CoN 25th Anniversary: 1997-2022
The Future of Gaming...

Posted: 8th March 2003 00:38

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I was just wondering what you guys thought about this, but I just realized that my parents, most likely everyone's parents on this board, and anyone over 30 never played video games as a kid, and most likely doesn't play now.  I wonder if video gaming will be around when we're 40 or 50, what it will be like, etc.  I think it will still be around, and probably way bigger than it is now.  I can see VR becoming much more widespread, and all gaming will be online eventually.  A penny for your thoughts.

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Posted: 8th March 2003 00:57

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My mother played video games when she was reasonably young, and father plays them a lot now.  They're 50 and 48.  Don't forget that arcades have been around for a very long time now.

I don't see the future of gaming being online.  Not everyone even likes multiplayer games at all, least of all when there's some kind of monthly fee as there tends to be in the RPG world.  It's not even exclusively the future of multiplayer games, because it's still nowhere near as much fun as getting some friends around the TV and pulling their pads out when they're winning.  There'll be more and more online games, of course, but it will never, ever take over completely.

I don't know about VR, either.  From being hotly touted ten years ago, it's faded into relative obscurity.

So, what is going to happen?  I just don't know.  Back in the 2D days, there was an obvious leap to 3D still to be made, but all that seems to happen now is you get the same game every few years, with better graphics.  The innovation just isn't there any more, because there isn't nearly as much to innovate.

But graphics are steadily improving.  Maybe in fifty years, we'll be playing games that are practically indistinguishable from movies, graphics-wise.  I don't know if that's a good thing or not, Timmy.
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Posted: 8th March 2003 05:06
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Well,  I personally liked the good old 2D game days.  *Sigh* but as times move on, only my future company (  :E ) and a few other companies will be making 2D games anymore.  Of course, in 10/15/20+ years, who knows if they'll be making systems still capable of running 2D games...

The future of gaming is nearly at it's peak.  graphics can't get TOO much better, and stories are sucking it up compared to the graphics.  games now just aren't as fun as they were 10 years ago, or maybe it was becuase they posed more of a challenge to my 6 year old mind... :p

I hope that games get LONGER (I'm tired of paying $50 for a 15 hour game or less, probably why i've got 2 Gamecube games...) and have more customization.  Vagrant Story and FF7/8 were good in that category because they had TONS of customizing and it was quite fun (although many people disagree and say it was too complicated... >_< ).

In my opinion, games should stop worrying about graphics, and conentrate on more substance.  More secrets, customizing, fun, better story, and I don't care if it's only 2 bit color, as long as it's fun and the graphics aren't SOOO pathetic i can't tell what's going on.

Virtual reality?  Well, perhaps in about 30 years when the first thing comes out, it'll be around $5000 or more I'm sure (just think about it) and perhaps in another 30 years they'll have worked out SOME of the bugs (and you think MMORPGs have a lot of bugs? ha) and the price will go down to a more reasonable but still too high $2500.  either way, it's going to be expensive, and what's the point of VR without multiplayers?  So the consoles will stick around.

Perhaps in some years the biggest companies (nintendo, squaresoft, sony, microsoft, and all the others) will decide to make ONE console, that'll play all the games.  Perhaps they haven't yet because of issues they have yet to work out, or perhaps because they believe they won't get enough money (haven't they got enough already???  I mean, honestly, multi-million/hundred million dollar companies aren't getting ENOUGH MONEY!?!).

Does anyone else see in the future the companies making ONE console to satisfy the needs of everyone?

But I do see that ONE day happening...I HOPE.  :blah:

EDIT: oh yeah, I forgot...my grandmother plays games now a lot, almost as much as me.  my grandfather plays them too, but not as much.  my mom likes a few games, my dad...blah...so yeah, there are older generations that play games too.

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Posted: 8th March 2003 12:55

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One single format?  It's been discussed before.  The problem is, with no competition and producers run for profit, there's no incentive to make it cheap or good.  If it does happen, I don't see it benefitting anyone but the execs at whoever make it.

It's a bit strange to think future machines might not be capable of 2D graphics.  3D graphics are made up of a lot of 2D graphics.  You can't do 3D without 2D, it doesn't make sense - and you'll still want things like menu screens in an RPG to be basically 2D (unless you're some kind of nut), so the capability isn't going to go anywhere.  Of course, there's no guarantee there'll be much optimisation for purely 2D games - the PlayStation is worse at them in many respects than the SNES (see the port of FF6 for confirmation) but still better in others (see the SNES vs. the PSX version of Street Fighter Alpha 2).  In any case, it's unfeasible to remove 2D capabilities entirely.

