The first board games were played in most cultures and societies as far back as in 3500 BC. In the 19th Century, with the advancements in paper and printmaking, vibrant card and board games with rich coloured images started being commercially produced. In 1902, the board game industry saw an exponential growth when Elizabeth Magie designed Monopoly, then known as “The Landlord’s Game”.
It was not until 1937 when the first electronic digital computer was built, and the first video, “Computer Space” was introduced in 1972 by Nutting Associated. The year 1975 saw games like “The Dungeon” bring players together to fight monsters while video games became even more established a year later. But as the 90s arrived, arcade games gave way to computers with better graphics and multimedia abilities.
Since then, we’ve seen gaming consoles, computer graphics, and game design only get better, resulting in exponential growth of the already massive gaming industry. We’ve seen other developments too, like the birth of mobile gaming technology and faster internet speeds. These developments have, in turn, led to the creation of online casino gaming that is drawing attention thanks to its own innovations. To mention some, you can easily find a casino that will bill on your phone or one that streams live games of Roulette for an authentic feel.
So while we’re all playing and enjoying these increasingly-better games, we can’t resist asking, “What does the future of gaming hold?” Our blog tries to answer this very question.
If 1080p Looks Good, 4K is Eye-gasm
Gaming graphics are just getting better, so much so that the hardware is the only thing standing between you and an eyegasm. This is where Ultra 4K gaming steps in. Yes, 4K televisions and even laptops already exist, but they’re still pretty expensive. The silver lining? Their prices have been steadily declining, thus giving a confirmation that this format will eventually become the standard in the way we play our games. When that happens, prepare to be glued to your screen.
Voice and Facial Recognition
Feeling too lazy to even grab your controller and press a few buttons? Well, voice recognition is here. Now you can turn your console on and off using nothing but some simple voice commands. You can also control gameplay, play selections from your media library, interact with social media, or search the web using the voice recognition feature.
But that’s not all. Your gaming system can now recognize your facial expression as well. This presents a sea of opportunities for game and console developers, but here’s what has been realized. Using 3D scanning and facial recognition technology, game systems can create your likeness in the gaming world so that your game avatar is more realistic. Maybe too realistic. Additionally, you could also come across games that adapt to your emotions.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
VR games have the ability to provide complete immersion for the player, to the point where players can actually forget they’re inside a game. While many VR gaming consoles haven’t been commercially released yet, the ones developing VR headsets are providing truly out-of-the-world experiences (think Half-Life: Alyx).
However, if the virtual world just doesn’t interest you as much, why not stick to our own? Augmented reality games manoeuvre real-world spaces to make the objects in the game applicable to real-life situations. Simply put, these games bring the virtual elements to the real world and let you interact with them in a way that’s almost intuitive. For example, you could play table hockey on your dining table or play a puzzle game mapped out using obstacles in a park.