16) Innovation and Expectation

Above is a picture of Sony's hardware dedicated to their game Warhawk. Instead of forcing players to host games on their own consoles, players get to host their games on a select PS3 in the server cluster owned by Sony. Not only does this make the games faster and smoother, it is also a staggering example of innovation in technology use.

Of course, I bring this up to segway into discussing game industry innovations in the last few years. The past year showed progress in the form of new games:

Demon's Souls: A classic role playing game that brings the dungeons and dragons fantasy into the gaming world. This certainty isn't the first of its kind, nor will it be the last. But it introduces a new system of multiplayer interactivity not seen before.

First and foremost, you are online at all times. You see the "ghosts" of other players in your section of the game world. This is a real-time image of what that player is doing in the area you're in. This is vital, as players can help each other in unsuspecting ways.

Watching these other players provides insight into whether or not there are enemies nearby, what strategy to follow, or where certain items are. If a player dies, you can find their death spot to witness their last actions in the game world. This can clue you in on what to do and what not to do if you are intent on succeeding where they failed.

Players can even leave messages anywhere on the ground to be read by others, advice that can be followed or ignored. These notes can be rated by readers to provide a health boost to the author of the note.

Players can also team up in co-op with two others to take on a boss. And you can even invade others people's games, in which case you are no longer a ghost on their screen. You get to kill them and loot their items. As a matter of fact, one major boss fight in the game requires that you fight an invader. In such a case, you might either be the defender, or the boss.

Heavy Rain: A brand new unreleased epic that builds on the increasingly popular trend of experimental games. In Heavy Rain, you don't follow just one path. Rather, you are incorporated into a world where you must make free form decisions that can change game elements. No two play sessions will be the same.

You control characters in their natural and sensual environments, laced with events in which you must make quick button presses to perform actions. This includes everything from drawing a picture, to shaving, or a heavy fist fight.

What if you make a bad decision and your character dies? They are dead for the rest of the game. You must continue in the eyes of another protagonist.

Needless to say, there is still a long way to go before we delve into the realm of realism that games will one day achieve. As for now, we are seeing the starting steps to new and unprecedented ideas that can and will change our perspectives of entertainment and media.

So don't worry folks. Life is just a game....