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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
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        <p align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8">2001: 
          A Gaming Odyssey<font size="+1"></font></font></p>
        <p align="LEFT">&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Jon &quot;<a target="_self" href="mailto:jonmars@ntplx.net">G-Man</a>&quot; 
          Mars </font></b></font></p>
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        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Current console king Sony’s 
          next generation system, of which very little is known is tentatively 
          referred to as the Playstation 2000 (P2K). According to the January 
          1999 issue of Next-Generation, the P2K is capable of rendering 4.5 million 
          polygons per second. However it has been rumored that Sony will be de-emphasizing 
          polygons which could mean NURBS (Non Uniform Rationalized B-Splines), 
          or something entirely different. Though NURBS would offer developers 
          the ability to include greater complexity and features like curved surfaces 
          in their games, it would also significantly increase their development 
          time, something Sony might be hesitant to do. Sony has reportedly been 
          talking to developers about their feelings towards DVD, making it the 
          expected format for the system. Although other reports have suggested 
          that it may include a write-able system, suggesting either a DVD-Ram, 

          or a mini-disk drive (a platform Sony has always wanted to push into 
          the mainstream). </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Also of note, Sony has shown 
          their commitment to at least amateur developers and to current owners 
          of the increasing outdated PlayStation, with the launch of Net-Yaroze, 
          a slightly more expensive programmable PlayStation which allows anyone 
          with knowledge of the programming language C to easily produce their 
          own games. Bold initiatives like Net-Yaroze could be Sony’s key to staying 
          on top in the billion-dollar race ahead. The P2K is expected to have 
          a March 2000 launch in Japan, with a September 2000 launch in the US, 
          which may just make it the last of the next generation consoles to hit 
          the market.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the final analysis, despite 
          the large user base and possible technical advantages that NUON enjoys, 
          it will have to face some very stiff competition in the form of P2K 
          and Dreamcast, Sega’s much hyped flagship console. And only time and 
          developer support will determine which console will gain the upper hand. 
          Right now Dreamcast appears to be the darling of the game makers, but 
          for how long?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">And finally Microsoft and 
          SGI's joint venture Fahrenheit, designed to replace D3D and OpenGL as 
          the 3D acceleration standard of the future will have long been released 
          and stabilized providing a single flexible API for game developers and 
          hardware manufacturers to adopt.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ah bandwidth…the lifeblood 
          of a true gamer. In order for the Internet to reach true adulthood as 
          a mass media the average user's bandwidth will have to increase significantly. 
          Cable modems, ADSL, and satellite uplink services will reach saturation 
          by 2001 with every major community achieving coverage at relatively 
          low cost to the consumer. This combined with the current growth rate 
          of the Internet means we can expect a virtual rebirth of the online 
          community. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 2001 a number of new industries 
          will flourish online, from full screen television style programming, 
          two way video phone services, interactive Internet agents capable of 
          delivering easily customizable content, and gaming like the world has 
          never seen before. Because of the bandwidth available to their consumer 
          base game developers will be compelled to include duplex voice communication 
          for their online games as a bare minimum. And naturally with the increased 
          bandwidth and processing power the games we play will have much greater 
          polygon counts, animation frames, and generally more of everything. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Imagine killing a multi-player 
          enemy, the result being not only do the battered corpse and individual 
          shells and cartridges ejected by your weapons remain on the ground forever, 
          but so do the items he was carrying scatter across the floor as his 
          mangled body slumps to the ground. Complex physical and acoustic models 
          like those found in <b>Trespasser</b>,<b> </b>and borderline obsessive 
          interactivity found in <b>Sin </b>will have become the norm in the gamer’s 
          quest for realism.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Okay so we've got all this 
          cool technology available to us, now what about the games? Well there 
          is no real Moore's law for computer games, and those brave enough to 
          attempt to predict the future trends of gaming have at the least looked 
          foolish (anyone remember the VR craze?) and at worst found themselves 
          out of a job (Do interactive movies ring a bell?). But hey I haven't 
          got a job in the industry so what do I care? </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Currently one of the most 
          controversial debates regarding gaming is whether the upcoming crop 
          of online only titles (<b>Quake 3: Arena</b>, <b>Unreal Tournament</b>, 
          <b>EverQuest</b> et al.) will succeed in the marketplace. If these titles 
          are as successful as their developers are hoping then it is reasonable 
          to assume that it will mark the emergence of a new trend in gaming. 
          However as Mike Wilson, CEO of G.O.D (Gathering of Developers) was kind 
          enough to point out that, &quot;people said all books would be online 
          (like no paper involved) by 1988.&quot;</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nevertheless I foresee virtually 
          all the major releases of 2001 to be online <i>only</i>, and when I 
          say online I mean <i>massively</i> online. If the off-line component 
          of these online games does exist it will likely only be in the form 
          of training missions designed to teach the player how to succeed online. 
          <b>Ultima Online</b>, <b>EverQuest</b>, and <b>Asheron's</b> <b>Call 
          </b>are just the beginning of the new trend that will flood the industry. 
