Technology has managed to make its way into our daily lives in an unprecedented manner. The smallest of tasks in our day-to-day lives are supplemented with the involvement of technology. So much so that now the role of the same has become indispensable. Moreover, ever since the advent of the pandemic, technology has assumed an even higher pedestal in the functioning of everyday functions. Even games played in real-time find themselves online, ever since the advent of the pandemic. Be it arcade games or mystery rooms, technology has enabled the gaming industry to go online and be accessible to everyone.
Of all the areas that are highly influenced by technology is the gaming industry. Technology has played a central role in smudging the difference between actual reality and virtual reality. Today, gaming has assumed a much greater role than just being a mode of entertainment for the masses. Many professionals receive training through the medium of games. Moreover, skill-based games are making their way into the mainstream gaming industry.
Recent years have seen an incredible spike in the mobile gaming industry. The gaming industry has experienced a lot of development with the advancement of technology. In this article, we look at what ways technology has affected the gaming industry.
1) Improved Graphics
We are sure that almost all of our readers have seen what the graphics of arcade games were like once. Well, for something that came out in the 1970s, they were sure a revolution. However, fast forward to half a century, the gaming industry has seen surreal advancements in the field of graphics.
Remember the days when GTA San Andreas and GTA Vice City were the ‘it’ games? A significant chunk of that success is owed to their graphics, which were amazing for the time when those games actually came out. Today, graphics technology has taken strides so far that they’ve smeared the difference between reality and virtual reality. Companies have been striving to make their video games as visually appealing as they can be real. Graphics have become one of the major ways for companies to personally connect with their customers. It is the means through which they create a virtual bond where they feel like a part of the game rather than a mere player.
2) Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has managed to seep its way into everything that deals with technology. The gaming industry remains no stranger to artificial intelligence either. Artificial intelligence continues to impact the gaming industry significantly when it comes to developing games that are very life-like. Moreover, there are even games where real-life players get to engage and play against AI.
The involvement of artificial intelligence can help decide upon the behavioral patterns of the game characters. Moreover, it can also help the game and characters assume a more life-like form, as stated earlier, by making it more believable. Making the game more life-like ensures increased involvement of the players and reaching out to a wider audience for the unique experience. The potential of AI to change the gaming industry is still largely uncharted territory. It only increases the anticipation to think about how incredibly AI can revolutionize the gaming industry.
3) Connecting people from all over the world
Playing games all by yourself is a thing of the past. With the advent of online gaming, people from all over the world are connecting and playing video games together. Thanks to the revolution that the internet has created, gamers from all over the world have created an entire community of their own. Not only do people get to embark on missions with their friends, but they also get to make new ones through online gaming.
Online gaming has developed into a niche of its own. So much so that now, it has an entire sports genre dedicated to it, known as e-sports or electronic sports. Online gaming has eradicated the whole deal with time zone differences. A person sitting in the United States can play a game at night with a person sitting in India during the daytime. Moreover, online gaming has enabled people to play games at any time of the day, at their convenience. Of all things, once when gaming was blamed as a cause of isolation amongst youngsters is now developing into a social activity, all thanks to online gaming.
4) Touch technology
Touch technology has to be one of the most significant revolutions in technology. Gone are the days when gaming needed specific devices like joysticks and controllers. With the advent of touch technology, the use of joysticks and controllers has become almost redundant. More people own smartphones and tablets than devices made specifically for gaming.
Remember the days we spent playing Temple Run and Angry Birds for hours? Yes, that is the revolution that touch technology is now creating in the gaming industry. The one thing that makes touchscreen so appealing is its universality. Today, everything from smartphones to tablets to laptops (and even desktops) can be found using touch technology. It is only self-explanatory that the gaming industry complied with it and started introducing changes accordingly.
5) The hyperreality factor
As stated earlier, the gaming industry is taking more and more steps toward making the audience’s experience as real as possible. Hyperreality is one of the many approaches it is trying its hands on. Hyperreality is the coming together of virtual reality and physical reality. It directly deals with location-based experiences.
One simple example of it could be the very popular game Pokemon Go. 2016 was a crazy year. More people got out of their houses to catch Pokemons than to take walks. This is the effect hyperreal games have on their audience. Every place, all around the world, no matter how remote. Pokemon Go was a surreal transformation of people getting out of their phones, or better yet, getting out ‘with’ their phones! Hyperreal experiences continue to develop as the gaming industry continues to blur the line between the real and the virtual.
Final thoughts
Technology has become an indispensable part of our lives. So much so that it constitutes the most minute activities of our daily routines. It is only a given that it impacts the gaming sector so heavily. Besides all the advancements listed above, technology has also helped in making payments and transactions safer in the gaming sector. And cloud-based tech is helping in making gaming accessible to all without having to invest in heavy gaming equipment.