The question is, as you hinted, whether anyone will still make them.  It doesn't look like they have much of a future in the home console or PC market at the moment, certainly, but the GBA is trying its heart out to keep them alive, even if many of them are ports.  The handheld may be the last hope for purely "2D" games, though these will surely get more powerful too.  But can you fit enough buttons and twiddly bits on a handheld to make subtly controlled 3D stuff?

I absolutely agree that we need some more of the gameplay-over-graphics mentality though.  Yes, Square, I'm talking to you.
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Posted: 8th March 2003 16:54

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i think FF12 MUST  have an machine-gun. Thsi would greatly increase number of potential buyers. and before anyone says aboutt he guns in x-2, thats just to drag lara croft fans into RPG's :rolleyes:
we definetly need longer games. or more like GTA Vice City.

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Posted: 9th March 2003 05:00
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Well I've never played Grand Theft Auto, and really have no intention to, so I can't figure how that would aid the idea of gaming or whatever.

Perhaps 2D games won't disappear COMPLETELY, but they are going to definitely dwindle down to almost nothing.  No pure 2D games, but 2D effects (menus, I mean) and that stuff will probably be 2D, yes.

One system will not create the competition that makes games so affordable, and then there won't be any real money making from all their systems, but I would really like it better, and would buy more games because they're all on one system.
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Posted: 9th March 2003 17:07

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Quote (Mori Ryuu @ 9 Mar 2003, 00:00)
One system will not create the competition that makes games so affordable, and then there won't be any real money making from all their systems, but I would really like it better, and would buy more games because they're all on one system.

I don't see there being only one system, but I can see something happening like what's happening now - only 2, MAYBE 3 major players in the video game market.  It's just so difficult for someone to enter a market that big, get gaming licenses from software developers, advertise, etc.  The initial investment needed is enormous.  That's why the only company we've seen entering the console market and making a large impact in the last 10 years has been Microsoft, a company with some of the best cash flow and I've ever seen, and they're still quite behind the competition.  



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Posted: 9th March 2003 17:34

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Quote (Mori Ryuu @ 8 Mar 2003, 23:00)
Well I've never played Grand Theft Auto, and really have no intention to, so I can't figure how that would aid the idea of gaming or whatever.

I think he meant games that you can just pick up and start playing anytime. I always enjoy popping in GTA vice city, just to waste 20 minutes driving around destroying things.

One console? Never. It would turn into a video game trust/monopoly and the prices would be outrageous. Consumers would get mad, and I'm pretty sure there must be some kind of restrictions to prevent that kind of thing. Not just prices, but also game quality would take a big blow, because why should they try harder if there's no competition? No one will challenge them, so who cares. So I don't believe that will ever happen. Like Gerad said, there will probably just remain 2 to 3 consoles around, and always competing for consumer's money.

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Posted: 9th March 2003 17:43

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Quote (Gerad @ 9 Mar 2003, 17:07)
the only company we've seen entering the console market and making a large impact in the last 10 years has been Microsoft, a company with some of the best cash flow and I've ever seen, and they're still quite behind the competition.

*cough*SONY*cough*

Or have we forgotten it was still Nintendo vs. Sega in 1993?  The "PlayStation" was in development as a complete SNES+CD-ROM at this time though, if memory serves.

The point about cashflow stands, still, but Sony practically walked in and became number one over night, and has the market by a massive strangehold to this day.
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Posted: 9th March 2003 18:12

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Quote (Tiddles the Cat @ 9 Mar 2003, 12:43)
*cough*SONY*cough*

Heh, I guess I didn't even think of Sony because now they are the biggest competitor that almost forgot what the video game world was like before they got here.  But, like Microsoft, they were a very large and well-respected company before they made the playstation.  I haven't seen Microsoft innovate the way Sony did when they first entered, but they still have time.

