The Future of Gaming

I have to admit, I haven’t considered this question much but now I’m beginning to wonder, how can gaming change more than it already has? What direction can the industry go in next?

More recent changes consist of the very obvious, so called “next-generation” of gaming which is both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The title speaks for itself. This change in technology is still something I am in awe of and the way it is used also seems to be improving continuously.

I began to search the web for some ideas of where the gaming industry is headed and I came across some interesting results. The first theory I discovered was the concept of never-ending games. This plan has already taken form with the hugely successful “Spore”. The key idea of this game is that you start at the core and develop. Initially, you are a single-celled organism. You then evolve into a creature which you design. Then you move on to generate entire planets but it doesn’t stop there. You can then expand throughout the entire universe of Spore. So you see the possibilities are infinite.

Even though gaming is moving forward, the handheld is predicted to remain. I read a short article that envisaged the rise of the handheld PS3 or at least a handheld with the power of a PS3 . This is said to be possible by the year 2013.

Next, by the year 2018, the same website predicted the end of game consoles. However, they foretold the design of a device that projects images directly into your eyeball, causing the new generation of gaming. In the even further future, I’ve read that you will be playing games that actually learn. Beyond that, a computer package could exist that is a thousandth of the size they are now. It doesn’t stop there. In the not so far away future, the real-life matrix may be in action and also you’ll be able to download your mind into a computer. Your body dies but you live in a virtual world forever.

The evolutionary stages that the world of gaming undertakes are indeed beyond impressive but will this ever be enough? What else can they think about that can make your gaming experience more real, even if it is potentially dangerous? I respect the developers though because it must be a huge pressure being part of a group who are responsible for keeping the world of gaming from falling apart.

Now, I should add a little more detail into my personal gaming profile. This time I’m going to write about my future of gaming and what I’m looking forward to. In the future I like the idea of never-ending games. I think it would be better for people like me perhaps who don’t get addicted to games easily. I don’t like to spend a lot of time playing games. I also like the thought of owning a handheld with the power of the current “next-gen” systems. The rest I’m not completely sure about.

In terms of games I’m looking forward to playing, well there are quite a few. First off, I’m so excited about the release of “Tomb Raider Underworld” which I think is November 21st. Good times. I’m also waiting for “Final Fantasy XIII” and “Final Fantasy Versus XIII”, “Disgaea 3”, “Resident Evil 5” and “Bioshock”. There are more but these are my particular favourites at the moment.




Right now there are a lot of exciting things to look forward to but there are some that are more enthusing than others. Here is where I stop. Thank you for reading.

Gaming in the 80's

A lot happened in the 80’s concerning the ever growing industry of computer games. It is the decade that saw the dawn of the third generation of gaming but that didn’t come without its downfalls. In 1983, North America suffered huge losses leading to the collapse of several companies. It was named the “crash” of the video game industry, although now it has obviously recovered.

Computer games started to undergo huge advances and in the early 1980’s and the forever famous platformer arrived. One of the earliest platform games was Donkey Kong and it was developed and released in 1981 by Nintendo. The following year came the release of even more winning titles such as Jungle King, Pitfall and Moon Patrol, so as you can see, even in the space of a year the platform genre flourished remarkably.

By the end of the 80’s, famous games such as Super Mario Bros, Pacman, Metroid and Mega Man were available and all of these titles even went on to release sequels. This was the second biggest change in games during the 1980’s because this is when the industry began to produce famous names... well, famous at least to any gamer. But the biggest change, the change that altered the way people played games is where they were brought into the household making them more available to potential fans.

I wrote last time a quick brief about my own gaming history but now I’m going to shed a little more light onto where my interests lie. When I was younger my tastes were quite limited. I became obsessed with the Tomb Raider series when I got my hands on my own Playstation after over a year of playing on my cousins. But having my own PS1 awakened me to other genres. For instance, the first game I opened on Christmas day when I got my Playstation was Resident Evil 2. Perhaps not the most suitable game for a 10 year old but never mind.

So after I grew a fondness for the survival-horror genre, I branched even further. My childhood friend introduced to the awesome Final Fantasy series, starting with FF7. I still love the series now and I’m clearly not the only one since they’re now working hard to release the 13th in the collection. Final Fantasy is the reason why I RPG’S are my favourite genre of all.

I’m going to stop here because I don’t want to give too much away too soon but also because I’ve gone over my word limit. Oops.

Thank you for reading, I’ll update soon.

Where Gaming Began...

Despite what a lot of people may think, including myself initially, the history of computer games stretches way back to the late 1940’s. As to which game was the first to be created is even today widely debated among the professionals. However upon research I have conducted, I have learnt that the first electronic game ever made was in 1947 by Thomas Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. The game didn’t have a name that I know of but the device it was played on was called a cathode ray tube.

Other games that saw the birth of the gaming industry were the likes of Nim which was made by a leading UK electrical engineering company called Ferranti in 1951.Next came OXO, made in 1952 by Alexander Douglas and it was made for the EDSAC computer.

These were the earliest contributions to the once delicate world of gaming. These games were followed a few years later by the likes of Tennis for two, Spacewar! and the legendary Pong. I guess you might say that all these people are accountable for making computers instruments of entertainment, beside their other functions that is. Now I am supposed to say whether this seems significant and where I would say that this change in technology is important, a lot of people would have no problem disagreeing with me.

I have been playing on computer games for as long as I can remember. This began with Super Mario on the NES and currently I am playing on Soul Calibur 4 on my PS3 and I’ve also began to go through Tomb Raider Anniversary again. But what happened from then to now is pretty extensive. After Super Mario my sisters and I began to play on our Sega Megadrive with games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Streetfighter. I would go around to my cousin’s house quite a lot because he had a Playstation. It was there that I discovered Tomb Raider and straight away I knew I had found one of my most favourite games. Even now it is a personal classic of mine and I am eagerly awaiting the release of Tomb Raider Underworld, the first of the series to go next-gen.

Anyway, after I discovered Tomb Raider I finally got a PS1 of my own. It was Christmas and I had been nagging my poor mum for months. Then my friend introduced me to another personal favourite, Final Fantasy VII. From there I discovered many new games but none were as important as the next leap in gaming evolution which was the PS2. I was getting older and my taste in games was expanding broadly. For example, I made a hasty and worthwhile purchase in GTA3 and other games I fell in love with were Burnout, God of War and Disgaea, to name a few.

Now I own a PS3 and I have continued to follow the development of my favourite games. The evolution of computer games is the core reason that I have carried on playing and it’s the reason I am going to keep on playing, to assure that I witness all future advancement the gaming industry makes.

Welcome

So here is the first entry of my first blog and it may be obvious that I'm currently a blogging amateur, however I don't think it will be long until I've found my feet and feel comfortable with writing for my audience.

The purpose of this blog is to record all of my discoveries, which ultimately fuel my passion for computer games. I hope that my personal style of writing will draw the eye of young people like me, nonetheless, it would be amazing if my blog attracted people of any age group.

I know that this is a relatively short entry but I hope you find Dan's Pod interesting and furthermore, that you choose to follow my research. Thank you for reading.

Watch this space!