How can games be improved?

[ClaMs]

I can still remember when I got my hands on Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VIII back in the PS era, thinking to myself how magnificent the games looked and how gorgeous the graphics were. But deep down I always knew they could get better. FFwd to today, and playing certain games on my HD leaves me gobsmacked. Can graphics in games get any better now?

And in what other ways do you think games are likely to improve? What would games have in 10 years time?

 

[Dragon_of_red]

They will probably be more interactive, but the games industry will be almost out of ideas and they will all be cheap knock offs of each other...

 

[Legion]

Graphics will keep getting better and better until they are photo-realistic, how long this will take obviously we can't know but unless something huge happens (World War or something) then I imagine in the next 20 years or so.

As for what else? Well physics are the obvious one. They could be made as realistic as possible.

Apart from that it then comes down to taste. Some people may be happy with the voice-acting, stories and so on we have now and might feel they cannot be improved upon, others might disagree.

 

[Puppeteer Putin]

They will probably be more interactive, but the games industry will be almost out of ideas and they will all be cheap knock offs of each other...

Mmm there may be more copies as the industry grows, naturally there will me more market followers, but I think amongst the increased tripe there will also be innovation in equal measure. Just think, with the rise of Steam - small indie developers can have their ideas heard. These titles are the breeding grounds and, as the industry grows, more minds will become enfactuated with the industry, mixing cultures and ideas beyond what we could possibley have today.

I have great hopes for the industry, but hey ever the optimist.

 

[Flour]

Graphics can become photo-realistic but fuck that, give me a few more important things:

1 - Believable acting, no looking at an emotional scene where the voice actor is clearly in a recording studio reading the script. This fucks with any chance at immersion.

2 - Tied to the first, believable character movement. No kissing scene where it looks like two pieces of wood are slapped together. Not being unable to step over a small pile of rubble. These and some others fuck immersion even more than a conversation that sounds like a 6 year old playing with dolls. Sorry for that, a 6 year old with dolls would do a better job than some 'professional' voice actors.

3 - A good physics and collision system is also more important than photo-realistic graphics. There's no point in having realistic graphics when a picture can stop a bullet and a knee-high pile of debris can stop anyone from moving further. Another part of this is any weapon or part of the character disappearing in parts of the scenery.

Until these points are accomplished there is no point in achieving photo-realism.