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Posted: 9th March 2003 18:42

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Sony didn't exactly innovate.  It was a time when hardware was evolving to the point when "3D" was possible.  Nintendo were already developing "Project Reality", later the superior but undersupported Nintendo 64, and the Saturn was released pretty close to the PlayStation, but it was just very badly handled by a complacent Sega.  Sony, on the other hand, were really nice to developers, journalists and gamers alike, and did come up with innovative ad campaigns (though the abstraction went too far in the end - remember the PS2 "Third Place" ads with the duck?  Or were they only on this side of the pond?)

The question for me is where the innovation comes now.  There isn't an obvious dimensional leap left to make, certainly not in the hardware sense (at least until someone makes a console that can do trees properly).  It'll just have to be in gameplay, then.  If this happens in a positive way, I'll be very glad.

The point about GTAVC is a good one.  It's a pretty convincing environment, and while you can't do ANYTHING you can in real life, it's pretty impressive.  Deus Ex similarly gives you a lot of ways to get where you're going, and your behaviour actually affects what happens in the world, rather than being stuck on the rails of fate as you often can be in RPGs.  But then, you can't take it too far.  People often play games to escape real life, so just making a game that practically IS real life (Shenmue?) is not so useful.

This is the kind of development I'll be interested in, though.
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Posted: 9th March 2003 19:10

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Yeah, my Point abot GTA;VC was it could be picked up and played anytime. Also, its pretty cool to fly the Hunter helicopter, escpecially if you aim at the police with the missiles....
Thats the future of gaming- what we have now, but with bigger missiles and more cities to squash! :)

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Posted: 10th March 2003 01:35
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I imagine games like The Getaway to be the future of gaming honestly.  I equate videogames to movies in terms of the way people will treat it as an entertainment medium.  Look at the history of film and you can see a lot of similarities in it's effect and reaction to and by popular culture.  I think 40 to 50 years from now, I don't expect videogames to exsist anymore as the form we know it today, but as interactive realities we will use on far more levels than simply entertainment.

...but that's just my opinion.

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Posted: 10th March 2003 11:41

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Future of gaming? Fills me with fear, but I cannot predict ANYTHING! Maybe people will just start making remakes of old games....NO! I still play the games of old - I can beat "Prince of Percia" in under half an hour.
Oh, yeah...
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Del S Posted on 8 Mar 2003, 10:54
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i think FF12 MUST  have an machine-gun.

I love your ideas Del!

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Posted: 10th March 2003 15:27

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I think there's a ceiling as to how realistic video games can get from here on out. I mean, how much better can graphics get really? Then again, I suppose they might have been saying the same thing back in 1990...

What I want to know is what's going to happen to us with video games. Is our generation still going to be playing them religiously when we're 30 and 40? It's hard to tell, since we grew up with the things in our homes, the generation before us doesn't really have that connection like we did. I mean, they had arcades, like Tiddles said, but the home console grew up with us. I don't know, I kind of have this feeling that something else is going to come along, and we'll still be playing video games while our kids are off playing something else.

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Posted: 10th March 2003 16:05

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Really, though, we're not the first generation to have access to console systems on a widespread basis. No past group has had the access we do to choice, I don't think, but we (me, approaching his mid-twenties, and some others, still in their teens), are not the first to be so into the games.

My brother will be 36 this year. He and I bonded when I was young by playing games. His first system was an Atari 2600, bought new in the seventies. His friends would often come over to our house to play, up to and including the time when the NES hit it big.

He continued to play even as he graduated Uni, moved away, and started his own family. His own son started playing games at three because he saw his dad playing constantly, and now it's a bonding thing for he and his son the same way it was for he and I. My brother owns more gaming systems than most of us here do.

Do I see video gaming remaining a mainstay of our generation? Yes. While my brother may be a bit of an anomaly for his generation, he is the precident for ours. Even as we play games less and less (as I do now), we will all still be a part of the culture, ready to take a more active role as our life dictates. I very easily see us playing games until we're too feeble to hold a controller.

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Posted: 10th March 2003 23:09

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I think that as technology becomes something that even children are comforatable with, (which is already being seen) and the ability to share large amounts of memory becomes common place, we'll see many user made games. I see the individual/small business produceing many of the games of the future. Of course the consol will still exist in one form or another, and will not be threatened, but I think many people will spend a notable portion of they're time playing these other games. I see this already happening to a certain extent. To further my point, I've included a site which has user made games. :o WARNING :o I cannot state that the site is safe and free from viruses or any other unwanted material. What I can say, however, is that I've had no problem with it in the past.

