Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, WordPress, Web 2.0, National Instruments, LabVIEW, Shanghai, China

I absolutely love games, games of all sorts from board games to video games to computer games. I don’t know where this fascination comes from but ever since I was a toddler, I loved playing games. I still do as a grown adult. Growing up, I’ve always wanted a video game console for a birthday or a Christmas present but I never got one. I grew up during the generation of Ataris, NES, and Game Boys. I wanted one, didn’t matter which. Then I wanted SNES, Genesis, Playstation, and N64. I never got any. By the time Dreamcast, GameCube, Playstation 2, and XBox came out, I was "too old" and busy to starting playing video games. It was a life never meant to be  . . .

. . .until last year when I bought my very first video game console, the Nintendo Wii! I was one of the first to get one and I paid the price for it too. I didn’t spend long hours in line. Instead, I got it from a black market in Shanghai. Show them the money and they’ll get you anything!

The idea of a game console with motion-sensored controller and interactive game play was novel. Who’d ever thought games could be so much fun that even girls and old people want to play. The Wii sold more units than the other competing consoles and yet there aren’t enough supply to meet demand. Even today, a year and half later, the Wii is still hard to find in stores.

What will game makers come out next?

Here’s a glimpse of some of the new technologies that are or will be behind the next generation of game consoles.

• Whole-body gaming 
• 3D real-time gesture recognition
• 3D image sensing technology
• 3D video screens
• Movement tracking technology
• Gesture-based media experience
• Hands on computing
• Microsoft Surface
• Next 25 years of video games
• Procedural generation
• 4G technology
• Virtual retina display

The next generation of game consoles will be rich with motion, gesture, and full-body immersion. I can’t wait! Meanwhile, I’m enjoying playing MarioKart with the Wii Wheel that just arrived from Hong Kong. I paid $60 USD for the game and the wheel. The game is sold for 5 RMB ($1 USD) in China without the wheel. The wheel is just a piece of plastic that you stick your Wiimote in, and I think I knew that but for some reason, it looks so much cooler in the picture. I could have made the wheel myself with cake styrofoam box and save myself $59 USD! 

Just kidding. Say no to piracy!