          This does not mean the outright death of all other genres. Rather we 
          will see them incorporated <i>into</i> these massive virtual worlds. 
          It must be understood however, that while many offline games will still 
          be produced, none will reach the level of success and popularity enjoyed 
          by the massively online games. The phenomenon will be similar to the 
          near total dominance that <b>Quake</b> and <b>Diablo</b> (both primarily 
          online only titles) enjoyed over their competition. Certainly other 
          titles existed and sold relatively well but they had little impact on 
          the future of the industry and never gained the attention of the hardcore 
          gamers. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Additionally we may see a 
          number of publishers and developers scrambling to salvage their existing 
          properties, by making the transition to an online game. According to 
          ION Storm designer Tom Hall &quot;being online will be beyond important 
          for most games and companies.&quot; Consider the case of EA/Maxis whose 
          sole intellectual property (and thus source of income) is their widely 
          popular Sim family of games (<b>SimCity</b>, <b>SimLife</b>, <b>SimFarm</b>, 
          <b>SimAnt</b>, <b>SimTower</b>, etc.) all of which have little or no 
          multiplayer component. How long will it be until we see a <b>SimCity</b> 
          where players manage their cities all the while competing and perhaps 
          even warring with fellow virtual mayors? Maybe players will even be 
          able to cooperate and sign treaties to form legislative houses and elect 
          an executive officer to rule over the group. Is the game I just described 
          a simulation, a real-time strategy game, or a virtual chatroom?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The merging of genres has 
          been occurring at a relatively steady pace for the last few years mostly 
          due to the overwhelming lure for developers to incorporate 3D engines 
          into their classic games. We've seen adventure games merging with action 
          games (<b>King's Quest VIII</b>, <b>Quest for Glory V</b>), Simulations 
          merging with racing games (<b>Streets of Simcity</b>), turn-based strategy 
          games merging with shooters (<b>Rainbow 6</b>, and the <b>upcoming X-COM 
          4</b>), real-time strategy games merging with shooters (<b>Urban Assault</b>, 
          and arguably <b>Myth</b>), role playing games merging with action games 
          (<b>Zelda 64,</b> <b>EverQuest</b>). Got the point yet? </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The clear progression here 
          is to eventually have the &uuml;ber game as its own genre. The &uuml;ber 
          game can be best described as a massively online experience akin to 
          <b>EverQuest</b> that would then encompass many different forms of gameplay. 
          Imagine walking through bad section of a futuristic city, only to be 
          confronted by an unsavory gang of nogoodniks. You look around and spot 
          a motorcycle parked beside a building just a bit ahead of you. So you 
          race for it, quickly hot-wire it and after a few minutes of pursuit 
          you make your getaway. Safe from harm you decide to spend some time 
          at a local CyberArena deathmatching with some like-minded individuals. 
          Unfortunately a quick check of your inventory confirms that you haven’t 
          got quite enough credits for admission. Undaunted by this you instead 
          decide to head to the park to see if you can interest some of the resident 
          old-timers in a classic sim game. Maybe if you let them win a few you 
          can hustle them out of some good money before the night is over. A gaming 
          experience like this is not as far off into the future as you may think. 
          In fact it's just around the corner. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">&#9;In all the future looks 
          promising for both gamers and developers. The new crop of hardware will 
          make even the most unimpressed geek drool on his keyboard, widespread 
          high bandwidth internet access promises the death of lag as we know 
          it, and new business models mean more games for less money. We are poised 
          on the brink of a gaming revolution: finally multiplayer gaming will 
          emerge from the dank basements and crowded dorm rooms where they currently 
          reside and into living rooms throughout the world. But the road towards 
          that shining future will be very bumpy indeed so take heart when the 
          lag is greatest and the bugs intolerable, in the knowledge that you 
          are all pioneers. As for me, I’m looking forward to the games of 2005 
          and boy are they looking good.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Notes</b></font></p>
        <ol>
          <li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>New York Times Magazine</i>, 
            June 16, 1996, p.28</font></li>
          <li><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>Forbes ASAP</i>, Feb. 
            2, 1996, p.60</font></li>
        </ol>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Related Links</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">Fahrenheit</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.sgi.com/fahrenheit/</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">Win2000</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.microsoft.com/windows/professional/</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">Linux</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.linux.org/</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">DVD</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.dvdforum.com/</font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.videodiscovery.com/vdyweb/dvd/dvdfaq.html</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">EPIC (IA-64)</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://developer.intel.com/design/processor/future/ia64.htm</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">NUON (Project-X)</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.vmlabs.com/</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">Dreamcast</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.sega.com/spotlight/features/dreamcast/</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><font size="2">Net Yaroze</font></i></font></p>
        <p><font size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">http://www.scee.sony.co.uk/content/cgi/sceeweb1/netyaroze.pl?about</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp; </p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>- 
          This is Jon &quot;G-Man&quot; Mars' first contribution to loonygames. 
          Hopefully the first of many.</i></font></p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Illustration &copy; 1998 Mike Sanzone. 2001: A Gaming Odyssey is &copy; 
      1998 Jon Mars. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
      productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, Dave.</font></i></td>
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