It’s me again. This week, I won’t be talking about a show,
but this time rather, a video game. I’m pretty sure everybody who grew up with
a Nintendo 64 will know what I’m talking about when I mention the new Super
Smash Bros game. This is a game that I grew up with and my childhood, and back
when this game was new, the graphics weren’t very sophisticated. Now with this
fourth sequel, the scenery looks like something out of a storybook, and the
characters look even more real; You can see Charizard’s arm flexing as it prepares
to attack, you can see the stitching on Mario’s overalls as he runs, and you
can see the newcomer, which is the new Pokemon, Greninja (who is awesome and is
the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle that I always wanted) move it’s body like an
acrobat and so fluidly. The camera angles makes the action seem so much more
intense and almost 15 years ago, graphics like these were a complete pipe dream
(pun sort of intended because Mario used to be a plumber). The graphics for
this entire commercial is absolutely incredible and this is definitely
something I would love to do for a living. If you’re a video game kind of
person, it would be a sin for you to not give this game a look.
I dunno if you've noticed but the future is here people. Phones, tablets, tvs, computers... the more advanced they become the more integrated they become. Soon we'll be in the matrix. But until that day we must prepare! And we can start soon, once the Oculus Rift comes out later next year.
The Oculus Rift is a head-mounted display for virtual reality gaming developed by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey. That's right. Put on a set of goggles and get whisked away to your favorite video game and be immersed in strange new worlds while controlling the movement of the camera with your head.
It's not the first time that virtual reality has been attempted, but it is apparently the most fluid and natural feeling rendition to date. Its been endorsed by John Carmack, the founder of id software, and Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve. The Oculus is set to be fully functional with the re-release of Doom 3. I'm upset that I didn't jump onto the Kickstarter over the summer when it began; for those who backed the project in its infancy they will receive a working unit once it is commercially available. The company only asked for $250,000 and was blown away by nearly 10 times that amount. In fact the reason I'm posting about this now is because there has been a delay of its release due to the overwhelming reception for the product; calling into question the effectiveness of the Kickstarter program and whether it is more helpful or hurtful to these start up companies. But that's another story for a more boring time. Right now too many exciting things are happening! Like virtual reality!
This isn't the only foray into the virtual world soon to be available to the public. Obviously we see things now like the Wii, the Kinect, and Playstation Move (Wii U is up there I guess with its tablet to tv integration... but we'll see about that one). Apparently Microsoft and Sony have been filling out patents for some serious tech. Maybe it won't land at first with the next generation, but you can be sure that add ons will probably come about for the next systems. Microsoft has plans for glove-based controllers, which will enhance and refine motion controls; as well as concepts for a projection screen device that would work on all 4 walls of a square room, to completely immerse oneself into a game. Wow. Some crazy stuff going on.
So keep your eyes glued to your tvs, (and laptops and tablets and phones) and your heads in plastic buckets with pretty pictures painted on the inside in preparation for this glorious event. And in 10-15 years, when we're all plugging into a virtual world, we can talk about the good old days when trees existed.