SUPER MASEO

On a side note, it was games like this that got me back into gaming, because I don't really like 3D games. I hope that in the future there will be many more such 8-bit/16-bit games to be found on the internet.

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Posted: 11th March 2003 03:39
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Quote (Rangers51 @ 10 Mar 2003, 10:05)
Even as we play games less and less (as I do now), we will all still be a part of the culture, ready to take a more active role as our life dictates.

I've been playing for about 14 years, ever since I was watching Sesame Street, and I still play them as much, if not more, than i did then.  sure, as our lives get more complicated as we get older, we have less time to play, because we have to do far more things than we did when we were 2 to 15.

One sytem would create a monopoly for systems, true, but look at the computer.  The computer is the same, most new ones run Intel 4's, and they're the exact same as the other companies (Gateway, IBM, Dell, etc) but slightly different price.  Point is: once someone gets the computer, whether it's Dell or not, the games are the true competition.

I wouldn't mind paying $200 for a sytem that has ACCESS to all the games, but the game companies would be trying to get better games, even more so than now, and because the "melting pot" of all the companies into this one system would be almost devastating at first, whether that's a good or bad devastating...well, that's up to your personal opinion.  

However, as time steadily drags on, the games would probably get slightly cheaper, perhaps to where they're only $30 to $40 each, not $50 to $60, and the strive for money would *hopefully* boost the company into making BETTER GAMES, cuz that's what we need more than anything else.

Sure, I'm going to be playing games until either they or I die, whichever comes first.  Video games have hit the markets as hard as computers, cars, tv, and the like, and so will only continue to improve.
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Posted: 11th March 2003 03:53

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Quote (Mori Ryuu @ 10 Mar 2003, 21:39)
I've been playing for about 14 years, ever since I was watching Sesame Street, and I still play them as much, if not more, than i did then.  sure, as our lives get more complicated as we get older, we have less time to play, because we have to do far more things than we did when we were 2 to 15.

Not to hijack, but I assume you're somewhere in the age of what? 17 now? Trust me, your life will change amazingly once you start a family of your own*. I average about an hour of gaming a week now, but I still consider myself a gamer and always will, which was the true point of my post.


*No, Angie is not pregnant. Shut up.

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Posted: 11th March 2003 16:18

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Quote (Mori Ryuu @ 11 Mar 2003, 03:39)
One sytem would create a monopoly for systems, true, but look at the computer.  The computer is the same, most new ones run Intel 4's, and they're the exact same as the other companies (Gateway, IBM, Dell, etc) but slightly different price.  Point is: once someone gets the computer, whether it's Dell or not, the games are the true competition.

Interesting, I see what you mean now.  Unfortunately, I don't think it's a workable model for consoles.

(Also, a console is a computer.  I'm assuming you mean "PC" when you say "Computer".)

The advantages of a console over a PC are the following:
- Cheap: the same hardware in a console fares much better for processing games than equivalent-level stuff does in a PC.
- Isn't a pain in the buttocks to play games on: configuration is a pain, and users are plagued by compatibility problems.

The fact is, if you look at PCs, they really aren't all the same.  The graphics units, sound boards, memory types etc. all differ widely even within the same manufacturer's machines.  Even the processor: while PCs you can by from OEMs do largely use Pentium 4s, home built systems are more frequently powered by AMD's Athlon XP processors, which simply offer much better value for money.

(And I do suggest, next time anyone gets a PC, build it yourself with the advice of someone in the know.  You'll be amazed how much more cheaply you can build a great system, without having to buy a new monitor (unless you really want one), another Windows licence, and loads of bits of hardware and software you'll never use.)

And then, even a "Pentium 4" isn't a single entity.  Is it based on the Williamette core or the Northwood core?  Likewise, the "Athlon XP" could be a Palomino, a Thoroughbred A or B, or a Barton.

So why does stuff work on everything?  Well, it's all based on the x86 architecture.  Unfortunately, this means that a program cannot usuallymake full use of new processor features if it wishes to remain 100% compatible.  It's not a massive sacrifice, as there's still a lot you can do with newer technology, but it's a factor.  More importantly, though, the GPUs tend not to follow any established standard other than that they work with the AGP bus.  The same is often true of other components.  Access to these is performed via layers of abstraction and APIs such as Microsoft's DirectX, which are great for compatibility, but poor for speed.

