Videogames: The wave of the future
 

Remember when Spore looked good?

And it was going to change the face of videogames forever?

Well, that didn't turn out so accurate, but most of the things in this article are still quite possible, and got me thinking about how the vidyagajms are going to explode all dimensions of time, space and money probably within 30 years. Heck, we have no idea how the world is going to look ten years from now. Maybe not even five.

All we really need is some kind of automated energy generation, I'm thinking either something like Transmetropolitan where Mercury is covered in solar panels or zero point energy, and when we have nanocomputers building each other blanketing the world and streaming a developing mesh of full sensory immersion games procedurally created according to our moods and whims into our brains, I hesitate to call it games or even software, it'll be some synthesis of computer and man; that'll be the end of the world as we know it. Dreams and reality will be completely interchangible, up will become down, something will come from nothing, and we will turn into bodiless superluminal creatures and play forever in the fields of fucking intergalactic paradise.

I have seen the shape of the technological singularity, and I am not afraid.

The longer it takes them to make a goddamn Pokemon MMO, the farther away most of the things you're talking about will seem.

Now, I normally don't subject people to this because, well, it will eat your soul. But I don't really like you, so here you go.

But... what did I do to you?

The only people I ever try to actively piss off are Prems (who is not really bothered at all, I'm sure) and Fifth (who just lurks and honestly has no time for mere mortals such as I).

Aw, fuck it, I'll look at it anyway.

I tried to get in on PWO. The servers are always down, the locals are dumb, and the membership sign-ups are closed.

That figures.

Okay, enough about Pokemon.

Now cue Sith to come and tell us if any of that technology is actually viable.

I thought Sith was the Physics guy, and someone else did Technology.

Enough about Pokemon? Ha!! You want to see the future?

Nintendo goes cross platform and launches a Pokemon MMO that goes on their next console (with support for USB Keyboard and Mouse) and ALSO on the PC.

The game allows you to Give orders to your pokemon, and the better your relationship with the creature and your success the faster and better it responds. Nintendo launches a buttload of pokemons exclusively for this game rounding up the Total to 600 Monsters you can capture, train and battle with / against. Plus you can travel on all the locations of the previous games, and you can pick your native region and fight on several Types of Championships and qualification tournaments that follow a real-time calendar.

It takes the world by storm.

Then, Blizzard decides that it needs to fight back and take over again, and that WoW is old enough... they pull the Ultimate rabbit from the hat...

They launch their new MMO... the entire content of WoW... Against the Entire content of Starcraft.

Warcraft Vs Starcraft.

6 months later, everyone with a Internet connection and a credit card is a slave.

I call it Zreality, as instead of simply imposing images on our 3dimensional perspective for immersion, a special kind of nano cloud that fill important areas creates physical responses to virtual reactants, with conjured shared images providing a visual confirmation.

In layman's terms, player sees grassy field. Turns on specs, and sees pokemon center, and can actually walk into, touch the building by using the nano cloud field to give feedback that simulates a hard surface. There is an elevator, that actually lifts the player up to the next story, or carries them to another area of the grassy field with the illusion of going up. AI Nurse joys, but they can actually be touched by lecherous brock style characters and then their AI Chanceys can kick player's ass and pull him by his ear.

Essentially, the nano cloud would need some sort of method of dispersal and maintenance that would keep the the area properly saturated and low resistance enough, that it would be like walking in air or special types of fluid, and that by wirelessly running current through the cloud in specific programs the nanocloud would create "shields" (used loosely here) to create the desired effect of feedback and physical effects, which would work in tandem with programmed visualization program that synchronizes with the effects to the player to create a stronger illusion.

Is any of this feasible yet? No. BUT SOMEDAY.

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