The Future of Gaming

For years, the gaming "arms race" has always been about better graphics and more powerful processors. Each next-gen console has had better graphics and higher performance than its predecessor. Indeed, a recent IGN article reports that AMD, supplier of the Xbox 360's graphics hardware, is claiming that "the Xbox 360's successor will be capable of producing the kind of visual detail seen in James Cameron's Avatar."

However, the future of gaming isn't just about graphics and power. Look no further than the current generation of consoles. Despite boasting superior graphics (including HD capability) and processing power, the PS3 and Xbox 360 have been vastly outsold by the Nintendo Wii. Why is that? Well cost, for one reason. The big reason is innovation and accessibility.

Nintendo changed the game with the Wii. Instead of improving upon its previous consoles, it went in an entirely new direction, and the result was something that had never been seen before. The motion capture gameplay and ease of use drew a much wider audience. People who had never considered themselves gamers or weren't interested in hardcore title such as Halo or Call of Duty found that games such as Wii Sports and Mario Kart were easy to learn and fun to play. Sony and Microsoft sluggishly responded by introducing their own motion systems, Move and Kinect, respectively.

So what's next? Well, the future of gaming lies in portability and transfer. With smart phones growing more brilliant by the day, and with the advent of social media and 24/7 connectivity, people are more digitally connected than ever. Games like Farmville and Angry Birds are massively popular. People can play them on their tablet or smart phone while on the bus or at the airport. A person can log into Facebook and play Tetris Battle against people halfway around the globe, and he or she doesn't need a console or a high-performance gaming PC.

This isn't to say that consoles are obsolete or that hardcore games are a thing of the past. The trick for the gaming industry is going to be bridging all of these different media. Amazon and HP have unknowingly shown the way.

Amazon's Kindle allows users to download books directly to their device in under a minute. Purchases are backed up electronically at Amazon, so users don't have to worry about having to repurchase books if they are deleted from their Kindle. The service is simple, easy-to-use, and effective.

HP's line of now-canceled webOS devices sold poorly but had some interesting technological features. Perhaps the coolest was Touch to Share. This feature allowed you to take a webpage viewed on one device and open it on the other simply by touching the two devices. A user could make and receive calls and text messages using the TouchPad when paired with the Pre 3.

The future in gaming lies in utilizing features such as these. What if consoles could download games as easily as people can download books on their Kindles? Consoles would be cheaper because they would be smaller and have fewer moving parts. If games are downloaded digitally, there would be no need for a disc drive and its associated components. Plus, more resources could be dedicated to other areas, such as graphics. Digital downloads do exist, but a system such as Amazon's would be an improvement. Currently, the downloaded game needs to be stored on a hard drive. If it's lost, the user needs to purchase the game again and loses all his or her data. With Amazon's system, not only is the purchase backed up, any notes, comments, or bookmarks a person makes is saved as well. People could re-download old games if they get the urge for a little nostalgia and not have to worry about missing any of their data.

The Touch to Share feature offers tons of promise. It would allow for true cross-platform gaming. Say you're playing a game on your console and have to leave. You could touch your tablet to the console and seamlessly transfer that game to the tablet and keep on playing. It doesn't even have to be the same version of the game. Take the pub games from Fable, for example. Those could be released as an app for smart phones and tablets. You could earn money in that game, touch your phone or tablet to your Xbox 720 4D, and transfer your earnings simply by touching the two devices together. Memory cards wouldn't be needed because you could use your phone to transfer data such as saved games, user accounts, or film clips. The possibilities are endless.

Future success for gaming companies doesn't lie solely in bigger, better machines boasting photo-realistic graphics. Innovations in the way we play and incorporating new platforms and social media will allow companies to differentiate themselves and have success just like Nintendo and the Wii.