That's why an Xbox, with a meagre 700MHz (if I remember correctly) Pentium 3 processor, is still pumping out nice graphics up there with top end PCs.  Consoles have fixed hardware, by design, absolutely no critical component changes between consoles of the same type, so the program implementation can be extremely hardware specific and nicely fast.

So for the idea to work out, all these different manufacturers would have to put out identical machines anyway.  Then all you have is a monopoly among hardware suppliers, which will keep prices up even more than Intel's dominance (but not complete control of, remember: don't forget AMD) over the desktop CPU market.  And as soon as you allow manufacturers to deviate from the specification, you have to start dabbling in abstraction, which takes the edge off the hardware and just raises the price yet again for an equivalent bundle, and probably ends up creating the compatibility problems you tend to see in PCs now.

On top of which, the PC games market is much less healthy than the console one (or it was very recently, I don't know how it is right now).

So I don't think it's very practical, still.  It's a nice idea, but hardware prevents it from being workable.  After all, if it were, wouldn't consoles be "compatible" mini-PCs already?  (And no, the Xbox isn't, see above: it's not directly compatible with Wintel software, even though it uses an x86).
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Posted: 11th March 2003 20:05

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Hmm, how good can graphics get? photo-realistic?
lets hope so! anyone got any ideas on this one?

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Posted: 12th March 2003 00:06
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Red Wing Pilot
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Gaming will be like .hack//sign in the future.
virtual diablo... hmm   :rolleyes:

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Posted: 12th March 2003 01:31

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Totes Adorbs
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Note: For once, we have a serious conversation going on in here. Please contribute something useful or just read the thread.

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Posted: 12th March 2003 02:09
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Chocobo Knight
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Oh, yes, Tiddles, I meant PC not just computer.

Rangers51: Actually, I'm 16, but yes, close enough, and I see your point.  So, no, I do'nt have a real job, no, I don't have a family "of my own", and no, school doesn't take ALL my time, so yes, I have far more time than many others.

If i remember correctly, the Gamecube has only a 300Mhz or so processor, and the PS2 slightly lower than that.  So even while consoles have less "speed", the graphics continue to improve.  I mean, the Super Nintendo had what? a 2Mhz processor?  

But yes, there are plenty of different types of computers and their processors, however, most people, when mentioning their new PC, speak of the performance of the computer, not whether it's a Dell, Gateway, etc.  Most people I know say "My new computer is 'such and such' Mhz" and the like.  Or what Windows operating system it runs.

Point about that: From all the people I know, they don't really care too much about which is which, just how good it is.

As for how good graphics can get...well, that's pretty hard to guess.  I can't personally see the graphics getting too much better than they are now.  I'm sure they'll work more on collision detection, you know, so the arms dont' go through walls or other people/creatures/items/etc when they fall down or what not.  

The next step up for graphics I think is this: more realistic collision.  Sure, they have greatly improved since the beginning of 3D games, but still have a long way to go.
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Posted: 12th March 2003 09:26

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It's not the end of the world.
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Quote (Mori Ryuu @ 12 Mar 2003, 02:09)
If i remember correctly, the Gamecube has only a 300Mhz or so processor, and the PS2 slightly lower than that.  So even while consoles have less "speed", the graphics continue to improve.  I mean, the Super Nintendo had what? a 2Mhz processor?  

But yes, there are plenty of different types of computers and their processors, however, most people, when mentioning their new PC, speak of the performance of the computer, not whether it's a Dell, Gateway, etc.  Most people I know say "My new computer is 'such and such' Mhz" and the like.  Or what Windows operating system it runs.

I believe it was something like 3.75MHz for the SNES.  It was supported by all sorts of chips to help it out, though, including ones embedded in cartridges.  DSP-1 and Super FX are probably the two most commonly remembered.

But yeah, that's exactly my point: look at the Gamecube's 300MHz, compared to a 3GHz Pentium 4 with, say, a Geforce FX or a Radeon 9700 Pro.  The GameCube doesn't perform much worse for games, because its software isn't jumping through the abstraction hoops of having to run correctly on several competitors' hardware.  If you extend that to the PC and make a game tailored to a very specific hardware configuration, it could absolutely fly, but only about three people in the world with that identical hardware could run it.

