Tag Archives: Augmented reality

The future of games is also mobile

A great post on PocketGamer.biz from Keith Andrew talking about the new CEO of smartphone studio Kwalee – David Darling – and his recent blog.  David founded Codemasters so he knows a fair bit about games and games consoles and what games’ players want and what they like.

Darling rightly states that the industry is transitioning from boxed to digital games and it’s not just games that are transitioning but all types of content – see my previous blog post on this very topic, “How digital are you?“.

Here’s my big statement – games consoles have a limited lifespan.  They’ve served a great purpose and given millions top quality interactive entertainment in the living room and most of us have grown up with them.  I remember well the Atari 2600 my mum and dad got us when we were 10 and but we then moved to pc’s like the Apple 2 fake (yes fake – we grew up in Hong Kong) and all the delights they brought with them.  Then the BBC Micro at school and IBM style pc’s at home!

A quick detour via the Nintendo Gameboy – the original (that must have been the original mobile gaming computer, with more than one game and great controls).

Then more consoles – Sony’s PlayStation 1, Microsoft’s Xbox, Nintendo’s Wii, Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 – our current console.  Yes we missed the SNES and others but pc’s were the gaming platform of choice for me at home then.

Console games – and pc games – have always been a bit pricey though and as David points out that’s one of the problems.  They typically cost £40 or more.  Compare that to the £0.69 game on a phone – that’s a huge difference and it’s such a difference that it changes how you view the value of games.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not undervaluing games – not at all.  I know what goes into making them and particularly making the best ones.  It’s just the pricing and models – we need to rethink these.

Now with the AppleTV and the ability to stream games from my iPhone directly to my HD TV in the living room, why do I need a console?  Yes consoles now act as media centres and you can watch movies, play music and mess about with social media but I can do all that on my phone and my phone is always with me.  And yes everybody has a phone.

That’s the fundamental difference – everyone has a mobile phone and everyone now has access to great, and good priced games.  You don’t need a separate games console any more.  Some maybe yes – e.g. the more hardcore gamers – but the vast majority no.

Unless of course they come up with some new killer feature that only the consoles have.  Like gesture control with Microsoft’s Kinect or the Wii before that.

With mobiles the whole experience buying the game is much much easier, the different app stores we use already and know how they work and don’t have to go anywhere to buy the games!  We can also read reviews our friends and peer groups have written for the games, giving critical feedback to the games developers to improve the games.  And new levels, new characters, bug fixes and more can easily be pushed out via updates.

Tablets add another dimension to this but for me they’re still mobile devices just different ones.  They use the same basic technology as phones (operating systems).

Another great dimension mobile games add is the ability to play a game whilst out and about – e.g. on a train journey – and then continue it on the big screen when you get home from exactly where you left off.  This is the concept of content anytime, anywhere and anyhow again and it’s coming.  Back in my Sony days, part of the digital services roadmap I put together was all about this.  It makes so much sense and it’s what consumers want.

Apple are making great strides in this space – they don’t need a separate console.  They’ve got iOS on the iPhone and iPad and then the AppleTV and the actual Apple TV (note the space there) – when it’s released.

Add GPS location tracking, multi-player, game centres where your ranks and scores are stored, cameras (and video cameras), AR (augment reality) plus more mobile innovations and this gets very very exciting.

The future is not about consoles, it’s about mobile.

Is this the future of photography?

A fascinating post by John Neel at Pixiq about Google Glasses and the future of photography…

How far off mainstream these are I’m not sure.  I’ve seen the ads and videos, read the posts, dreamt the dreams and yes can see how cool they look and the potential applications.  But when?

To quote John Neel from the Pixiq post…

This really is major step.  Additional relevant data and information about things you’re looking at, when you’re looking at them.  The possibilities are endless and what was your mobile phone providing you with computing power, is now strap to the side of your head in your glasses.  The next step – in your contact lenses or implants?  Think Cyborg as John says.

And big data as we know it today is only going to get a whole lot bigger very quickly.

 

10 technology trends set to change the world

A great post – care of Manufacturing Executive – that I found from Twitter of a presentation from Dave Evans at Cisco back in July last year.  10 technology innovations and trends that are happening now that will impact all our lives over the next 10 years…

Here’s the overview list…

  1. The Internet of Things – more ‘things’ being connected to the Internet than people
  2. Big data – allowing us to predict more things and change the way we plan
  3. The cloud – making all knowledge of the world available to everyone
  4. The next generation Internet – network speeds are increasing exponentially
  5. Hyper connectivity – realtime broadcasts with unprecedented transparency
  6. The power of energy – intelligent use of energy
  7. Augmented reality – and the ultimate man-machine integration
  8. 3D printing – everyone becomes a manufacturer
  9. Artificial intelligence – completely intelligent and self-aware computers
  10. Human evolution – slowing the ageing process

And links to the original presentation and video from Dave.

As an aside Dave’s job title has to be one of the coolest ones out there – Chief Futurist & Chief Technologist.  It clearly demonstrates the importance and criticality of innovation in technology.  Do you have one of these chiefs?