of time before it fully branches out into the entertainment sector. Check out this video about an augmented reality Avatar 'card' game:
I was just reminiscing about one of my earliest game experiences. When I was a youngling, my parents were good friends with a guy who owned a gaming arcade; an awesome offshoot of this being we'd get a new 'spacie machine' delivered to our house every few months. The most memorable among them was 'The New Zealand Story' (pictured left), which some of you might recognise. It's a game about a kiwi called Tiki whose friends are kidnapped by a big seal, but I never managed to make it to the final boss (I was very young). How far games have come since then!
What does the future hold for games? My crazy prediction now is that we will start to see augmented reality interspersed with gaming. For example, will we see games of laser-tag in the streets with the only piece of equipment being a Bluetooth/infrared receiver on a phone, where people can just jump in via an online lobby. As augmented reality has already started to grab a hold on iPhone apps and the information market, it is only a matter of time before it fully branches out into the entertainment sector. Check out this video about an augmented reality Avatar 'card' game:
Perhaps casual gaming will keep increasing in popularity. Why wouldn't it, really; it's a booming industry and it has made the world of gaming accessible to millions of previously alienated masses.
Will MMO's hit other platforms (such as smartphones and iPad) and make this form of gaming a portable one? Imagine the masses of WoW players wandering the streets! Maybe the Wii and its competitors will move away from the fun playfulness and become a serious training tool for athletes? A quick Google search reveals a variety of predictions, ranging from the rise and domination of social gaming to infinite game worlds. It's a bright future out there for ludus-orientated individuals.
Happy gaming!
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