the future of video games

[MT2008]

Would be nice, but I remember when people were predicting graphics would be that realistic by now, or even earlier. Unfortunately, Moore's Law was wrong, but people today still seem to expect exponential advances in computer power - including visual realism - that are probably never going to happen given our current knowledge.

Originally Posted by k9870

I hope well eventually be able to upload ourselves to games instead of using generic character models.

It's not at all difficult to do if you're a PC gamer who is familiar with mod tools. When I was a teenager (a long time ago, now), I knew some people who made character models for "Counter-Strike" or "Unreal Tournament" which were based on themselves. You can just take a picture of your face and paste it on the texture of a character model within the game files if you have the Software Developers' Kit. It's not much more difficult to make a character model of yourself if you know how to use 3D Studio or Maya. I think I even remember a user-created program for "Unreal Tournament" that allowed less tech-savvy players to add their faces to character models.

The reason most gamers don't do this is because it would defeat the entire purpose of playing games in the first place. Most teenagers play FPS games so that they can pretend they're steroid-casualty SF soldiers or Marines, instead of skinny, zit-faced nerds who can't get dates. Compared to what they look like in real life, the "generic" character models are preferable, I should think. Why undermine the escapism value of the game by being yourself in it?