2010: The year ahead in gaming...
Only last week I was compiling the games of 2009 list and now this week I am looking ahead to what 2010 holds for gamers.
Technology in gaming has progressed immensely in the last 12 months. The 360 has gone from strength to strength, and the PS3 is now pushing it to the limits.
Nintendo has continued its stranglehold on mainstream gaming by improving the Wii through the Wii Motion Plus and a better stable of games.
And in the handheld market both Nintendo and Sony released a new DSI and PSP Go accordingly.
So what's in store for the next 12 months?
The main thing will be a motion sensor war.
For the last 12 months Microsoft have watched Nintendo clean up with the Wii and revolutionalise the games industry as we know it.
That domination was never going to last.
At the E3 games Expo last year Microsoft and Sony threw their hats into the ring.
Sony announced they would be evolving their PlayStation Eye software by introducing Sony Motion Controller devices, remote control shaped wands with a light at the end. The light and the wand have sensors that connect with the Eye Toy to track movement.
Can Sony compete with Microsoft though?
Bill Gates and his gaming arm blew everyone away at E3 with the announcement of Project Natal and a highly sophisticated display and promo.
Project Natal looks to be an external add-on that can be placed on the TV much the same as the Wii Sensor and Eye Toy.
That's where the similarities end. Project Natal uses a video camera, microphone, and infrared and digital sensors to analyse and react to every move made by the gamer.
Facial and voice recognition are said to be a big part of the equation as is the ability to perform 3D motion capture.
The whole gaming world is watching carefully how Project Natal unfolds. In short, what it is promising is that the gamer won't be connected to the console by wires, infra red or anything else.
An amazing prospect!
The gaming industry has progressed at a speed nobody could have imagined. It seems like just five minutes ago I waited patiently for my Jet Set Willy tape to load up.
Now we are on the brink of the real next generation of gaming.
I have seen my kids embrace the technology of the Wii and I have joined in the fun with the joys of Xbox Live.
To sit in your living room playing a round of golf against a teenager in Texas really is something,
The new era is here and I intend to grab it with both hands and not let it pass me by.
I am a games addict in my thirties but at heart I am as excited by it all as I was when I was 12.
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Authors
Steve Wollaston - Sunday Mercury games reviewer Steve has been writing about video games for donkey's years. In fact he is probably far too old for it now which is why you will see a lot of reviews been done by kids... He has been nominated three times for Regional Games Journalist Of The Year at the Games Media Awards, but never wins. His major love is sports games and rates Sensible World of Soccer circa 90's as the greatest game ever made - closely followed by Championship Manager 2. Skyrim has currently taken over his life.
