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"Can We Get Any More Advance?"

Back in the good old days when the only way you could play computer games in an arcade and computers were only found in the company of the rich, computer games were although addictive they weren't up-to-todays standards.

If you got someone from just a matter of 8 years ago and put them in todays world of gaming what do you think there reaction would be? The playstation was released around about 5 and a bit years ago now ,till is selling somehow and has some of the best best availible games around to be played on.

The world of gaming has come thick and fast and now there is no turning back. Everyday something new is being designed that will take us all to the next level in gaming and promises new unseen advantages. The ability of graphics has come furthur in the last 2 years then it has in the last 20 of gaming and all because technology is becoming all that more advance.

So how far will it be before we are no longer playing on a game, but we are watching 'television'? As there is only so far you can go then you have to just start coming back. Now obviously this won't happen for a long time, but the question is how long? We've advanced way past the 64MB days and are now onto the 128MB which is not being pushed to it's legal limit.

The X-Files on the playstaion even thought not such a good game, slow and something like 5 discs, was all done by acting rather then actual computer graphics taking part. So when if ever will this be the case will games to come all around the world?

A new television channel is to be set up which has unbelievably realistic computer graphics that will have you gasping for breathe after watching your own computer generated horse run to success and earn you thousands. And this isn't so far away. This could be around by next year.

The main thing I feel that will be a disadvantage of this sheer power of computer generated graphics is the realism of the games. Realism is good but what will the impact be on people who feel like you really are shooting someone? Or you are stealing cars and murdering people?

It's something to think about, are we going to go too far? Or will it always remain the way it is now? There is one thing that is true though, the futures bright, the futures gaming.

Thanks for reading

How many ‘steps’ do you think that gaming has taken since it began? Well the first step was (obviously enough) the birth of the home entertainment system. What was that? Well there are many answers to this. The Sinclair ZX81 is the one that springs to my mind but if you picked A) the Atari or B) the Commodore 64… then you have just won £16,000. Er, right. Well yes those three answers are all correct

So what was the next step? Well that would have to be the NES. Or Nintendo Entertainment System. This console revolutionised gaming as we (as a race) knew it. It also saw Mario brought forward from arcades to home consoles. Yep the NES was definitely where proper gaming began. What next? PC’s. Yes they were built primarily for work etc but game manufacturers took advantage of the sheer power of the PC and re-revolutionised gaming. Actual flight simulations were made, Theme Park was born and gaming entered its Bronze Age.

Soon after PCs arrived and colonised the world, the SNES, Nintendo’s follow up to the NES, was revealed to the world. The graphics were considered to be the best in the business and the all round playability of games was raised. I consider the SNES to home my favourite all time game. The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening. The SNES had competition though. The Sega Megadrive was being sold worldwide on a massive scale and the Great Console Wars began. Who would have guessed that they would go on for more than a decade?

Then, gaming came to it’s silver age. The PlayStation, N64 and Dreamcast. The PlayStation was the first ‘next gen’ console. With games like Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto and Die Hard, the PlayStation hyped, advertised and pirated it’s way to the position of king of consoles. The N64, released in 1997 brought us GoldenEye. The next step was then taken with the release of GoldenEye. A new playability level was reached. The graphics were silky smooth, the gameplay slick and… well it was James Bond!

The Dreamcast opened up a new window for the great lumbering giant of gaming to fall through. The Dreamcast of course brought us internet gaming. Yeah I know this was already available on PCs but it was a first for consoles. Unfortunately Sega have now spluttered and died. So, the final step that gaming is going to take will be completed with the release of the Xbox and the GameCube.

At this point I believe that gaming can’t get any better. The periphilon will have been reached. Gaming will go into its golden stage. The graphics will look stunningly realistic and won’t be able to be improved. So, after gaming has reached its pinnacle, where the hell is it going to go next?

Well that question is one I have been pondering for a long time and I have come up with only two answers. Virtual Reality, this can be the only way that gaming can get any BETTER. The feeling of actually being there, being in game physically DOING the puzzle, swimming through the lake…etc. This is one way or the other is slightly more interesting. Or haywire. Bizarre…. Call it what the hell you want. The other answer I came up with is slightly better than reality. Actual role-play. The scenery could be made or projected, the enemies would be played by people or employees of the company who are running the game. And you could take the title role. Costume and everything, sword shield… everything. Obviously I’m describing how an adventure game would be. Shoot em ups would be twice as fun. Exactly the same, scenery enemies but with paintball guns. How fun would that be? Legging it around pretending to be James Bond with a paintball gun, catching Trevelyn and Jaws. Strategy games would be much more fun this way round. Imagine commanding a team of SWAT soldiers. Having maps and paintball guns, trying to work your way into a building. It would be bloody brilliant!

Also this way, new genres could be introduced. Decent war games could be played. With proper scenarios. Played in woodland with certain obstacles and tasks it would be superb. Obviously though you couldn’t go in with the heavy artillery. Like tanks, planes and the such, but it would still be brilliant.

Obviously not all game genres could be played like this though. Racing games would be impossible (Well, not impossible but very hard and very expensive to do) as would puzzlers. But I think that this is a small price to pay for… well, for what? Not Virtual Reality... It would be Reality Gaming. No computers would be involved so some may argue that it wouldn’t be gaming. True it wouldn’t be gaming, it’d be better than that. It’d be real.

Why doesnt game be released where everything is there (music, SFX, plot, characters etc.) but no graphics, no visual scenes or anything so that the gamer can create his/her own game :)

Too true Grix.

Well, as long as there are people out there with ideas that they can't get out of their heads. :0)

Yes, I agree Grix. They would have pushed Graphics its furthest and then they would try to do the same for audio, gameplay and the rest. Eventually, we would have the best games in the world.

The things that should have a lot more time concentrated on them will advance instead. Gameplay, lastability, plot, music. Everything that makes it more of an experience.

I would have thought that gaming popularity would decline a great sum, but the loyal fans ( like us ) will stay and persevere.

Virtual Reality, can't wait for that.

I look forward to that day. But, what will happen after the graphics can no longer advance?

Graphics will one day reach a point where they cannot be advanced anymore. That will be a great day.