Seriously, sometimes I think I was born perhaps five years early.
I’ve got the soul of a 29-year old and the body of a 67-year old.
In the gaming sense, I think that I would feel more comfortable with the constantly-changing landscape.
Perhaps I would be looking forward to the PS3’s motion controllers and 3D glasses.
I don’t think it will be 3D. From what I surmise, the near-future of gaming will involved the further erosion of the boundaries between player and game. This will be done through innovations in the way that people will control their avatars, giving them a greater sense of agency. Think of the interface that Tom Cruise’s character used in Minority Report…
As I peruse tech blogs, that is becoming more of a reality. Frankly, I would miss the controller in my hands. Having, what Janet Murray called a “Threshold Object” cradled between my digits is what keeps each of my size 13 feet planted in both worlds. I believe it’s the tactile interface that keeps us from being totally sucked into a digital space. What would happen to emotionally compromised individuals when they confuse their material identity for their virtual one? Here’s the thing: I don’t mean to spread fear like many a vote-grubbing politician. I believe in the first amendment rights of game developers. But I believe the thing that keeps the Jack Thompsons of the world at bay is that bit of plastic and wiring with the candy-colored buttons.
Perhaps I wouldn’t worry so much if I was five years younger.
However, my age gives me perspective that minus five years would grant me (in the gaming sense, at least).
Would I still have had my experiences with the Commodore 128 (in C=64 mode of course) that gives me appreciation for the advances in PC gaming since 1985?
By the way Archon was, and still is… awesome. If you can find a way to play it: play it.
Would I still understand the affects of the video game crash of the early 80s and its affects on console platforms on an intimate level?
Indeed, I did have E.T. for the Atari 2600.
I also got to see the rebirth of the console in the form of the NES in 1986 (I got the one with R.O.B. for Xmas) and the first-generation Game Boy.
So…maybe not being five years younger has its bonuses.
-R.
The Picklebandit's Barrel 