Steven Spielberg Predicts Console-Free Virtual Reality Gaming Future

@FlagshipFighter: "I don't want to play in a 3D environment".

Why? I don't get why you don't? If you're a gamer then you spend a lot of your time in something that's a 2D recreation of a 3D enviroment anyway; why would you not want to improve it with full field vision and depth of focus?

I think Steve's right, 3D immenrsion is the obvious way for the industry to go sooner or later. I'm waiting for my driving game where, visually at least, I think I'm sitting IN THE CAR... Mmmmmmmmmmm...

Badben

Virtual Reality is already here :)
Add wii motion plus to stereo-3D gaming, on a full-hd projector (with Nviddia or Iz3d stereo-3D drivers) and you're all set...
Waiting for ps9 of course :D

Lorenzo Cicione

Obvious Stephen Spielberg is... obvious.

@WhatTheFrag:

Um I would love to be that immersed in a game. It would be so fucking kick ass...

Astronus

The real life 3d stuff sucks, no doubt. (Besides My Bloody Valentine was a terrible movie regardless) But the CG 3D now is amazing. Just go see Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3D and it will change your mind. The opening sequence alone is probably better than any 3D ever done in theaters before.

MelvinaGoose

@MentalNote: Virtual reality? Hmm, I know my university's psychology department has one of a low numbers of the most advanced virtual reality equipment.

But it's only used to cure phobias. No Virtual Reality MMO ala Lost Saga (*drool*) (that's from a korean manga)

Seriously Speilberg: stick to making movies and games, and keep predictions like this to yourself. We are going to "bypass" our consoles and play directly through the TV? Who is going to manufacture this universal TV that is not only compatible, but upgradeable? Essentially, he is saying that TVs and consoles will be one in the same like an iMac. And is it supposed to be fed it's gaming stream from some gaming ISP? Because you still have to have equipment to receive the information. Does this remind anyone of that image that floated around of the sorry looking dude laying in the corner of the decrepit room with virtual reality goggles on?

@GtheMVP99: Cutscenes are lame. I wouldn't be playing a game if I wanted to watch a movie.

sereal

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush: I wouldn't expect computer to get much faster. smaller yes, faster not so much.

Spielberg is just dreaming, when we have the tech - VR will come. Spielberg probably just read snowcrash.

Till then how about making some high res, small sized hmd's. kthx.

sereal

@MentalNote:

Yes.

The problem is more that typical gamers (yes, I'm talking the stereotype here, which is the only thing big-wigs care about) don't want VR unless it means they can be more lazy then they already are. (i.e. The Matrix)

I can vouch for this from experience, being a strong proponent of the more active kind of VR (The Holodeck).

He also predicted that the last Indiana Jones movie would be good. So take his predictions as you will.

BulletEddy

Yeah.. Virtual Reality and the end of consoles will happen.. one day.. eventually.

Screw Spielberg, the man hasn't made a decent film in years.

Besides, why should anyone listen to the man who thought that Michael Bay and Transformers would be a good match? Rumor has it the man even tried to make a fourth Indiana Jones movie!

Stay away from things I like Spielberg!

@PaxtonAstypalaea: But he keeps insisting that humans have significant screen time in Transformers. Hate Shia? Blame Spielberg. At least Bay's wife is related to Leonard Nimoy; he's trying to get him to voice The Fallen.

Still on Bay, he just wants Transformers to blow things (and each other) up, Hasbro probably wants the giant walking toy advertisements to be on screen the whole movie.

syafiqjabar

This comes out of the moulth from the guy who sold Dreamworks to EA... sais enough i think....

Maikel De Bakker

why couldn't they just implant shit into our brains?

Well Onlive is pretty much the first step in that direction and it just around the corner.

Jellocakes

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush: Tricky with today's technology, sure but whose to say what tomorrow's advances will enable us to discover?

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush: Haha that film creeps me out so hard.

@Vecha: Yeah, I'm calling shenanigans.

"And after that, will certainly be virtual reality, which just like 3D came and went in the 1950s, and now it's here to stay in movies,"

Really? Is 3D here to stay? Or is it just what we all truly know it is, a cheap gimmick resurgence that still sucks and fails to deliver the hype that it is pedaled upon? And I think it's a bit premature to say it's "here to stay." It just recently got popular again. 3D movies have been in and out for years. Rad Racer was 3D back in the day. Sure, it was kind of neat, but not really. The Virtua Boy wasn't very hot either.

