The Play's the Thing.(Industry Trend or Event)

It's time for game developers to focus on graphics that support game play

In the computer game industry today, we hear much about "convergence," or the notion of combining film-quality imagery with the interactivity of games. But the reality of convergence still seems as elusive as ever--not because of a lack of graphics processing capabilities, but rather because of the way developers approach games.

To be fair, game development is a relatively young field, compared to other forms of entertainment. Indeed, storytelling has existed since the beginning of history, the film business is verging on a century of experience, and TV is halfway there. Yet despite the expectations of gamers, people forget that computer gaming is nearing its 25-year anniversary, and only 10 years ago did graphics in games start to have any real definition.

The new platforms--Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube--enable us to do more than ever before, a lot more. And the titles that have come out over the last year prove just that. Yet real convergence remains three to five years in the future. Sure, the first of these new games have demonstrated that they can support stunningly realistic graphics and can animate characters with amazing fluidity. I've seen believable effects such as motion blur, depth cuing, and even heat haze. But how does any of this make the game play more engaging?

Think back to the days of Pong: That single line of 10 pixels on a black background was whatever you imagined it to be, whether it was Andre Agassi at the US Open or just a paddle or wall that you moved back and forth. The graphics didn't matter. Despite its simplicity, it provided the purest level of game play.

At some point--between the time that users had to rely on their imagination for graphics in games and the last year or so--we began to throw all sorts of neat visual imagery into our games. As film effects matured, the trend to add eye candy intensified, simply to show off what could be done. As a result, developers forgot the amazing tricks they learned from the minimalism that was imposed by 2MS or 4MB of RAM. Instead, too many developers added unnecessary and distracting effects--overdone particles, lifeless character animation, cameras that create motion sickness--into otherwise entertaining games.

It's understandable that many game developers want to show off what they can do. In fact, ...