Ten More Years for Gaming

Video games have been around for 30 years and counting, and it's hard to believe how far we've gotten in that time. Every single stride in gaming history I feel is impressive and says good things about the future. The above image shows the in-game character design of Nintendo giants Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong. As you can see, there have been DRASTIC improvements since then, and will continue to be in the future. But what does the future contain?

For almost all of these 30 years of gaming, games have focused on gameplay and graphics. Granted, graphics can get a lot better and character movement can get a lot smoother, but aside from graphics, the gaming industry is starting to re-define the controller. As seen through the Nintendo Wii, a controller does not strictly have to be a device with buttons to simply press, then a response will happen within the game. The Nintendo in particular are taking gaming to the "next level" by making them more "natural", or analog. And that simple word, analog, is where I feel gaming is going in the future.

The Nintendo Wii has the appeal of old and young alike, more so than its main competitors, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is because of its intrinsic ability to be simple. Nintendo has always been about this, and hit the nail on the head with the Wii. Many Wii games are assisted with the help of the Wii remote's ability to detect movement in three dimensions. For example, instead of pressing a button to shoot in a game, with the Wii one would point the remote at the screen and pull the trigger. A much more human way to pretend to kill people.

In the future, gaming will continue to thrive on analog experiences to the point of virtual reality. I feel that in ten years, console gaming will be completely redefined. I do not think that the controller will go away, as there is a certain appeal to it, but video will games thrive to be real. Augmented reality already uses tactics to interact with the real world very closely. I feel that there will be a bridge between this and virtual reality. To sum it up, in ten years gaming graphics will be "real life", the controller will be an option, getting involved will be a more analog idea than ever before, and long-awaited dream of virtual reality may be a reality.