[extropy-chat] Gaming: ? re 2010 - 2030 "GameChangers"

[kevinfreels.com]

> Focusing on the consumer entertainment for a moment:
>
> Why go to the overpriced movies with the unruly neighbors, and
> uncomfortable seating when it is so easy to create a home theater
> stocked with your favorite snacks?  I believe the near future will see
> an increase in stay-at-home consumption of content as bandwidth
> increases and 'deals' allow us direct access to larger libraries .

I'm in the early stages of building a business that specializes in building
custom home theaters just for the reasons you mention.

> Eventually we will grow tired of the solitary and unchanging nature of
> even our 'favorite' linear content.

I disagree here. the "Choose your own adventure" stories never took over the
literary world and I doubt that they will take over film either. Movies are
a cultural thing. There's a certain bond there when I say to a total
stranger "If she weighs as much as a duck...." and they finish with "she's a
witch!", or when someone says to me "Surely you can't be serious" and I
reply "I am serious....and don't call me Shirley."
Linear stories present an opportunity for people to share fictitious
experiences. Telling my daughter to remember what happened to the boy who
cried wolf only allows me to pass down the message if the ending of the
story were the same for me as it is for her.


> Consider that today's game consoles have the rendering power to
> animate a movie like Toy Story in real time (1)  So why aren't movie
> producers designing constraints for characters/plots and allowing
> their scenarios to 'unfold' in response to audience participation?
> (OK yeah, I know why)  If theater seating had inputs which allowed
> viewers/participants to choose a direction, and the potentials were
> actualized on-screen according to the majority vote (or some other
> algorithm) then there would be some unique experience to involvement
> with Group A vs Group B.  I think this novelty will become especially
> appealing after we have played out all the solitary consumption of
> linear content that we can find.

I expect that we will soon see this in theme parks or specialized theaters
similar IMAX but I don't expect it to replace the traditional linear film.
Interesting new inventions will come around and add to it making it a
greater experience, but we live linear lives and linear stories are easiest
for us to relate to.

>
> Also, I can imagine hybrid Virtual/Actual Reality games becoming more
> popular - like this:  http://www.pacmanhattan.com/about.php
>
> It's probably not even worth discussing the explosive popularity of
> massively multi-player/person domains like World of Warcraft, Second
> Life or what Nintendo's easily approachable Wii might make available
> to 'non-gamers' - but it might be an interesting discussion to imagine
> the side effects or currently unseen consequences of even greater
> penetration of these virtual worlds on our concept of
> time-space/reality.
>
> (1) I thought I read that this was true - if not, it soon will be.
>
> On 2/6/07, nvitamore at austin.rr.com <nvitamore at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> > Does anyone have an opinion of what would be the top three
"GameChangers"*
> > coming from 2010 to 2030 in the area of interactive media and
entertainment
> > from a consumer point of view?
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