What is the ultimate end goal of gaming?

Unlike other media, gaming has been constantly linked to technological evolution and has seen vast changes and side projects over many years.

When we watched X-men or Star Trek and saw the infamous Holodeck, wasn't this what everybody imagined as the end goal of gaming? Fully immersed in a virtual world.

So Scorpio is out this year and VR has barely been mentioned. And PS5 seems to be out in 2018 according to an insider and I can't see VR being used there. Disregarding that, there is the general graphical equation where gamers - it seems - and hardware platforms cannot balance the cost.

When it comes to making the decision of better graphics vs lesser graphics + VR (or any other tech that costs actual money) graphics always win. And then peripherals always cost extra, and that barrier is what stops widespread adoption.

It feels like VR is in some holding pattern at the moment and the future is uncertain. So my question is, if we are unimpressed at the prospect of VR and if hardware developers are going to ignore it in the cause of beefing up the graphics (4k, 8k?) then what exactly will be the ultimate end goal of gaming? If the holodeck isn't it?

SupremeAC said:

I think mobile gaming is the end goal.  Accessability at all times.  10-15 years from now, no one will have a PC or a console, we'll all just be carrying around smartphones that link up to any screen and we'll game on those.  Just look at what is capable on such a limited form factor as the Switch right now.

So Playstation Now.

But with no lag, perfect performance. And since graphics are processed elsewhere we just have receiving devices?

gamingeek said:

So Playstation Now.

But with no lag, perfect performance. And since graphics are processed elsewhere we just have receiving devices?

No, there'll always be lag.  At some point technological advancements, at least in the graphics space, will stagnate.  Look at Horizon Zero Dawn, games are achieving photo realism, what's next?  Shrinking the die size to fit it in a phone.

gamingeek said:

I saw some tablets with projectors built in.

There are gamers who want to game on the big screen, but what if the technology was perfected and it was bright and crisp and could project onto any surface? Compelling?

Projection will never be the end goal as it requires darkness to be any good.  Wireless streaming from your device to any screen is where it's at.  Kind of like what the WiiU did, but in reverse.

gamingeek said:

5G is supposed to be pretty fast. I'd be interested to read how fibre optic broadband runs PSNow or equivalent services.

People will never agree to a service that can't guarantee to being available at all times.  On top of that, of all media, gaming is the least compatible with being steamed.  There is no advantage to streaming high performance games when you have a high performance piece of hardwre in your pocket.  Gaming as a service akin to what Xbox and Sony are doing now, where you pay a monthly fee to be able to download 'free' games is much preferable over streaming;

Archangel3371 said:

Augmented Reality is the future.

Could very well be.  Why use screens, when you can stick a virtual screen to every surface?  Hololens is proof of concept, but I think that's still ways off before we'll be able to fit all that in the size of a normal pair of glasses.

Stuff like playing on a phone is the same games on a different screen, that's not the future, that's just a new screen.

It is VR but it has to get to the point where it's not a helmet. Motion controls are the future of gaming no matter what the fuck people say. They can come kicking and screaming about their ancient controllers for all I care. I've been playing Robo Recall, a DMC Style arcade game, no controller can replicate that game. Grabbing an enemy with one hand, holding it up to your face as a shield, while with your other hand you shoot, then fling the robot to the side at the thing you hear s coming at you, snatch a gun out of the air shoot two different enemies independently in different directions. That's the future.

Sure, that would be great.

gamingeek said:

Isn't the whole point that what you carry around is a cheaper receiver and the servers which are vastly more powerful than anything that would fit in a portable form would play and display visuals well beyond any portable and even stationary device.

Power will become a moot point at a given time, and there is no such thing as no lag.  At least not on a consumer, world spanning level.

gamingeek said:

So the ultimate goal would be a neural implant that you just click into place on the port in your skull. You then appear in the game like the matrix.

Rather than motion controls you use your mind to control what is happening so no flailing arms about in the real world.

I think we're making progress here.

Again, that'll never happen on a consumer level, because it would require humanity to fully understand how the brain works first.  I think that AR glasses with motion controls are the closest we'll get to that.  Are we talking the future of gaming, or sci-fi?

A combination of the eyetoy, the wii and Pokemon Go, integrated in a social media platform on your phone.

gamingeek said:

I'm  asking what the ultimate end goal of gamings evolution will be. VR used to be the dream. 3D tvs and systems are on the way out. And your AR ideas seem unambitious and somewhat boring. So I guess I'm asking, if we are rejecting anything that costs extra money  like motion controls, cameras and headsets, are we doomed to just see higher resolution tvs and more powerful consoles to drive those displays?

I think that once the uncanny valley has been conquered, the focus will shift to AI and thus CPU.  We'll see games with more NPC's and better AI.  I also wouldn't discount phones acting as all-in-one devices capable of powering top end gaming experiences.  Switch is more powerfull than a WiiU when undocked, think of what could fit in the pocket of your jeans in 10 years time.  Sony and MS are already talking about diminishing returns, with shorter generations and  less pronounced jumps in tech.  At some point those jumps in tech will become indistunguishable.  Creating smaller portable consoles is a logical next step.  In 10 years time, your Xperia phone could hook up to a DualShock over bluetooth, a screen over Wifi, and you could be playing games that look as good as, or better than, Horizon Zero Dawn.

Bigger screens with more pixels have their limits as well.  DF did an article on 8K screens and they flat out said that 8K is wasted on anything lower than 55".