Gaming: Moments in time defined by visuals.

When you look back at the history of gaming, the first thing that comes to mind from the generation before is what the visuals looked like. It's what separates generations and is the first thing that gamer's notice when they look at the screen. Let's face it, it's really only visuals that have changed in gaming over the past 20 years and not the games themselves.

Call Of Duty remains Call Of Duty, with little change to the way we play. The same can be said for most games. Every generation developers come up with a buzzword that remains for the duration, that is the new term used to define a visual effect. Bloom lighting, God rays, etc.… catchphrases that define a console: blast processing, super computer, Hyper FX...

Yet none of the industry banter has really changed games in a way that changes the way we play. As I said in previous articles, physics has been talked about and batted around for years in the industry, yet nobody seems to want to take the first step to integrate it into gameplay. Using the effect of the calculations as only a cinematic, uncontrollable moment.

Yet it doesn't stop millions of people every year from buying new systems. I myself, the same. So then the question becomes, why do we continuously play the same games over and over again with nothing but updated visuals? Are we playing to further the story or are we playing to see the next catchphrase visual effects?

I write these articles as a reminder to the industry, who often says they want to create interactive movies, that little has changed in the past 20 years. And, in order to capture those movie moments and translate them in to unforgettable gameplay sequences... More than visuals have to change. You have to capture the essence of every character, make people feel for that character in a way they feel for family or thy neighbor. Sequences and actions have to play out, real world, realistically on the screen. Giving the player the sense that every action has an equal or opposite reaction. Meaning making physics part of gameplay, that gives the player the freedom to accomplish tasks anyway they want to using the power of their mind and physics. Just not the power of the gun or sword there hands.

Battlefield 4 brings to mind what I'm talking about. Where, the movie moments that happen and put the player in awe, are nothing more then façades of in game cinematic's. Not controllable by the player, put there to add suspense, but never placing the player in any danger of facing the consequences of their actions. Drawing the player out of the game and making them feel like a lesser part of what's happening on screen.

It is changes like this that will make Games feel more real, intense and in control by the player. Not the upgrade in visuals. While they tend to help the overall ambience of the title, they are also only background for the more important aspects of gaming.

I'm hoping these pieces actually help developers think about how they want to make their games and improve the way the player feels while they are playing and thinking about them after they are done.