The importance of digital media digital media, especially video games, in our interconnected lives cannot be overstated. The videogame industry changes faster than most, since it ties into nearly every societal, technological, and political sphere in the modern world. Yet, even though videogames have grown into one of the largest industries on the planet, the games with the largest followings are of the “kill everything” variety. I believe video games have just as much untapped potential to teach, not just entertain.
Everything today involves some form of digital media: from watching the news, writing a document, using a smartphone, surfing the web. Even newspaper, a medium once thought to be purely physical, is altering itself to meld with the consumer’s digital preferences. We are digital people.
The biggest business in this online era is the entertainment sector, and the biggest industry within the entertainment sector, is cinema. More movies use digital elements today than ever before, ranging from IMAX cameras, to recreating younger representations of older actors using computer-generated imagery. Today’s movies show digital media’s limitless ability to make a director’s fantasies a reality.
Historically, early cinema didn’t meet high artistic expectations. Many earlier movies had simpler premises, with films like The Three Stooges embodying a purely slapstick mentality. However, as movies progressed, films like Casablanca wowed audiences with multifaceted characters and a timeless romance. Sure, most modern action movies embody a pure-entertainment mentality. Over time though, more critically acclaimed films are those that make their audiences think.
If Spielberg or the Cohen brothers believed that movies couldn’t make viewers think, we would not have such amazing films as Schindler’s List or No Country for Old Men. James Cameron would not have made Avatar, bringing the question of our treatment of our planet and other indigenous peoples under scrutiny. The King’s Speech wouldn’t have brought out a very human side of Britain’s WWII king. Now, the film industry dominates artistic entertainment.
Even though cinema is the biggest entertainment business, the video game industry is growing at a faster speed than any other. Its massive audience rivals that of movies, and its biggest games have blockbuster-worthy budgets. Gaming’s producers have the money, its developers have the talent, and its gamers have the excitement to make even James Cameron jealous.
Much like early cinema, games are in another golden age. Today, games with the largest followings are of the “kill everything” variety. As an entertainment medium, games have already found their niche, but games outside that niche continuously struggle to garner critical acclaim. Still, indie developers are rising out of the woodwork at faster rates than ever before, pushing the industry standards forward and revolutionizing gaming one title at a time.
I believe video games have untapped potential to teach, not just entertain. As games grow in scope and size, small developers will create more unique games to be enjoyed by millions. I hope to see technology that was originally intended for videogames being used in other industries.
Future videogame engines would help make new medicines, specialized casts, and other kinds of medical equipment. Others engines will focus on detailed environment simulation, helping engineers, architects, and contractors design a fully-realized, digital, cost-free version of their projects before starting construction. With a simulated home, clients take a digital tour of their home and make modifications. A modified CryEngine 3 could mimic material palates, exterior environmental sounds, and light perfectly well.
While similar simulations and three-dimensional imaging technologies exist in their respective markets, games have a unique interactive quality that would suit these new frontiers well, allowing for a deeper understanding and appreciation for the finished products. Games could be tailored to educate and enlighten, to help and heal, to show and simulate. Three-dimensional imaging technology and simulation games exist today, getting at my vision for the untapped potential of videogames.
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Thanks for reading and Happy Gaming!
from Game Informer Magazine http://ift.tt/1aHEKJs
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