Relentless March of Technology in Our Lives - Essay Example

Topic Institute Introduction: In this dynamically changing open ended system of the world, the process of innovation continues to expedite at a feverish pace where continuous inventions act more like an influx in our lives, flooding our home with newer and better technological improvements. The gaming arena is no different and is also a part of this relentless march of technology in our lives. In the modern world today where gaming consoles are the products to have and are the major source of recreation. Gaming consoles are accompanied by an enormous amount of research and development spent not only on developing out of the box features but also to create conceptual games that boggle the human mind. Introduction of Non Conventional Interfaces: The gaming consoles that are solely non-conventional interface based are primarily introduced by three technological companies: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation’s Move and Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360. Wii was released by Nintendo on the 19th of November 2006. The distinguishing feature of Wii is its wireless controller called the Wii remote which was an imaginative introduction to the gaming world. IT was distinct at that point in time because the Wii remote was a handheld pointing device that detected movement in three dimensions. This design allowed the users of the console to approach the game in two ways: one being the traditional use of the buttons and the second being the new method of using physical gestures in order to control movements in the game.(Guardian 2012) PlayStation’s Move was introduced in the markets in September 2010. Move was motion-sensing game controller platform that was based on the technology used by the Nintendo Wii. The main part of the PlayStation Move technology is the Motion Controller with its lit sphere. This Motion controller is a wand controller that allows the user and the player to connect with the game using the controller that interacted with the PlayStation Move Eye camera through motion and position. The Eye camera tracks the position and motion of the wand with the help of inertial sensors embedded in it. Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360 can easily be considered the latest revolution in the non-conventional interface gaming. Kinect has taken the world by storm as the motion sensing input device that works together with the Xbox 360 gaming console. The device is basically a web-cam style device that detects the body motion and gestures without the need of a game controller. By using an infrared projector and camera and a special microchip to track the movement of objects and individuals in three dimensions, Kinect allows the interaction of the user through physical gestures and even spoken commands which eliminates the requirement of a game controller to supplement the detection of motion. (Guardian 2012) The History of Console Creation: Each generation of new hardware gaming console utilized the processing technology pertinent to that time. As times progressed, the rapid growth of technology guaranteed that the newer gaming console had more colors, features and more processing power, transpiring in consoles like PlayStation 2, Dreamcast, and Xbox 360. All of these can be classified as the traditional controller based gaming consoles with no orientation towards motion as an input. Furthermore it must be remembered that the after sixth generation of gaming consoles, the developmental process was geared towards producing devices that would engage the audiences through wireless controllers eliminating the constraints posed by a wired controller. These gaming consoles were then provided to the public in High Definition and Blu-Ray Disc formats ushering in a new highly engrossing vibrant and colorful video gaming experience. The developers did not stop there. Their insatiable thirst to be the pioneer of gaming technology was of great advantage to the consumers who found themselves among a myriad of gaming consoles to choose from, each with own distinct features. This led to the emergence of the Non-Conventional Gaming interfaces which used motion as an input and infrared tracking. If we look at the general trend of these non-conventional gaming interfaces, we find that technology is taking us to a place where they are trying to reduce the involvement of controllers and establish such a future of the gaming world where a person can feel more personally involved in the game. Relentless efforts are being made by the technological gurus and companies alike in order to transform the very nature and core of gaming today, personalizing it to the greatest extent. Virtual environment gaming: The controller is regarded as a person’s extension into the game where he feels powerful enough to maneuver the controller in his own way, through his own physical movement of the fingers and the hands. However at the same time, man’s quest for ultimate power over the game is somewhat restricted to the domain and the functions of the controller. In addition to this, the person must learn platform-specific skills to be able to play well in the game in the respective gaming console so his ability to operate in the virtual environment is constrained by his ability to handle the platform well and manage the controller well. Let us consider the example of Cricket where we are playing a game on the PlayStation gaming platform and we have a considerable amount of cricket knowledge to execute out of the box shots. But the platform and the game itself would prevent us from doing so due to the restraint of the shot variety embedded in the platform, so if I want to play the Dilscoop (invented by Dilshan), the platform’s setting might not allow us to due to limited involvement of real life into the virtual life (Kapp Notes 2012). The main object of research and development today where millions of dollars are being spent on research projects in order to invent such a gaming console that would entirely take the domain of personalized gaming technology to a whole new level where a person is not reined by any extraneous variables and is in complete control of his actions throughout the course of the game. These market gaps that have