This also seems like a good opportunity to start ranting about the MHz Myth as well.  MHz/GHz is almost COMPLETELY meaningless.  Intel continue to measure processors this way because it's what people expect, and they can clock up stupid speeds and make people think the processors are automatically good because of this.  The effective operating speed of a processor isn't just dependent on how many clock cycles it makes, it's how much work it actually does in those clock cycles.  This is why AMD's Athlon XP processors are given a "performance rating" instead of the real clock rate.  A new Athlon XP 3000+(?) with a Barton core actually runs at about 2.2GHz if I remember, but is still roughly comparable with the P4s running at 2.6GHz at least, maybe more (it should be up there with the 3GHz ones, I know, but AMD's performance ratings are increasingly dubious, and The hyperthreading on the new P4 core could make a big difference potentially, with application support).  So tell everyone you know to stop judging on MHz today!

Heh... like that'll happen.

I think there was a topic here somewhere once.  Oh, yeah, something about games.  Future graphics?  I just don't know.  I'm constantly amazed by each new level they put on.  Granted, not as amazed as I was when I first had an N64 after having my SNES for years, but it's still quite remarkable.

I think the sky's the limit, technically.  A lot of FMV is already computer generated, so if that hardware comes down in price, that could be doing your real time graphics in future.  Even FF:TSW level graphics will probably filter down eventually.  The question is whether anyone will have the time to spend building such detailed models, and if it's even a good idea to spend all their time and money on that when it might be a nice idea to spend a few minutes adding some gameplay and a decent plot.  Mentioning no names, of course, FF8.  This can only get worse as technology improves and the potential to create Really Neat Looking Stuff ™ increases.

Perhaps there's more home coding going on these days overall, but these games are less well-known, and usually less up to speed with modern graphics (which instantly puts half the audience off, sadly).  It costs a lot more to make a commercial game than it ever used to, and it's surely difficult to get started in the business.  I'd like this to change, but I don't know how likely it is.
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Posted: 12th March 2003 16:37
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Chocobo Knight
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I understand what you mean, it's not the actual power of the console that makes the difference.  People may go and buy a $300 graphics card to play their "all new super cool" online game, even though it's not required to have the "most powerful" chip on the market.  

Consoles are a step up from computers because they dont' need "other" chips, unless you're the N64, which needed an expansion pack later to help it keep up with the Dreamcast, Playstation, and, eventually, the PS2.  But there are exceptions to all the rules, and the N64 was one of them.

But about the only real reason I would see one console even being worth the effort (thanks Tiddles for pointing it out that it's not really a good idea :D ) would be the availability of the games.  I would like to be able to play Final Fantasy on my Gamecube, or Tenchu, or Onimusha, or whatever, but I can't because they're not for MY personal system, they're for the others.  That really bugs too.

But trying to get closer to topic...

Home "grown" games are getting more and more popular, but no where near so as the commercial games.  There are dozens, if not hiundreds of sites that promote home games, and although they're graphics, for say, are not as "professional" as the bigger companies, it doesn't mean that they aren't any good.

From what I remember about the old school (for me) NES games had little, if any, real plot.  Most that I remember were bascially, "this happens, the character does this, and 'save the princess'".  There are games other than Mario that have this sort of plot, but it wasn't the story, nor the graphics that made people buy the games, it was the fun factor of them.

As time has steadily moved forward, story kept getting more and more important, but as did graphics.  Look at Final Fantasy 6, the graphics were great, and the story was huge.  It was fun to play and there were many sidequests that made it interesting.  Other Sqaresoft games, such as Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, and the like, had good to great stories and decent to great graphics.  But it wasn't the graphics that made us by the games.

Some people I know are constantly buying games, but only because "the graphics are good." Since when are graphics what dictates why we buy the games?  If graphics keep becoming more and more important, then stories will start to die out *cough*FF8*cough*FF9*cough* and graphics will be the only REAL thing people care about.

Comparing 2D to 3D graphics, 2D was FAR easier to draw and took less time.  Sure, it couldn't quite have the detail and shading and all the fancy stuff of modern 3D games, but it was really only meant to show what the characters are doing in the "interactive story."  

Grahpics, to me, are the future of gaming, regrettably, and as time has continued with gaming, this seems to prove true.   Within just a few years, we're going to be having games in which the actual game graphics are in par with FF:TSW.  However, this will take a long time to do the graphics ,because it took what? like...5 or so years to do the movie? and it's only an hour and a half while games are around 20 hours?  Not to mention that was all just one big FMV scene, so there's no real coding required.

