Reading 05: VR and Physical Interaction is a big plus

I can remember feeling like I was transported to the future when I first played the Wii. It was so different than the joy sticks and controllers I had used to play games on numerous other platforms. The motion detection and the infrared pointer created a realistic feel for games like tennis, bowling, or shooting cans with a gun. My favorite Wii Sports game was Wii Tennis. Tennis is the recreational sport of choice for my family and I thought the gameplay for Wii Tennis did a superb job of mimicking the mechanics of the sport. The groundstrokes seemed to time perfectly with your swing and you could create a significant amount of angle that I didn't expect. Side node, I was also a big fan that you could play on different surface types (grass and hard court). On Wii Play my favorite game was Tanks. This was game beautifully used the pointer to move the turret on the tank and the trigger was ergonomical and conducive to rapid fire. The level progression was gradual and the enemy tank AI was fairly sophisticated making eliminating all enemies decently difficult. Overall I thought the Wii was a great first step into a more interactive console and paved the way for future products like Playstation VR and the Xbox Kinect.

My next endeavor into the interactive game world came courtesy of my former roommate and video game connoisseur Nick Carroll. He and I waited outside of Game Stop for multiple hours eagerly anticipating the release of the Playstation VR. When we brought it back to our room and started playing I thought I reached Nirvana. This is what I had thought video games would finally get to. The first game I played on it was basically a VR upgrade for the tank game aforementioned. This time I was inside the tank instead of looking at it from the top down. I moved the turret by moving my head and eyes and not with a pointer. Not only could I shoot other tanks but I could shoot down enemy aircraft by looking up to the "sky". Other games like Job Simulator or Resident Evil combined more tactile aspects by picking up office supplies or weapons and using more of the imaginary arm appendage. Needless to say I was blown away by VR gaming and hope that more and more games are developed for that environment. 

While I still love games that are created for a classic user interaction environment I think the future lies in virtual reality and augmented reality. These platforms break the bonds that the physical controller was limited to. Now our digital personal can move with the same fluidity that a human being can have. Interactive games for me are more fun because I like the blend of the two worlds: one physical and one digital. I'd love to see a VR Call of Duty come out or a VR Madden game in the future. I look forward to see where game companies expand into these environments.