Multimedia technology and its impact on society

Multimedia technology and it’s impact on society

From a young age I have been playing Nintendo consoles, and every time the company brings out something new, it never ceases to amuse me. I know that on terms of graphics, it is not comparable to the Playstation 3 or the Xbox 360, but in terms of entertainment, Nintendo produces non less.

Nintendo has been running at its own speed, I feel that they could achieve graphics on the same level as Sony and Microsoft but they have looked a lot more deeper than just graphics. From back into the Gameboy series, they had the Pocket Camera which now has taken the form of the Eye Toy by Playstation. Pocket Camera made it possible for you to use yourself to play games via moving your face around the camera’s view. This was the first step, then they finally built one of the most popular and interact hand held games console up till today, the Nintendo DS.

The DS first arrived Europe in March 2005, the console was a whole new concept and is still running strong now. Not only was the console fitted with 2 screens, it was also touch sensitive giving a brand new path to game design on how it could involve this function. Games then gradually came out pushing the DS to its full potential, allowing the DS to be played sideways, using the built-in Microphone in games etc.

After 1 and a half years, Nintendo then released the Nintendo Wii, which is now one of the top selling games console. The impact it had on its release was tremendous, it was a cutting edge technology that amazed the community, with its high interactive gaming features, players can get much more involved within the game to produce a whole new gaming experience.

The original design on a games controller was thrown to bring forth a whole new design. The whole idea of the Wii is to allow gamers to get active and move about whilst playing and the new design will let the player achieve that. With motion sensors built into both parts of the controllers, gamers can simulate all sorts of movements.

With the birth of the Wii, I feel that it will be Nintendo that will lead the market in the future, for it doesn’t just compete with other consoles, it also thinks much more for its buyers. I assume that Nintendo will release more and more gadgets for the Wii in the near future whilst they develop new concepts.

I have a feeling that something similar to the Atari VR Headset might be brought out again or maybe something that you can attach to your body to ultimately make you move characters. Full virtual reality will probably be the future but there are many consequences ,for instance some might question if it had pushed gaming too far when people get too involved and start to question reality, which is obviously very far fetched but could happen.

I played a game that was set in the future, and the way characters play games was to step inside a small room where you will be engaged in virtual reality rather than attaching anything to your body. Which is an interesting concept.

Ultimately I feel that the interactive gaming future will most likely lie in the hands of Nintendo, but if other companies team up with Nintendo, they would be capable of making better console, which will include great interactivity and better graphics.
This will inevitably have a major impact, but I assume in the near future, people will be expecting more and more and company standards will have to rise dramatically to keep the buyers interested.