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The video and computer gaming genre has evolved over its brief history. This industry had simple beginnings with the game “Pong” leading to today’s many options for both the computer and a variety of consoles. The first games released only gave the player images in two dimensions, length and width, but the majority of games today offer the illusion of depth as well. These games could be called 4-D games rather than 3-D games since the game play is often in real time. The majority of shooter games such as Doom or Halo fall into this category.
Due to technological development in both the design of the games and in the home gaming console’s capabilities, 3-D games have become more popular than ever before. Part of the appeal of these games is their ability to draw the player into the game. The main reason behind gaming is escapism, and the more realistic the games can be made, the more they will help the player to escape the trials and tribulations of daily life.
The software required to create a 3-D game can now be used on a typical home personal computer, but most gamers prefer to purchase their 3-D games from a professional software company rather than make their own. The games available today are not just full of mindless eye-candy. Today’s 3-D games have intricate plot lines, soundtracks, and voice overs to rival the major motion picture companies. Some movie studios are taking advantage of the technology used to make 3-D games to create their own animated movies.
While the three dimensions of today’s games are just based on perception on the screen, that could change in the future. Perhaps one day, 3-D games played at home will give the player a similar experience he would have watching a 3-D movie. Instead of just looking at the flat images on his television, home video technology could allow for him to don a pair of 3-D glasses and feel that the images are coming out of the screen as he is playing the game. Such technology is still in the distant future.
3-D games have emerged to be the most popular form of games available, and they will likely remain so for their appeal to so many people.
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The Internet has brought many wonderful things to our lives and one of those things is quick and almost instant access to new technology. Not all of that technology is life saving, sometimes companies develop wonderful new technology just to have some fun and a great example of that is the existence of online 3-D video games. Video game developers have found a huge audience in the Internet that is both tech savvy and captive but as with any easily accessible mass media outlet, they have also seen their competition skyrocket as well. More innovative technology companies make their debut on the internet than anywhere else and as people are looking for escape from these difficult times the game makers are finding themselves gathering a growing audience.
Playing an online 3-D video game requires the correct equipment and the lightning fast dynamic of advances in internet gaming require the avid gamer to stay up to date with new technology to accommodate the newest online 3-D games. Online 3-D gaming requires three things in your computer system: a large amount of RAM, a fast and large hard drive, and a very fast processor. It is suggested that your processor be a dual or quad core so that one of the cores can be dedicated to online 3-D gaming to allow for the proper processor capacity. The newest processor speeds available are recommended and an AMD or Intel based system will work the best. The Internet is still not very compatible with the Apple Mac computers so if you are looking to do serious online 3-D gaming you may want to stick with an IBM based PC.
It is suggested that you maximize the RAM capacity of your computer and anywhere from 4GB of RAM and higher is strongly suggested. Online 3-D games take up a lot of processor and RAM capacity so you will need to have as much as possible to properly run your games. The fast and large hard drive allows you to save your games when needed and allows the gaming to continue even if you have to access information from your computer’s hard drive.
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During the 70s and 80s, there were no sophisticated 3D games. If people weren’t forced to play text adventures, (where there were no graphics), they had to play games with simplistic 2D graphics. In some cases, the graphics consisted nothing more than a black screen and white lines. Yet, despite the simplicity, people had fun. In fact, these games were so entertaining; they continue to be distributed, either through emulation or as an update for a next-generation console.
Can the same be said for today’s 3D games, which offer so much more visual appeal? Well, while there are many highly entertaining 3D games, some of them focus so much on graphics that the game play itself is boring. Just tune into G4’s “X-Play” television show to get a better understanding. Very rarely will a modern 3D game receive a 5-star rating, as most will be deemed as above average (though not 5-star), average and very bad. And, surprisingly enough, each episode will feature at least one 3D game receiving a rating of 1 to 2 stars. The usual reason for such a rating ranges from bad controls to just being plain boring.
The text adventures and 2D games of yesteryear rarely had those problems. Sure, there were flops like Atari’s infamous “ET” game, but even then it’s because the game designers relied more on publicity and visual appeal to sell the game over real entertainment value. There’s a reason why the original Pacman or Super Mario Brothers continue to be played, while some of the latest 3D games collect dust on store shelves.
The lack of innovation in today’s 3D games has even affected console sales. Consider the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. Graphically, the PS3 renders 3D games much better than the Wii, but where’s the innovation? The Wii ends up generating more sales because the designers put more of a focus on game play. This is not to say that there aren’t Wii games that are total duds, but the duds aren’t affecting its sales. Even now, in the midst of a bad economy, the Wii still is hard to find at certain retailers. But the PS3 is at risk of nearly going extinct because of its lack of sales.
In conclusion, today’s game designers need to stop focusing so much on graphics and start concentrating on the entertainment value of their games. True, good graphics will initially draw a person to 3D games…that’s a given. But what will keep them there is the game play, the storyline and the challenge it brings.
