Technology ahead of the game

Xbox maker Microsoft is hoping to push the boundaries of motion-sensitive technology with a system offering controller-free gaming, writes CIARA O'BRIEN

VIDEO GAMES have improved in leaps and bounds in recent years, as new technologies have been developed to make gaming more realistic and exciting. Developments in motion-sensitive technology in particular have become increasingly popular in the games world.

In the wake of the Nintendo Wii’s success, Sony and Microsoft have gone public with their plans for motion-sensitive gaming. Microsoft, maker of the Xbox, is hoping to push the boundaries a step further with its Project Natal system, which offers controller-free gaming.

Using Natal, the movement of the player will be captured by a sensor and translated on-screen, opening up a world of possibilities for gamers and developers.

Games industry veteran Peter Molyneux, currently creative director at Microsoft Games Studios, Europe, describes the latest developments as a revolution for the industry.

“It’s exciting, I like it. The amount of change that is going on, especially this year, is enormous,” he says. “In fact, 2009 was when the change happened for all of us people who are making the products that utilise that change in 2010.”

British-born game designer Molyneux has a long history in the industry. From his first game, Populous, to more recent titles such as Theme Park, Black White and Fable, Molyneux is ideally placed to chart the development of gaming in recent years.

“You’ve got completely new ways of controlling and interacting with computer entertainment. You’ve got this new digital relationship with gamers and players, where you can download things into your gaming experience instantly,” he says.

Molyneux cites online co-operative playing and the ability of gamers to craft items within games and sell them as ways of further developing that digital relationship. “All of that stuff is coming together and changing the way we make computer games. It really is quite dramatic.”

The games industry may have opened up considerably in recent years, but Molyneux says it is a failing on the part of the industry that it has taken so long. “In a certain way the computer game industry has failed. It’s done a bad job over the past 20 years of making things that appeal to everyone.

“The profile is changing because people are starting to realise that the totally inaccessible thing that they could never approach is now producing things that they can access. The Wii Fit is a good example of that; Natal is an even better one. It really is changing.”

But it has taken years to get to this point.

“This dream started really with Sir Clive Sinclair, who produced a computer called the ZX Spectrum. He publicly said this will be the dominant art form, people will use computers to be entertained more than anything else, more than film or TV. We just, as an industry, haven’t lived up to that dream,” says Molyneux.

In a time when piracy is viewed as a major threat to film, TV and music, gaming has escaped the worst of it. Molyneux says this was deliberate.

“This is where the industry is really lucky in one sense, in that the medium itself of consoles makes piracy really difficult. Way back when we introduced consoles, we built the thought of piracy in from the ground up. Even so, I think piracy is still an issue, especially on the PC.”

His solution for dealing with copyright infringement is simple. “What James Cameron did with Avatar is to make a really great film which is a great experience in cinema. That’s the best recipe against piracy for me, and the same can apply to computer games in a way: give very good reasons for people not to pirate.”

Innovation is part of this, as is the “digital relationship” with consumers. Molyneux warns against taking this relationship too far, however, with a “focus-group culture” that could creep in to development.

“I think there is a really strong temptation to ask consumers what they want,” he says. “It’s our job as creators and designers and innovators to give you things you’ve never seen before.”

Molyneux says there is a lot further to go in games development.

“My dream – one day it will be a reality – is to actually be able to walk around these virtual worlds,” he says. “There’s always that separation. You’re always playing through at least a sheet of glass. One day I’m sure we’ll come up with the technology where you’ll be able to physically touch that world.

“Imagine, if that technology came about, what it would be like to be a games creator.”