Thinking of something OTHER than graphics, the sounds in games has increased exponentially.  But this is a good thing, as it doesn't take 2 years to make all the sounds for a game.  If you're in an "emotional" part of the story, then you want some emotional music to portray this part of the story.  It really adds to the effect.

As Tiddles said, the sky is the limit, and there is virtually no end to how good graphics, or sound, or play control, or, while we're at it, how many buttons you can put on a controller, can get.  THe only thing that could stop this limitless expansion is time.  The better things get, the more time is required to make them, and companies are trying to make several of the best games at the same time, and trying to get them out as soon as possible to keep up with the demands of the consumers.

With attention span diminishing in the "younger" generations, ie around my age and younger, the games are having to be "more action, less story" which is not what games are really for.  Why do you think fighting/racing/and sports games are becoming so popular (to the sickening point of making 10 "different" basketball games in each season, or the same for football, and soccer, and all the others)?  They don't take too much time to get into, and once you're good at them, you can just pick the game up at any time to play for a few minutes if you're bored.

Quick, easy, fast.   That's the real future of gaming.  Anything that can get enough attention for long enough to get the consumer to buy the game, then make another the next year, and the year after that, regardless of the fact they're all the same game, just different characters or players and different moves, or different race tracks.  

True, there are plenty of games that still sell that take a long time to complete, aka the Zelda series (which I think is just trying something "new" with their graphics to get attention) the FF series, the Mario Series, Kingdom Hearts, Eternal Darkness, etc etc etc.  But I see less and less of these games and more sports/fighting/racing games than anything else.

If people would really pay more attention to the home games, then they could find more innovative, fun, and interesting games to play than the bigger companies.  But this is just my personal opinion.
Post #9542
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Posted: 24th March 2003 08:21

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Cetra
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Probably even more impossible to control the characters, a clumsy controller with WAY too many buttons and joysticks (like a few now...COUGHX-boxCOUGH) and you have to buy the darn thing in like 100 $50 pieces (COUGHX-boxCOUGH) and diagonal becomes a whole new dimension. I love SNES and PSX/1 ^_^

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Posted: 25th March 2003 00:10

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I love my SNES and Playstation 2.  The SNES brought me good times, especially when you're a loser like me.

But I've officialy quit the gaming.  I'll still play, I'll still buy games.  But I think I'll stop at PS2.  I lost faith in Nintendo after the 64.  I mean what is the use of a system with NO good RPGs?  Quest 64 took me 15 hours.  THAT IS NOT GOOD!

I found salvation in Playstation.  FF7? FF9?  Sweet games.  FF8? probably my least favorite, but still a great game compared to some stuff I've played.  Legend of Mana?  Awesome.  It was innovative, creative, imaganitive and really funky!

PS2 has put out FF10, a really good game.  (With the coolest final boss music ever!!  Blitzball was pretty fun too, but I'm a big soccer fan.)

But after hearing of DOA Volleyball...I was sickened and vowed to stop buying more systems until they clean up.  So...I'm out of video gaming in a couple of years when PS3 and nintendo and Microsoft :lol:  new systems come out.

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Post #10076
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Posted: 22nd December 2016 20:43

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Red Wing Pilot
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Quote (Gerad @ 7th March 2003 20:38)
I was just wondering what you guys thought about this, but I just realized that my parents, most likely everyone's parents on this board, and anyone over 30 never played video games as a kid, and most likely doesn't play now.  I wonder if video gaming will be around when we're 40 or 50, what it will be like, etc.  I think it will still be around, and probably way bigger than it is now.  I can see VR becoming much more widespread, and all gaming will be online eventually.  A penny for your thoughts.

Since this thread came and went in 2003, a lot of interesting things happened, and some predictions in here came true! VR is attempting another comeback. Will it be successful? Its future still seems cloudy to me in terms of high-scale adoption. We have also seen the rise (and maybe downward slope?) of Steam, a haven for indie developers that now face a recent glut of shovelware on the storefront. Several FF games have come and gone, etc. etc.

Would be fun to reflect on the information here from before, and make new predictions, no?
Post #211791
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Posted: 29th December 2016 10:25

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I can tell you right now there are gamers who are over 30, because many folks here are gamers and still play.

As for the future:I predict that first person shooters will go through a phase and something new will probably come around and people will pick it up, and it will be the new next thing.

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