Scott and I have been gamers since we were wee lads. We’ve lived through the ups and downs of the gaming industry. We’ve been disappointed time and time again with false promises of 3d, virtual reality, and augmented reality. I am here to tell you that these dreams may not be dead. We have seen the future and it is AMAZING!
3D on Nintendo’s New 3DS XL: The 3d effect on the New 3ds XL goes to show how good the glass-less 3d effect can be. Non-intrusive, subtle, and adds an increased immersion into your favorite series. When the Nintendo 3ds was released I felt like 3d was a gimmick. The 3d effect would often go out of focus unless you held it in a sweet spot. With the New 3dsXL it tracks your face with a front facing camera and a infrared light to give you the best view. OMFG does this work well. For something like The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask it feels like you are looking into a moving diorama, quite cool. Now if only we could use this with a high resolution screen instead of the Nintendo 3ds’ 800×240.
Eye tracking: Pizza Hut has done this with their menu, why shouldn’t it be done with video games? I haven’t tried this myself, but it seems cool. This is the technology I have heard least about, but I am excited for the implications. What happens when this is paired with something like the aforementioned 3d? Have a more accurate 3d effect with great eye tracking technology and this guy is on board.
Sony’s Project Morpheus & Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets: A few years ago the Oculus Rift was a budding virtual reality headset promising the dream of the 90’s. It started off as a kickstarter, which bloomed into a full fledged virtual reality system. For me the project showed its’ staying power when Facebook bought it for 2 billion dollars. With some real capital behind Oculus Rift, it is possible to work out all the kinks with virtual reality, such as motion sickness. The added funds will allow some time for the new technology to become popular as well. Sony has also developed their own version of virtual reality dubbed Project Morpheus. From early reports it seems that both of these headsets are shaping up to be the amazing virtual reality we have all dreamed of. Sony and Facebook think that these devices are the future and are structuring some long term plans. This should have any gamer or lover of technology immediately excited. Also, don’t forget Razer’s open source dev kit which could open the floodgates for new software. For what is a platform without a library of great software? Perhaps Scott and I will realize our “Ready Player One” dreams sooner than we thought.
Microsoft’s Hololens augmented reality: Microsoft’s augmented reality is less gaming focused and more lifestyle centered. At Microsoft’s latest press conference they showed a commercial of potential applications for their augmented reality headset called Hololens. Some real world applications were showed at the event, but as a whole augmented reality seems like it needs more time to develop than virtual reality. Again, like any platform it needs oodles of good software to catch on and only time will tell if that happens.
There has been a big push of new technology into the gaming sector over the past 5 years that not only promises a new dimension, but deliver it. While the value of some of this technology remains to be seen, this is an exciting time to be a gamer!
– MK
What are your thoughts on the new technology? Anything amazing that I may have missed which might change the landscape of gaming and entertainment? Share your thoughts down below.