If you would ask me for my personal opinion, I would say that I am a Nintendo person through and through. Always has been, always will be.
From the very first Nintendo 64 console with games like Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, Mario Kart and Mario Party, along with the new-ish Nintendo Wii and the ever famous Wii Sports; Nintendo has been responsible for many enjoyable times with the family. And while I haven’t really caught up with the PlayStation side of things (I think they have released their latest console- Play Station 4, in late 2013), it is the Kinect application fitted to X-Box consoles and PCs that has recently caught my eye. While not necessarily a new technology as such, the ramifications for future generations will be gigantic and will certainly revolutionise the way we interact in gaming situations as we find different ways of enhancing gaming experience to whomever involved.
How the technology works is this- it is built around a sensor that scans whomever is in the room, using themselves as the actual controller for the individual on screen instead of having an actual controller in your hand. While there’s many more intricacies in how Kinect scans the room and how it translates the movement of yourself to the game, in a nutshell, what I have described is basically how the application works. With Kinect and its applications of gaming consoles on the rise, we are being shown a culture of individuals that immerse themselves in gaming technologies more so than generations before.
What is next after Kinect? Virtual reality? Games where you are the main character and events happen based upon what you do or how you react to gaming situations? Kinect and the future applications of the technology open up a whole other dimension where fantasy and reality seemingly collide together in a mesh. Now I’m not saying that Kinect and the further applications of it will lead to ultimate doom. Kinect does have some good applications- with you as the controller, there’ll be much more exercise opportunities for the family. However, what this may lead into for the future is a place where people are more willing to stay at home and immerse themselves in games than to be conversing with others, either within the home or outside on group outings.
What do you think Kinect will lead to? Are you happy with the advancement of gaming technologies as a whole? Are you a Nintendo, Play Station or X-Box fan? Or you do not even like gaming at all? Whatever your feelings to Kinect are, it is here to stay, and ought to be managed so that the individual is given a balance- between gaming and real life, between reality and fantasy, a way to relax but also a time to just remember than gaming is just another form of entertainment, along the realms of TV shows and movies.
Let me know in the comments if you are a fan of Kinect or not, and what you think the future would look like within the gaming industry in 3, 5 or even 10 years time!