A Brand New You

[Emperorpeng]

Hundreds of people talk about the wonders we'll experience in a virtual reality: a fully immersive simulation that literally puts you in the game. But what about the player themselves? Will they look into a mirror in-game and see themselves, or the body the developer chooses for them?

We are already asked to take on different personas in games. In the Legend of Zelda we ARE Link, in Halo we ARE Master Chief, but what will it be like to literally walk in someone else's shoes in a game? What if, after booting up your system you were taller, or fatter, or heard a different voice coming out of your mouth? Would you look at things differently if you played a different race or gender? Maybe a different perspective would allow people to better understand the real world.

Perhaps you'll play a game where you aren't even human at all.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Why can't we have both? Some games do it one way, some games do it another way.

 

[Srkkl]

A lot of games I would like to be the set main character, but in games like Bioshock or Fallout 3 I would want some customization, or no way to see yourself. I however would not enjoy being myself in a game, thats why I play games, escapism, I am in no shape to save the world or get shot 5 times and survive. Although if you could play as yourself it would be neat to see the different outcomes of the game say if you were a kid and the npc's saw you as one, same with being an adult or how you dress.

 

[Kollega]

...Perhaps you'll play a game where you aren't even human at all.

[small]Why yes. If virtual reality can literally put me in the shoes of another character, then i could finally check if being a Lombax would be as utterly awesome as i imagine. But i digress.[/small]

Okay, seriously now. I don't think all games would use first-person perspective in VR. But honestly, no-one of us can even begin to imagine what developers will come up with when they'll finally get their hands on a Holodeck.