5 Ways Tech Can Improve our Game Development
A brilliant debate to have among fellow gamers this coming weekend, when you gather in cyberspace with a selection of new live games to try, is what effect the burgeoning development in tech is having on your ability to progress as a gamer.
According to European Business Review, the tech space has succeeded in streamlining and refining online gaming over the past few years, to the point where you won’t always be able to tell the difference between reality and imagination – or, even, fantasy. Gaming is used to educate people in highly diverse fields – from being an airline pilot to performing medical surgery – and mobile gaming is an area of increasing development because of a restless youth population who want to learn and do, on the move.
In fact, many folk over 40 forget that Gen Z has never known a world without “the internet, smartphones, and various high-tech gadgets”, and the future of gaming seems set on increasing integration of the real world – in the form of augmented reality (AR) – into the games we choose to play. There are many other games to try you can download and try.
What do you think will emerge from this debate, as regards the way in which tech can and is making the future of gaming so bright and bushy tailed? According to the experts, here are a few probabilities:
Life moves On
Being able to play when travelling, via a mobile device or wearable, can only enhance what you are capable of because it means more hours spent at it – and hours well spent, such as when you’re in an airport lounge, in transit, on a flight, bus, boat, train, tram or tube.
Wearables used to be just for fitness fanatics, but the technology is now extending to entertainment in a good way; it’s not invasive in the same way a bigger screen, or louder noises, can be.
Also on the topic of mobility, you’re no longer confined to an arcade, or your own lounge at home, as you can enjoy the consoles you know and love in the palm of your hand – whenever, wherever. Mobile technology essentially makes you a better gamer because you don’t have to be a “hardcore console consumer” to get your fix.
Graphics be the grandest
Next up, there’s no denying the way in which cutting-edge graphics allow gamers to take on challenges in as realistic a world as possible. In fact, say the Mentalfloss dudes, “The ability to increase playability with higher image quality makes it seem like you’re right inside the game.” And what about the go-to standard in the way in which we can watch, or take in, our favorite games? Today, we’re approaching levels of color and crispness that may never be beaten in the future – assuming you already have a TV with 4K capabilities.
Fortunately, their prices have come down in recent times too: win-win. If you’re ultra-competitive, you may also want to check out a YouTube video, “Does high frames per second (FPS) make you a better gamer – favorite moments”. FPS, by the way, is a measure of the number of consecutive full-screen images that are displayed per second. Techterms.com says it’s a common specification used in video capture and playback and is also used to measure video-game performance.
Recognition, praise and reward
Facial, voice, gesture? Name the type of recognition and let’s analyze how it may serve to enhance your gaming prowess. If you want to play “as you”, 3D scanning and facial recognition will see you taking part via an avatar with your same glowing blonde locks, or small black goatee – the sky’s the limit.
As far as voice recognition goes, you can now turn on, turn off, control gameplay, interact socially (such as on social media platforms), and even do a search on Google, all by saying “the word”. There’s also something called “gesture control” to be explored, where you can connect with your game of choice by using the natural movements of your body. We all know those folks who speak with their hands. Enough said.
Facing reality
Two additional tech developments, which will see your gaming ability soaring, are virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). What’s the difference? Well, VR is all about losing yourself in the game, which must be good for relaxation, right? Then there’s AR, in which you can maneuver a variety of real-world locations and “make the object of the game applicable to real-life situations”. The excitement of table hockey at home, backyard puzzles and Pokémon Go while on holiday cannot be beaten.
On cloud nine
Then there’s cloud technology, which very much lightens the load of every person or device concerned. Why? Gamers don’t have to be limited by the memory limitations of a device or console. In fact, going this route means you open up what you can achieve in your gaming goals, irrespective of the server you are bound to. As explained in story.com’s “How the power of the cloud will evolve the gaming ecosystem, “Cloud makes gaming device-agnostic and far more on-demand. It ensures a gaming ecosystem where the player’s skill purely defines gameplay, without device and software capability hindrances. This has lowered the entry barrier into the gaming space.”
We don’t want to burst your bubble, but for all of you who think your gaming ability is purely related to individual skill (and even practice), there’s certainly a place for technology in any gamer’s development over time. Sure, we may start out playing a game (or, in fact, doing anything) for the fun thereof. But then technology advances, fortifying the thrill and allure of any online or mobile game, and there’s more at stake to take in and enjoy from a visual, creative and inherent satisfaction point of view.
Still unconvinced? Did you know that over the last five years, the global mobile-app gaming market has expanded more than any other genre, with an estimated total value of US$72.3 billion? From this point onwards, we can expect that at least half of all gaming will take place on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets). But let’s also not discount the bulk of serious players who, in fact, generally chose to play from the comfort of their home couches.