While I would like 3D and VR to come into human existence, I think Spielberg is talking out of his ass a bit. To say 3D is "here to stay" is highly premature and massively unfounded.

But, again, I'm a wee bit tipsy and I need my ugly sleep. So, goodnight Kotaku. Now I'll probably have fucking Lawnmover Man dreams...

He should be jailed for his injustice towards Indy, same for George Lucas. That was beyond tragic.

"Hates cutscenes" too? This joker is a dino from the coin-op era, fun in short bursts.

Leave the story telling to the pros Speilb :D

GtheMVP99

@Vecha: Also, by VR I imagine complete stimuli, not just images and motion tracking. We know a lot about the brain, but hardly enough to deliver full-on VR experiences. For full on experiences, we would have to tap into the human brain, and that is a very, very tricky thing to do.

@WFROSE: Hell no. It's the return of Virtua Boy!

If we're talking holodeck-style, then I'm down.

Bakeroo

@Vecha: Well, at current life expectancy rates, I very well might not be alive in 50 years...

@Vecha: Honestly, within 20 to 30 years, which is when this stuff will probably be truly commonplace, computers will be so blazingly fast that upgrading will be kind of silly. We'll be upgrading, but not our computers. The real thing that needs to be done is infrastructure of fiber optic lines.

I've written huge 30-some page papers (just for shits and giggles) about how I think technology will progress. Funny thing is, much of the elementary platform of what Spielberg is talking about, I was telling people about 5 years ago and they thought I was crazy. Spielberg is on the right track, but I think he's off on several points and still somewhat bogged down by current tech-level thinking.

Then again, I'm drunk and tired, so take this as you will.

@Atomsk88: To add on to what I was previously saying...

[static.howstuffworks.com]

Atomsk88

VR is the new plastic peripheral

I wonder if he's still stuck in a future as defined by 80s movies. Honestly though virtual reality gaming doesn't seem like something people of our current generation would like to do.

sure if we had a tony stark iron man suit and could do all the things we want at the same time go for it. Right now I bet a lot of gamers would like to keep several things on and multi-tasking while gaming rather than just be so immersed that you'd want to walk in that world.

WhatTheFrag

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush: To clarify, what I mean by "no" is: no, it won't be run from a TV. It will be run from a sepearet machine (computer) and there won't even be a TV. Instead it will be a projector or a helmet-like display device. The funniest thing about Plasma and LCD TVs is that they are going to be antiquated within 10 years, easily. Why bother with a shitty and over-priced TV unit when you can have a much better picture and adjustable screen size with a projector?

@Vecha: Eh, we might be close since I would think perfecting motion controls would be a step towards a real virtual reality scenario. We don't want to be wearing gloves and masks like the old VR.

Atomsk88

@Vecha:

"The director, who says he's a PC gamer more than anything else, wants to see 3D games developed for "a real three-dimensional experience"."

He wants games to surpass movies then?

I mean....he says he wants this.....when movies haven't even reached this...besides some dudes pick axe being swung inches from your face

"Virtual reality" will never happen, and even if it does it will suck. The only way this would work is if you connected the game directly to your brain, yes like in the matrix.

Ashkan.

dear Steven Spielberg

please do Commentaries on your DVDs!!

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush:

I hope not....I mean...gaming has been advancing in crazy rates since the 80s....I wouldn't be surprised to see something along the lines in 50 years..

So Mr. Spielberg, you're saying my Lawnmower Man sex fantasy will finally become a reality? A virtual reality, if you will.

kiddoblivion

@Vecha: Honestly, there are so many hurdles to proper VR that it won't matter. We'll most likely not ever live long enough to see it even beyond its most infantile stages.

So he's predicting the return of the Vectrex?

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush:

Or....we will just have to go out and spend 5-600 bucks every 5 or so years instead of spending money on parts...

Or...Aliens will give us these cool classes with blue and red lenses...

Or...

I hope we won't have to spend a couple hundred bucks every couple of years on upgrading this "VR" tech.

No. The reason consoles will be phased out is because the XBox and Playstation will be replaced by low-resource OSes. Eventually, your phone, cable, DVR, and internet will be serviced through one line and via one central machine. You will simply boot into your XBox OS and then play your game on a simple small computer, then log off and browse the web. There is no reason for consoles to replace computers, when a computer is already a multi-faceted and fully robust game console already. Plus it can do so much more. The notion that consoles will become "more PC-like" is idiotic. At some point, they will become full fledged PCs and will simply cease to be consoles.

