At their best, video games are bite-sized experiments. The virtual world of a game a miniaturized space where our imaginations can clash horns with psychology, culture and the technological horizon, often to addictively playable ends. We take a look at how five compelling trends from E3 2012 are pioneering a new future of play.
1. Hacking is the New Hack and Slash
Just like film or fiction, gaming has its conventions. But for gamers weary of the industry’s more well-trodden tropes – and the genres that define them – games like Watch Dogs demonstrate that there’s plenty of room for innovation yet. Set in a glowing, gritty version of Chicago, Watch Dogs puts you in the shoes of a surveillance-obsessed hacker. If you’ve ever played BioShock, this game takes the moody horror classic’s vending machine hacks to a sprawling new level. Rather than relying on brute force to pummel your way through the plot, you’ll delicately tap into the wide open virtual world around you, from infiltrating the cellphone of a passerby on the street to downing a street light network to make a clean getaway. According to the game’s developers, just about everything you see can be hacked, tapped or manipulated into a pawn in your game of small-scale cyberwarfare against the city’s kingpins.
In a reality increasingly pried open by security intrusions like the
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.