Rise Of The Machines
The Age
Friday August 15, 2008
The games we play are going to become more sophisticated, but will also let anyone join the fun, writes Jason Hill.
Interactive games are now one of Australia's favourite sources of entertainment, with consumers last year splashing out more than $1.3 billion on gaming software and consoles. The popularity of gaming was vividly demonstrated by the recent launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, which raked in $US 500 million in first-week sales worldwide, comfortably eclipsing movie blockbusters such as Spider-Man 3.But the industry's growth is not down to stereotypical video game devotees such as teenage boys. The average gamer is now 28 years old, 41% are female, and women and older Australians are the fastest-growing groups of game players. More than 80% of Australian households have a device for playing interactive games, and an increasingly wide audience is getting in on the fun.The Nintendo DS was the biggest-selling console in 2007, followed closely by the seven-year-old PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's radical Wii. It is no coincidence that these are the three platforms that have most excited newcomers and widened the audience for gaming consoles with titles such as Nintendogs and Brain Training on DS, the Buzz, EyeToy, Guitar Hero and SingStar range on PS2, and Nintendo's highly physical Wii Sports and Wii Fit.None of these games uses a standard joypad, an object that can be intimidating and confusing for newcomers because of its multiple buttons and joysticks. And the huge success of these games will ensure that more titles in future adopt more natural and intuitive control systems.The Wii's motion-sensing wireless controller, which resembles a TV remote, is the main reason it has captured the world's imagination and is dramatically outselling its (far more powerful) console competitors, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Whether you are swinging a sword, serving an ace or firing a gun, the Wii remote feels much more natural, intuitive and immersive than pressing buttons. Sony has also added motion-sensing functionality into its PS3 controller (with limited success so far), and there is speculation Microsoft will offer a Wii-style remote for the Xbox 360 before Christmas.Sony's popular EyeToy digital camera plaything paved the way for Wii's success, letting players physically interact with the on-screen action, and the Japanese giant is working on improving the PS3 camera's facial recognition. It is hoped that game avatars will soon be able to mimic a player's facial expressions - a boon for online multiplayer games against faraway friends, and also helping computer-controlled characters react to emotional cues.Australian company Emotiv Systems is taking this concept a step further. It will soon introduce a headset that allows people to control games using only the power of their minds. The headset has 16 sensors that measure electrical impulses from the brain, which has the potential to do away with physical controllers altogether.Before EyeToy and Wii, many experts were predicting that a more natural control system would revolutionise gaming: your voice. And although early attempts have soured many gamers on the concept, voice-recognition technology still has the potential to change the way people play. Useful in everything from adventure games to sports simulations, imagine barking commands without having to perform complicated keyboard or joypad gymnastics, and more easily multi-tasking during frenetic action.Console manufacturers are also trying to widen their audience by expanding their machines' repertoire far beyond games, including features such as music, photo and movie playback. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are two of the most flexible multimedia devices available, with PS3's capabilities including playing high-definition Blu-ray films, DVDs and music CDs, streaming video, photos and music from PCs, and web browsing. Sony will also soon release a television tuner add-on that will transform the console into a personal video recorder, while overseas Xbox 360 owners can already download movies and television programs. Another emerging trend in the games industry is digital distribution. Hollywood and the games industry spent much of the past few years bickering about which high-definition disc format would replace DVD, with Blu-ray eventually winning the skirmish. But online distribution of games is becoming increasingly mainstream, which could make the whole debate moot.Millions of console users are now regularly downloading games direct to hard drive, and PC blockbusters such as new instalments in the popular Half-Life series are released online before hitting retail shelves. PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii all have the capability to download games from vast libraries, and even PSP handheld owners can download classic games to play on the move. Digital distribution also facilitates another emerging trend - episodic content, with games such as Half-Life and Sam & Max delivered in shorter, TV-style chapters. Sony has touted the benefits of episodic content for a decade, and is experimenting with its first episodic game, delivering the next instalment in its underappreciated Forbidden Siren series of horror games in a dozen chapters downloadable via the PlayStation Network. Hard drives in consoles have allowed digital distribution to spread from the PC to consoles, and have also facilitated another emerging trend, the personalisation of your gaming experience. Video games allow players the chance to step into exotic shoes, but often the first thing people want to do when they try The Sims is re-create themselves in digital form. Many games now let you put yourself in the action. Will Wright's next game, Spore, takes the concept of personalisation to universe level. Dubbed a "massively single-player'' game, Spore populates your universe dynamically with other creatures, buildings, vehicles and entire planets created by other players but based on your own choices. Spore lets users unleash their creativity, empowering players as artists and game designers. Inspired by the likes of YouTube and Second Life, it is part of an important trend that lets gamers create their own fun, from customising cars and characters to designing their own levels in games such as Halo 3 to share with others.No game epitomises the trend more than PlayStation 3's LittleBigPlanet, expected in October. The game's simple tools let friends simultaneously work together to create unique platform-based obstacle courses, and the finished levels can be posted online for others to enjoy. Of course, the importance of the internet in facilitating players from around the world to have mutual fun should not be underestimated, with online networks such as Microsoft's lauded Xbox Live service making it easy to keep track of friends. And there's little doubt that the popularity of "massively-multiplayer'' games will only increase as they become more sophisticated. No computer game in recent years has been bigger than massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, which now has more than 10 million dedicated players around the world. Not only are online games such as WoW great fun and an important social outlet for millions, but increasing numbers of players are also using online worlds to supplement (or even wholly replace) their real-world incomes by selling virtual goods or services. On the handheld front, the one certainty is that touch-screen displays are here to stay. The success of the Nintendo DS and the Apple iPhone have made sure of that. iPhone might even become a significant player in the games market thanks to its touch interface and big screen, essential ingredients of any gaming handheld in the future.
© 2008 The Age
