There have been many awesome innovations in the past 5 years for consoles (DS/Wii controls, EyeToy, Playstation Eye, XBOX Live, etc). What do you guys predict that some innovations will be in the next 5 years? And who do you think will invent them?

So you guys got any predictions, ideas, or things you think would be awesome accessories/console features/console firmware improvements? It can be something tangible or just console software (PS Home type things, etc)...

My prediction: 2011 will be the year the first stab at Virtual Reality is attempted for home consoles.

smell-a-vision



virtual boy??? maybe real virtual reality, but I think 2011 is too soon.

Well "VR" has been around for awhile. It's nothing like one pictures from the movies though.

I played MechWarrior as a kid in a "VR" center in California on a vacation trip. Essentially, it was only a sit in arcade cabinet with full blown controls. We've basically seen the equivalent already to that with the likes of Steel Battalion.

Of course technology has improved, but "VR" is still nothing more than a very detailed arcade simulator. So I don't see consoles attempting anything more than what is already happening.

Actually I think Wii has made a huge step in the direction for simulation styled VR games as it is. Having a major console support so many functions and possibilities with its controller was very ballsy on Nintendo's part. Most of this has been going on in arcades for years, but I think it will only be more refined and allow for more people to enjoy what many have missed out on. I for one am happy and pleased to see this.

I'm not one for really trying to make anything out of my divining cup. I use mine mostly for drinking these days, but I personally hope gaming keeps pushing the envelope, but I think we will see a very conservative evolution of gaming. The Wiimote was a very calculated risk. It's on a level that I think we won't see much of, although certainly it will cause a ripple effect and we will see reaction from Sony and MS as a result of it.

The real problem with innovation is coming up with a way it can be used in your own home, without complicated setups.
The VR stuff is a great idea, but try doing that in your home and you'll definitely be breaking things.
I think Nintendo has the right idea with the Wiifit, but they need to capitalize on it. I could easily see half a dozen ways to use it right away. Sit on it for sledding, stand for surfing or running, add a DDR frame to it for actually playing DDR games, sit in a chair with your feet on the board for use as the pedals in a racing game.

The next innovation I see will be the Nunchuck Heart Monitor, so that when you hold the thing, it'll measure your pulse. This will benefit the Wii fitness stuff, but can also be used in horror and fighting games so that your pulse rate affects the speed and mood of the game.

yes i agree with grey acumen, i can definitely see a heart rate monitor coming out in the not too distant future, as for VR, i wouldnt expect anything like that for at least 3-4 generations from now, but between now and there there will be lots of little steps taken in that direction....

Smell = nose

vision =  eyes

???

On a related note, the "Smell Blaster" was invented a while ago in the mid-90s but never really took off. I mean, think about it: You never forget a smell - it's that powerful a sense. Now would I want to be in a FPS where I'm surrounded with the smell of a thousand rotting corpses?

Japan is now using the "Smell Blaster" for pleasant aromas to accompany movies (you know, that sweet scent of lavender in those love dramas when main actor and actress kiss for the first time and all that). 

You can easily do VR without breaking things, you just sit on your couch. Better yet, stand on a Wii balance board.

I don't know if VR will happen in 2010 or 2011, but I sure hope it does. 

Exactly... Obviously if VR happened it wouldn't be this Holodeck type experience (star trek) but maybe just Wii remote + Visor with LCD screen + balance board, or something.

It would hardly plug into the back of your head, like the Matrix. lol.

 If it comes out, it will be simple to use / not dangerous. Whats so complicated about a helmet, where it can tell when you turn your head, and you can look around? That seems like virtual reality to me. Yeah i've seen it at the arcade with that one game where you shoot boats and planes and little men, but think how cool mario would be with that... You could still use conventional game controllers to make yourself walk, or whatever.

Like Wii Remote, but rotation and movement sensors that strap on to every part of your body.
That'd be cool: pretend to run forward and the avatar does: spin round and press the trigger on your "gun" and it shoots in game.

That's not too hard is it? Just programming rather than technology.

I think the problem with VR is the helmet in itself.

It's not a very social thing to wear - you don't see anyone else when you're wearing it, and others can't see what you see. Plus, I think there'd be quite a number of people who wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that anyhow. It's also clunky - not as bad as it was 10 years ago, but clunkier than just looking at the TV.

The technology has been around for at least a generation, yet nobody has been able to capitalize on VR yet. Even those goggle contraptions that you wear to watch TV have never really sold well - I don't know anyone who's bought one of those TV goggles yet, despite its promise to "revolutionize TV viewing like never before! It's like having a 6-foot screen two inches from your nose!"

The future of gaming may be in those new 3D screens that are being made, but then again, it poses a whole bunch of other problems, namely space and cost, for obvious reasons (many screens = high cost = 1/2 your living room dedicated to VR).