I could just imagine the wife now saying "will you stop throwing things at the dog and then kicking her across the room" when playing SMG

It is a dark time for gaming. None thought it would come to this. For decades we had been a powerful undercurrent of society; never seen but always known. Our numbers were few, but we were legion. The few amongst us knew what lie beyond 999,999 points, but all of us knew up up...down down...left...(I need go no further).

But something had happened. Something that could never be undone. They had come. We don't know if it was the Geriatrics or the Alpha Mothers; it could have been the Simulation Petters. It doesn't matter who came first. Once we saw them they were all here and there was nothing that could be done. We were outnumbered. Many of us even tried to stop them. We held rallies until all hours of the night, congregating via Wi-Fi and the Broadband and decrying the presence of Teh Noobz!

But no one listened. Even amongst the once great Forums the power of the Softcore was unstoppable. And what were we to do? What could stop this madness? Many spoke of a man. A prophesied hero who would come to our aid. He had been here before, twice, and his third coming would signal an end of the Geriatric Alpha Petters...or the Gap as we learned to call them.

Sadly the Chief has long since gone and nothing can be done.

All we can hope for now is Teh Cell....but many have sworn it doesn't exist. But I have seen it...indeed, it is future-proof. All will once again return to the way it once was. Once again we will return to the shadows of our basements to thrive in secrecy as once before. Bless the Blue-Rays.

in one word: Nintendo

Wow, I feel so ashamed and so sorry... I remember taking you away three points in the "most popular member elimination game" super_etecoon... But that was before I knew you... I can't hold my tears anymore...

Nah but this was actually really a(nother) great post and I really feel sorry that I did that back then, I just did not really know who you were. But since then, I started stumbling over your posts and most of them were really great.

Now I stop the sentimental whining

Sony and Microsoft are out of the videogames market. Nintendo is the only remaining one, and they fund another company for the sake of having some fun at competition. Probably Sega.

You will use your full body to control the game. You will hold grip at chunks of plastic that will simulate being guns, swords, etc. Miyamoto is the new president of Nintendo and we live a new Golden Age of videogames. He then postulates to President of the Earth, and the wars stop. Fin.

1. It's not likely HMDs will ever be more than niche products for portable devices. Displays and gaming are collective activities, so there will always be a market for large screens, where everyone can see the action. Headsets require putting something on and off your body, it's much easier to kick back and stare at a screen.

2. Gloves have never worked out. Too hard to pull on and off. You need to be able to pick things up, and put them down again. Motion control will continue to evolve, but the notion we'll dance our way through games works only for dance games. Control systems need to be simple and flexible: like the DS stylus.

3. Sex in games can never match sex with one's sweetie. No matter how good the controls, they're just not as interesting as another human body.

One of the biggest changes in gaming over the next ten years is that game production and consumption are going global. China, India, Brazil, Russia - they're all going to be making and buying games. So in a lot of ways, the Golden Age of Gaming is ahead of us, not behind us. 

In the future... you don't play games. Games play you!

Or was that Soviet Russia?

Seriously though, i imagine the future of gaming to be a lot like current gaming until the market becomes so stagnant that someone needs to disrupt it again like the Wii.

 companies idealy make massive, steady porfits with no competion. Nintendo would never fund a competitor. Perhpas if they cornered the amrket, Nitendo would either

a) use their money to creat a spin off brand in another sector (toy company, insurance, bank, whatever_

or

b) use their money to buy as many studios as possible and truly corner the market, making it virtually impossible for anyone to make a console, as 40% of developemtn could be nintendo 1st party. A nintendo that controls EA, capcom, konami, Atari, Sega, Atlus, Square-Enix, Ubisoft, and microsft game studio plus Sony computer entertainment as  would be virtaully impossible to dethrone.

The stuff somethink impossible now like a body suit will probably happen in the future. I wonder how many people thought back in the nes age how cool it would be to play against one other from home. If someone said they will have online play they would get laughed at. Can't wait till the future in gaming.