By Matthew Wellman, Staff Writer
Video games have come a long way since the days of Pong and Space Invaders. We now have devices like motion sensor controllers and life-like graphics. But what’s next for the video game world? Is it virtual reality? Is it complete artificial interaction? We won’t talk about those things, at least not yet.
Microsoft is always looking for ways to get ahead of the game. There has been speculation of a new console, but so far they are denying it. However, they have announced quite a few upgrades to the current XBOX 360. Through Kinect, you can now tell your XBOX what to do. Want to listen to music? Just talk to your system. Play Call of Duty? Simply speak the words and your disc begins to spin.
They have also introduced something they call XBOX SmartGlass. This brings all your devices– your smart phone, your tablet and your XBOX– all together. If you’re watching a movie on your tablet, you can pick it up right where you left off on your television. While watching shows or movies on your television, your tablet or smartphone can give you information about the show that you are watching. If you’re playing something like Halo, you can look at unlocked weapons or data and even join a multiplayer match all from your tablet. For sports fans, you can create a play on your tablet for Madden and immediately put it into the game.
Sony seems to focus more on the game-play than the extra stuff that Microsoft brings. They have announced a new game from the creators of Heavy Rain, which won Game of the Year in 2010. This new game, entitled Beyond: Two Souls, is psychological thriller that is unlike any other game. The studio that makes this game, Quantic Dream, loves to put in human decisions that impact the outcome of the game. If you don’t make the right choice, you may not know something that will help you later in the game. They have also used 3-D graphics in order to make the characters come to life.
Sony also announced a game called Playstation All Stars: Battle Royale. This is going to be Sony’s version of Super Smash Bros., taking all the classic Playstation characters and clashing them together.
All in all, we have a lot to look forward to in terms of video games this upcoming year. XBOX will have more cool stuff to play around with on the menus and PS3 will have some great new games.
Enjoy, gamers!