Gaming's Future Tech: Seven Cool Innovations

Time was, everyone's idea of a high-tech video game was playing Pong, in monochrome, by twisting a little knob. Now, just thirty years later, game stores are replete with complex, motion-sensing controllers, high-tech consoles, and cutting-edge software sporting graphics that would have been unthinkable just a few short years ago. It's a safe assumption that in another decade, we'll be playing games that seem unimaginable by today's standards.

But what innovations might be commonplace by then? Catch a glimpse of the future with these seven hot new ideas in video gaming.

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Racing for real

With ever-improving simulations, racing games are eerily realistic. But one vital link between virtual motorsports and real ones remains elusive: the ability to test your mettle against the top pros. Although you could set up a race on your favorite track with all the top drivers, no artificial intelligence system can capture the individual nuances and drama of a real-life race.

One German startup is looking to change all that. By putting super-sensitive GPS transmitters on race cars and using the resulting telemetry data to control video game cars, the minds at iOpener hope to bridge the gap by letting gamers join in real-world races from the comfort of the couch. Imagine revving up alongside Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on the grid, then taking part in a real race -- live.

Head-tracking

What happens when you put innovative technology in the hands of imaginative engineers? "Almost anything," is the answer, and Johnny Chung Lee, a PhD. student at Carnegie Mellon University, proved it by discovering a remarkable way of making use of the Wii's motion tracking system. Rather than tracking where you're pointing, Lee's system can sense where you're looking, and the result is a display that reacts realistically as you angle your head.

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The sense of depth is absolutely uncanny, and we can't wait to see this tech put to work in a game. EA's Boom Blox was set to include it as a hidden feature, but it was removed for mysterious reasons late in the game's development cycle. Could EA be working on something big? Maybe, maybe not - but it's such a convincing effect you should expect to see someone putting it to work soon.

Offscreen gaming

Born from the feverish dreams of some unknown-yet-brilliant marketing exec, the Alternate Reality Game (ARG) genre is possibly the only good thing to come from the advertising world since the "Wassup" guys. Each ARG is different, but they're characterized by a narrative told through complex puzzles and information searches, involving online cooperation between groups of players, and usually tie together multiple media like email, telephone calls, TV shows, novels, and mysterious web sites. Halo 3, TV's Lost, and the Xbox 360 itself all had their own promotional ARGs. As soon as some clever soul figures out how to make money from ARGs themselves (rather than just using them to create buzz) expect to hear a great deal more about them.