Technology

Platforms

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/15/15807138/sony-playstation-cross-network-play-xbox-block-response

The article talks about about Sony’s influence on cross platform play and their stance on cross platform game play with Microsoft and Nintendo. Sony claims that they don’t want to have cross platform play because they don’t have control over external influences that children would see, making it unfriendly to children. But then the article goes on say this excuse doesn’t have that much merit as Nintendo, a company far more child friendly than Sony in terms of exclusives, does have cross play. Microsoft Phil Spencer was not happy with the response that they gave, claiming that they’re not keeping Minecraft players safe is from a Microsoft and Gaming industry perspective not healthy.

Virtual Reality

30 Minutes Inside Valve’s Prototype Virtual Reality Headset: Owlchemy Labs Share Their Steam Dev Days Experience

This article is an written interview with developers from the game studio Owlchemy, and they talk about Valves prototype VR headset. they visited an presentation called Steam Dev Days which is where Valve was showing off their new technologies. Valve had been developing new Virtual Reality technology, as early versions of VR headsets are not perfect since users are heavily affected by nausea and motion sickness.

Graphics

https://www.escape-technology.com/news/the-evolution-of-video-game-graphics

the first games where originally in a 2D space, and where developed by small teams of one or two people to create and test the code in a matter of months. but as graphics had developed, they eventually go 3D, with them using 2D textures in a 3D environment to create an illusion that the player is in a 3D space. Quake was one of the first games to feature full 3D environments and 3D objects. As the industry had evolved, new games experiment with different ways to create art styles, such as borderlands and Crackdown having a cell-shaded aesthetic. Cartoon like graphics have really taken off in recent years, with games like Overwatch and Fortnite being some of the top sellers of the recent console generation. Newer triple A titles have taken more inspiration from movies, with in game rendered cut scenes, and no live action cut scenes.