Geez now that is thinking of the future his imagination has gone into plaid.

If only I'd thought of that idea first! ...Oh wait a minute, I did, when I was 6.

Polysics_2004

But...3D today...still sucks....

YAY! Steven Spielberg! Thanks for the Indy movies!

On topic: I don't like his theory much, I don't want to play in a 3D environment, I just think what OnLive offers will be the future of gaming.

Also, Steven Spielberg HATES game cutscenes! :O

Sure, only one company is going to release this VR thing.

But then again, since console exclusives pretty much seem to be a dying breed (at least between the PS3 and 360, even though the PS3 seems to be getting quite a few good exclusives lately)

Well, I assume the first thing he said about playing games directly from the TV set may come true some time soon in the future with similiar tech to OnLive.
Virtual reality though :/
Has there actually been anything substantial developed that's on this path?

... Just get back to work, producing or whatever my new Transformer movie. I want it in Cinemas Yesterday! ...And tell Hasbro to release all waves of the toys in the UK next week.

PaxtonAstypalaea

Quite an imagination!

Lol, the capture for that image should be him saying
"Heeeey! I made it do a thingy!"

@Ashkan.:
Yes it will suck because you can obviously time travel.

Gam3r

I believe him. 3D will be a short term cinematic solution to piracy, offering big budget spectacle exclusive to a theater. Until it permeates through to home viewing of course, lets guess 10 years from now (affordably so) giving Mr Speilberg 10ish years to establish himself in video games to the point where we'll trust him to lead us into this inevitable VR future.

oskarkeo

@MelvinaGoose:

I saw monsters Vs. Aliens....It really didn't change my mind...

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush:

I totally agree. 3D is pretty much a cheap gimmick which is enjoyable in certain situations (ie. Disney World 3d rides <3). However, the illusion is not very realistic. True virtual reality will only occur once we can directly link your brain up to some 3d engine. I doubt this will occur within my lifetime. It would also probably have some pretty serious side effects. Imagine complete realisim? Playing some horror/action game would probably put someone into shock (which can be fatal).

kashiko

@dgd1542:

Schlinder's List, Saving Private Ryan

@MentalNote: It's not quite marketable yet, but there has been some interesting development in that direction.

ARQuake

Augmented Reality Demos

Consumer HMD

A virtual reality realm like in .hack would be amazing, if it were even possible. If it is, that day is very, very far off.

Spielberg hasn't made a decent movie in 20 years. He should shut his mouth

dgd1542

Virtual Nudity Bar and I'm in.

Um, if the virtual reality was built into our TV wouldn't that just mean the TV was the console?

Look, Senor Spielbergo, at the end of the day, I want to sit on my ass and wind down with a good gaming session. If that involves jumping around and whooping like an idiot, well, then that's the end of my gaming career. Don't take my controller away!

Anyone else curious as to what the status is with his other games? I mean, Boom Blox was fun, but I'm looking forward to the epic's he promised...

@Lorenzo Cicione: cheers to us few posters here that play in stereo :D
Boo to the unenlightened.

@Twik63: because with current tech it'd be as safe as letting a blindfolded klutz shave you with an axe. A few hundred thousand volunteers may be necessary to improve that klutz's precision and volunteers' survival-rate.
Wanna be the first volunteer?

@Badben: DIRT and most modern racers on PC run in stereoscopic 3D. It's awesome, but I just don't like DIRT's driving physics.

@syafiqjabar: As a longtime fan of Transformers... I too want the giant walking toy advertisements to be on screen the whole movie.

AoE

And in other news just to hand, cars of the future will drive/fly themselves, smellivision is closer than you think and scientists predict russia to be the first to build a working weather control device.
Now, back to the studio

animoid

*sigh*

Wake me up when the Holodeck / Holosuite becomes a reality...

TStodden

everything's life-expectancy drops to zero on a long enough time line :)

I'm just here for the Toys! ... And Optimus Prime.... And the Fallen had better be on Fire.

PaxtonAstypalaea

@somarix: ;D

Lorenzo Cicione

What i want to know is if ever we do break into virtual 3D and literaly be able to walk around in our gaming worlds, what happens if you're playing a Sonic level and fall in to one of Sonic the Hedgehog's infamous bottomless pits?

Also, that begs the question what would happen if we were playing inside a virtual world and glitched through a wall or something.

The Star Trek's HoloDeck. That's where we're heading.

If you think about it, he does have a point.