Progression of Games Relating to the Level of Technology

I came across an article on Gamestudies.org discussing the relationship between the developement of video games and the standard of technology at the time. This relates to what iv been looking at in terms of audio/visual elements of sensory immersion. As computer processing speed has improved the quality of our 3D digital enviroments has also increased and so in relation, the aesthetics of digital games is linked to the level of technology when it was made. The article seeks to define this relationship between digital games and technology over fears that there "is a real danger that the technical limitations of earlier and current games might be overlooked by some scholars who study games".

The article identifies a constant trend which has been apparent so far in the areas iv looked at, the most obvious and continuous ways that technology effects immersion is throught the aesthetics of games. Increased aesthetics and dimensional detail within games lends its self to realism of the virtual enviroment, the more our eyes beleive what they see the easier it is to become immersed in that enviroment. But as technology advances its not just the realism of a game that can be advanced, designers are given a larger palette with which to create theyre digital enviroments.

In closer relevance to my topic, the article discusses "How Far Can Audio-Visuals Develop?" important since it relates to my early dsicussion of predicting advances in technology relating to games. It states that there is no certainty about where technology will continue to improve at its current rate or if its limits are drawing near. While it is likely that with computers continuing to process faster that there is "unlikely to be a limit to the improvements in richness, depth, smoothness and fidelity of audio-visually rendered images anytime soon." a cap on the progression of audio-visual rendering could occur once games acheived photo-realism, and which Jenkins beleives attempts to increase graphics and aesthetics in games will reach theyre final stage.

So in terms of technology effecting the sensory immersion of games, it can be said that improvements to the audio-visual aspect of digital games will continue untill it reaches a point at which games will be able to be photo-realistic and at such a point the developing immersiove factors of those virtual enviroments will halt, at least as far as on-screen visuals go. The article does state that although computers have become alot faster over the last 20 years, they havent become a great deal smarter. While models that resemble real humans may be acheived, they can mimic social interaction but cant actively partake in it, suggesting that once photo-realism is acheived, the attention for developement may shift to AI.

Making the Water Move: Techno-Historic Limits in the Game Aesthetics of Myst and Doom by Andrew Hutchison