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The Best Games of 2020
Gamasutra held a contest this year to describe what hit video games in the year 2020 would be like. Over 150 detailed entries were sent in, and they've posted the top 20. One persistent theme is the ever-present connectedness to the outside world, both in reality-based games and with multiplayer modes that are part of typical daily interactions. Quoting:
"It's just an average day at your job. Noon swings around and it's time to amble out of the cubicle farm and venture outside into the city to find some lunch. You put on your slick steel framed Hunters Glasses, place your Hunters earpiece, and with black and white Hunters Gloves on, step out of the building and onto the street. After a block suddenly your dark tinted shades switch to a red tint. A silky female voice echoes in your ear, 'Players within range. Good Hunting.' The glasses are acting as a WiFi enabled computer screen. You swivel your head to scope the scene and find someone standing out within the red crowd as a white outline. The man with the white outline is scouting the area as well, trying to find who else is in the game right now. You get within range, pack a virtual snow ball with your gloves, approach slowly, wind up and throw with all your might the virtual snow ball at the man with the white outline. 'Player Eliminated,' says the female voice, 'Uploading Statistics.'"
Right. It was Scott Adams. And he had a point.
If you could live in an all-encompassing virtual reality world, why would you ever want to leave? You would only want to work just enough to give yourself food and pay the power bill on your holodeck. The world economy would crumble and cease to exist as we know it.
And why would you want to get married to a real wife and have real kids? They'd whine, misbehave, spend your money, and drool all over you. (And don't get me started about the kids.) You could have your very own holofamily instead.
Yes, the invention of the holodecks would spell the demise of humanity.
I have a bad feeling about this...
Could you imagine the snowball scenario described in the example happening in real life? You would randomly see adults acting like idiots in the middle of the street. They'd be running in front of cars, diving across hoods, running into people, ducking behind old ladies, and pretty much just be acting like a-holes. You basically would just succumb to never being able to get laid again. I could imagine the scenario, "Well, he's good-looking, dresses well, and has 12-pack abs, but he play's SnoFight (tm)". Maybe the same argument can be made about MMORPGs, but at least you can hide that from the rest of the world. Then what would happen when RockStar games licenses the technology and makes GTA 10. "Your honor, I was just playing a game. I needed to get my money back from that girl so I could buy more ammo. She's supposed to respawn like every 5 minutes."