PTE93: Future Perfect

[Neon Ignition]

Gamers.
We have a natural tendency to love tech advancements, especially anything that might have a direct impact on our chosen hobby.

Despite the Next Big Thing being a once a generation at best phenomenon, the industry has a new one hyped every single year. But what this PTE is aimed at is us individually and the next purchase that we plan to make.

We're still early into a new console generation yet some gamers have yet to make the jump. Above are several options of upcoming or new gen tech linked to gaming to choose from.

Which one, even if its a couple of years from now, do you foresee being your next big gaming related purchase and why?

Which ones are out of consideration?

[Dogg Thang]

VR for me easily. I genuinely see that being the future. Not just games but work environments etc. I see us going into virtual office spaces and so on. Eventually, I see a central infrastructure that is effectively an internet of VR that powers games, work and social interaction. Or at least only two or three possible infrastructures. So games won't need new engines - they'll mostly be built on the same engine.

I think it's both an awesome future and a terrible one and, yeah, still in the realm of sci-fi right now but I think it's coming soon. And for me the immersion of VR in gaming is something I'd jump at when it's ready.

[Brad]

Yep. Just imagining portal 2 with vr...

[wakka]

A VR device for me too. Like Dogg I see this eventually being a technology that fundamentally changes how we interact with a lot of things. If you look at how far we've come in 25 years - from the internet being a few bulletin boards to pocket super computers with advanced 3D graphics and high speed, always on connections to the sum of all human knowledge - it's not hard to believe that in another 25 our methods of communication and interaction with information and each other will have again changed fundamentally.

In the meantime I'd just like to give Eve Valkyrie a try, and decorate my front room with a large VR headset like I live in Sword Art Online.

[nakamura]

I'm not convinced computers have had a wholly beneficial impact on society though. Technology has given ease of access but it's invasive on everyday life and hate is worse than ever or at least more visible.

I like games. Not so much the interaction side.

[wakka]

I literally cannot imagine living in a world without computers.

[nakamura]

Neither can I. I'm a user but not a mega fan of social media though. It's all consuming for many.

[Brad]

The world without computers was pretty cool. Some of us old folk can just about remember :-)

[teddymeow]

A bigger TV. Currently running a 6 year old 46" Sony which, while perfectly serviceable, needs an upgrade.

[Dogg Thang]

Neither can I. I'm a user but not a mega fan of social media though. It's all consuming for many.

Yep. Can't disagree with that. That's why I would describe our VR future as both awesome and terrible. I think we're in for every sci-fi writer's nightmare with the one difference that it is embraced and welcomed by people. And I can understand that welcome too.

I met an old school friend who doesn't own a computer. Doesn't have an email address. Doesn't use Facebook or any of that. Had an old pre-smartphone phone. Bizarrely I admired him for being able to live off the grid.

[QualityChimp]

Nice thread, thanks.

PS4 and XBox One have nothing to interest me yet. I'll still be playing PS3/360 games until the next gen, so I'm more than happy.
I got out of PC gaming years ago. All the best games come out on console and I can't be bothered upgrading components every time a new game comes out.

I'm really interested in VR too. I love exploratory games like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto and the prospect of mooching around virtual game worlds is an exciting one to me.

However, I've had my Panasonic plasma for years now, so I'm expecting it to die because all modern appliances are manufactured to do so these days. I'd love to turn one of my rooms into a mini cinema, so it'll probably be a projector, but that wasn't an option!

[jamesy]

I voted for VR but that'll no doubt be coupled by an upgraded graphics card/cpu etc. Even if it's not like I hope it to be I'll still get use out of a better pc.

[Asura]

I think we're in for every sci-fi writer's nightmare with the one difference that it is embraced and welcomed by people. .

Admittedly, stuff like Brave New World and 1984, and the many sci-fi works that derive from these two, explore both extents of this.

Stuff like 1984, Equilibrium and V for Vendetta suggest that humanity's downfall will come from giving into what it fears.

Stuff like Brave New World suggests that humanity's downfall will come from giving into what it loves.

I'm an optimist and don't quite believe we'll ever reach either extreme (as a permanent, unbreakable state).

Certainly, I don't think that whole "all games will share the same assets and engine" thing will ever work. You can't even share assets from something like Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mirror's Edge; they look fundamentally different despite being similar.

[dataDave]

No WiiU option?

[speedlolita]

I don't give a **** about VR and I already own a PS4.

So I will have to vote for GPU upgrade, though I'm sure I'll be upgrading my CPU too, possibly. Why? For Black Desert Online. No other reason.