Sunday, November 29, 2009

The future of Video games

I believe the future of video games will continue to be globalized. It is because the market of video games has been expanded to people in different generations. As a result, the industry would need people who have a global background and creativity in order to produce better video games for gamers in different ages and gender. On the other hand, I believe video games have a potential to become a tool in education. It is because most of the young people are in favor of video game. Nevertheless, it is more entertaining than books that students would be more attract in learning knowledge. As a result, it would make the process of education become more efficient.



Video games become a movie?

(Picture from http://mek1980.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/mzomb-resident-evil.jpg)


(Picture from http://pacejmiller.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/hr_resident_evil_degeneration_dvd_cover.jpg)


When we look at the TV advertisement of video games today, we would realize that most of the video games look more like a movie. It is because the video game industry focuses more on the story line of a game. Therefore, the gamers would have different kind of experience that they are not only playing a game. They would have the opportunity to get the message from the creator behind the game. For example, below is a trailer of the Ace Combat 5 which I believe it has a message of peace.



On the other hand, we also would see some of the video games become a movie. For example, the "Biohazard" (also known as Resident Evil) and Final Fantasy released its own movie to the market. We would see video games are not just a game anymore. It becomes another type of media in entertainment.

Portable video games


(Pictures from Tze Chau Leung)

When we look at the pictures above, we would see the improvement in portable games.
I remember when I was a kid, having a game boy is the dream of most of the children.
It is because we can play video games at anytime anywhere. Therefore, we do not feel boring when we are going out with our parents. At that time, all the portable video games have no colors and you cannot save the process of the game. However, as the technology improve much in the past couple decades, portable video games become more entertaining with grate pictures, sound effect and I can save the process of the game. Nevertheless, I can go online, watch movies and play with other people who have the same game.

Socializing in the reality VS the game world

In the last decade, almost every society has a problem with people playing video games. It is because people are spending too much time on video games that they are unable to take out themselves from the game world. As a result, they face problems in socializing in the real world. It is because they are not communicating with other people by staying at their room. However, for some gamer, they think they are socializing because some of the video games has access to the internet that they can communicate with people around the global. It becomes a argument between people in different generations. Particularly, we would see the conflicts in family where the child is spending much time in online games instead of going out to play with other people. The parents are worry that their child would have problem with their education and skills in socializing. A episode of South Park "Make Love, Not Warcraft" is the best example of the conflicts.



(Picture from http://screenrant.com/world-of-warcraft-movie-script-robert-rodat-scottm-30335/world-of-warcraft-south-park/)

Fitness center at home

Your home becomes a Fitness center? Yes,if you have a Wii fit at home, you do not need to go to a fitness center anymore. Wii fit is board with motion sensors that can track your movement. Nintendo created some sport games such as yoga, fat burning and balance training by using the Wii fit. As a result, people can train their body with the facilitation of the Wii. Below is a video of how you can use the Wii fit for fitness.

Video game is not just a game anymore

In the past couple years; there has some unusual video games in the market that become popular. We would see the nature of video games has changed that we are not playing games with a standard controller. Nevertheless, due to the innovation in the controller, we are able to move our body instead of sitting in the room. For example, the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) believes the first video game that require gamer to move their body.



(Picture from http://angelsevents.ca/catalog/dance.html)

It is because of the successful of the DDR, the industry started to developed games base on music. As a result, people would have more fun with the game because they are able to be more active during the game. On the other hand, when we talk about video games in music, it is interesting to see the success of the Guitar Hero. I believe the concept of the game started in Asia in year 2000 then went to the US market. At that time, people in the US were in love with the Guitar Hero and eventually become a trend in the young generation. It is because the game is easy to play that does not require any music background and people can dream they are a rock star.



(Picture from http://hoboken411.com/archives/10865)

Safety issues with the Wii

There have some safety issues when people are playing the Nintendo Wii at home. It is because of the Wii require movement for playing the game, the gamers might hurt themselves during the game. It is because they are overdoing without consider the limit of their body. It is indeed that the gamers are too excited about the game that they forgot to get some rest in every hour of playing. Nevertheless, some accidents happen when gamers over react with the game. It is obvious that they do not read the instruction of safety. Therefore, they do not know what kind of things they should avoid and aware during the game. For example, the video below shows how people hurt themselves and damage their home by playing the Wii.