As someone that's passionate about the gaming industry and the technological advancement of video games I often wonder about what the near future holds for the global gaming community. Having an endless set of options and possibilities the truth is the industry could go in any direction. http://b3.zcubes.com/v.aspx?mid=11580334 have written with this blog recently about Virtual Reality, its applications and limitations and I truly believe that Virtual Reality is where the gaming industry is naturally heading. Gamers are looking for a more immersive experience when it comes to gaming, this is evident with releases from the three game giants Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony in the form of the Wiimote, Project Natal and the Sony Motion Controller (yet to be officially named). I really believe these control systems are simply the beginning in the industry's search for a fully immersive video game experience and we can expect some much larger developments in the future. Our desire for an immersive gaming experience originates from an inner have to escape from the stress and worries of real life and the necessity to spice up our lives with adventure, video games can provide that and I really believe will provide that to some extent. Although Virtual Reality isn't a new technology I believe it will create a revolution in the gaming industry and provide a complete new era of development. The reason why we're not seeing it emerge in the market yet is down to the enormous cost to implement the technology and because of this I believe that gaming arcades will experience a revival. Even in the future the price of Virtual Reality will obviously reduce but the price it's still significant so it's unlikely we'll visit a full home application for Virtual Reality for some time. I believe this can result in in what I like to call the VRcade (most likely not an original name), a video game arcade arranged in booths kitted out with the equipment required for an immersive gaming experience where the customers pay each hour to employ a Virtual Reality simulation booth. Imagine combining technologies like the omni-directional treadmill, voice recognition, motion sensors and Virtual Reality and applying them to a VR booth in the conceptual VRcade. You'd have almost a fully immersive gaming experience enabling you to walk, run or crawl in a virtual environment and be able to speak and interact with computer generated characters. You could even interact and talk to real life characters in the virtual environment by networking the VR booths. This concept might seem generations away but just by looking at Xbox's upcoming control system Project Natal you can view that already a lot of the technologies required for the virtual reality experience is there. Voice recognition has been developed to a sophisticated stage, motion sensor technology is now highly advanced and computer graphics have reached an even where they're close to photorealism. It again comes down to cost of implementation and the amount of time and money it would take to create a new gaming platform of this magnitude and apply it to gaming arcades. It could be a large gamble to take a project of the description on and this gaming experience obviously wouldn't be available to everyone because the VRcades would have to be located in areas with a high population density to be profitable. It really is highly unlikely that we'll see anything such as this being developed in the immediate future but I believe VR technology would be the saving grace of the video game arcade and will offer an experience far superior to the one you can get from a home console or computer. Eventually https://diigo.com/0suxyk 'm sure VR will fully integrate itself into the home and advancements in technology will provide an experience like the VRcade but I imagine a fully immersive VR system for the bedroom is decades away which is a complete different article to write. I shall be keeping a close eye on VR technology as I'm almost sure that VR may be the inevitable future for the gaming industry.
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