been correctly identified by some intellectuals and marketing gurus are now being exploited and such motion-sensing gaming consoles are hitting the market in order to fill the consumer-want generated gap. This is now being translated into the transmitting of real world experiences into the virtual environments created by gaming consoles. The latest approaches in intuitive gaming use motion to enable a new generation of designs, making games more intuitive and fun. Future of Gaming: The essence of future is such that it can be predicted based on past trends and that nothing for sure can be said about it which maintains the unpredictability of the future. Amidst the dubious future, we turn to the pioneers of technologies for their expert opinions and their critical analysis regarding the future of gaming and the gaming consoles (Reuters 2012). Hideo Kojima, one of the world’s most famous game creators, sees that in the future, gaming would exist in such a nature that people would want to take their gaming experience anywhere at their convenience, that is whatever they want to play and wherever they want to play. So he contended the bold prediction that the future of the console might be game-machine-less with the advancement of digital entertainment outside the traditional box entertainment provided by the gaming consoles His views run to a certain extent in parallel to what Mega Man co-creator and ex-Capcom head of production Keiji Inafune had to say. He stated that there would be an unprecedented growth in the gaming scope in the Smartphones which would increase great popularity in the gaming world due to their portability and flexibility which allows the owner to play a game wherever he wants, whenever he wants at his convenience. However he contends that there would be no extinction of the gaming consoles altogether because of the complete gaming experience that they provide which cannot be provisioned on a portable smartphone no matter how much the technology advances. Nick Burton who is responsible for the early development of the Kinect believes that advancements in gaming console technology would be centered on the underlying premise geared towards a smartphone model of shorter developmental periods. He says that the newer models of gaming consoles would be hovering somewhere in the middle of a Smartphone and Xbox Live (Joystiq 2012; Reuters 2012; Newarkione 2012). Conclusion: So basically in light of the above in-depth discussion where we delved into the nuances of gaming consoles, indulged in the non-conventional gaming interfaces and discussed the possible future of gaming, a number of conclusions came to our end to be analyzed and thought about. However this conclusion comes highly at the knowledge that I have acquired throughout the process of research on this topic and that it definitely contains an element of prediction made by the self. Since the nature of the future is wavering with no certainties involved a multiple approach based prediction can be given, considering the discussion mentioned above. I believe that the developers would want to take the gaming experience to the highest levels of sophistication and audience engagement and the only way to do that is to develop such a gaming machine that would lead to a minute differentiating factor between the virtual environment and the real life environment. This can be further explained by saying that users would want the fruition of their real life efforts on the screen where they are playing the game in the virtual arena. Thus, future eighth or ninth generation gaming consoles would incorporate this motion sensing element that the person would consider himself a part of the game fully. It is even predicted that the next gaming consoles that are to be taken out such as the third gaming console of Xbox is rumored to be centrally focused on this technology and same is said for Sony’s PlayStation 4 which is rumored to come out in 2015. Moving on, the second important conclusion drawn from this discussion which can considered a potential outlook of the people involved in the game technology advancement field is that of mixing the smartphone technology together with the environment created by the gaming consoles to present such a unique concept of gaming which involves portability, ease, convenience and flexibility for the owner of that gadget. If we look into the devices that are announced by the developers such as Sony, we see that Sony is in the process of developing PlayStation Vita which is more of an extension of PlayStation Portable (PSP) with new added features that will give an improved handheld gaming experience. The Nintendo DS is able to produce glasses-free stereoscopic 3D and has graphics on par with the Wii. Therefore, the future of gaming technology is somewhat ambiguous but what is apparent is that these developments would be way above the level set by the precedents employing the latest technology to produce a great masterpiece for the consumers worldwide. References Is the future of game consoles tablet-based? | Technology | guardian.co.uk . 2012. Is the future of game consoles tablet-based? | Technology | guardian.co.uk . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/nov/17/game-consoles-future-tablets. [Accessed 10 January 2012]. Inafune envisions a future where portable gaming consoles and Smartphones coexist | Joystiq. 2012. Inafune envisions a future where portable gaming consoles and Smartphones coexist | Joystiq. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/17/inafune-invisions-a-future-where-portable-gaming-consoles-and-sm. [Accessed 10 January 2012]. Japans video game visionary: the console is dying | Reuters . 2012. Japans video game visionary: the console is dying | Reuters . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/07/us-japan-kojima-idUSTRE6362GF20100407. [Accessed 10 January 2012]. . 2012. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.newarkinone.thinkhost.com/brands/promos/leading_edge/Analog_Devices_Accelerometer_4104.pdf. [Accessed 10 January 2012]. Non-Conventional Game Interfaces | Kapp Notes. 2012. Non-Conventional Game Interfaces | Kapp Notes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2011/05/non-conventional-game-interfaces/. [Accessed 10 January 2012]. Read More