Games, Gibson, Cyberspace
Every year, I try to go to the E3 video game expo in downtown L.A. I went to some of the first E3's, I was paid by Wacom (the graphics tablet company) to go out there and demo art work drawn on the computer. I have had some strange odd-jobs while being a musician. As the years have passed, games have grown into a monumentally successful alternate reality breeding ground. I play some games, finish very few, but enjoy following the gaming world very much.
Ever since reading William Gibson's Neuromancer, the inevitability of human kind making itself God and creating a virtual world to have dominion over has been pretty clear to me. The rise of video games is one of the signs. "Virtual Reality", the catch phrase of a few years back, will come to pass, but it will take time and much technological development. Games will continue to grow and develop in terms of graphic beauty and believability, as well as diversify as experiences. The term "Games" will eventually become obsolete.
In tandem with this growth, the Internet will continue to grow, and eventually will be transparent and ingrained in every aspect of life. As they have been, the Online world and the Game world will continue to cross-pollenate.
Gibson's vision was that of an online "cyberspace" a term he coined when the book was written (in the 80's !). He wrote of computer users donning a headband with "trodes" as the connection to the machine. The user would then close their eyes and the virtual world of information would appear, seeming "real" and interact-able. No keyboard, no mouse, no "navigation menus", a complete alternate man-made reality made of information.
Ok, now think of the Web's evolution: it began as a giant interconnected bulletin board, absorbed both the radio station (Napster), and now the TV network (BitTorrent), on it's way toward assimilating or re-defining every aspect of human communication.
As it continues to evolve, can you say that Gibson wasn't on to something? Neuromancer didn't mention games per se, but the convergence of these digital worlds makes sense. Can we not expect game experiences blessed with complete believability not to collide with what we now call the Internet? How long until "The Sims" or "Grand Theft Auto" aren't just a simulations, but a true alternate realities where millions of people spend their conscious hours? Humans love escape, and the illusion of control. This progression is already happening, we are already on a path to realizing Gibson's worldview.
When I first read the book, I was struck by an overwhelming "of course" feeling. It was this feeling of sensing what was ahead that initially got me obsessed with computers and the Internet, at a time when there really was no Internet to speak of ('94). As time has passed, his vision only grows in it's plausibility.
This is what drives my interest with gaming and the gaming industry. That, and that games are just fun. I don't really play so much, but I do love finding out what is new, checking it out, and keeping up on advancements. Every few years, there is a "console war". Since Playstation 1 appeared and destroyed the stranglehold Nintendo had enjoyed on the market, more and more companies have tried to be the king of the hill and have the best box. I always have at least one console, the one with the best graphics. Had a Playstation 1, then a Sega Dreamcast, which I loved. When PS2 came out, I was underwhelmed ... the graphics on my Dreamcast were better (??). By the time Dreamcast was over, Xbox came out, so I skipped PS2 and jumped on that ship.
This week is the E3 show. Think of it as a multimillion dollar corporate gaming super-circus. 3 gigantic convention floors packed with booth after booth (more like pavilions) of the latest games, consoles, and gimmicks to get attention. If it's coming out in the next year, it's playable there right now. This is a great year to be there, with the PS3/Xbox 360 battle ahead.
Xbox 360 is the new Microsoft console, it comes out this November. They launched it on MTV on a gratingly fluffy 30 minute commercial/Killers concert last week. Not much info, but a pretty cool design, and promises of "the next level", "the future" yadda yadda yadda. The demos were pretty impressive (what small bits they showed). Seemed pretty exciting.
For like, five minutes.
Then Sony announced the PS3 on Monday and kind of killed them. I wasn't expecting too much, cause I really thought Sony under-delivered on PS2, ...but the demos of Killzone and Motor Storm are incredible. They're so good, that there is some critism online doubting how "real" the footage is. People are saying that the games can't possibly look that good, that the footage must be CG movies, not actual game play. The specs for the PS3 (on paper) smoke X360, too. We'll see, we're still a year from Ps3 being released, but this round of the console wars is going to be good one.
In the days while we still call them "games"...
Comments
Steve my girlfriend and I met you at the door to the vip
room at the dragonfly i was the navarro look alike, i just wanted
to let u know you are one of the most brilliant persons i have ever
met thanks for not having the im to good 4 u attitude
Posted by: dave | May 19, 2005 03:21 AM
oh man, E3... my boyfriend Matthew went on and on about that last night. He was going to go but he got called in to work for a gig he really wanted to do. He's totally freaking out about PS3.
I feel like I just read something he wrote.
Not only is he huge on video games, but comics too. Never get him started about comics- especially Marvel - he'll just go on and on and on giving you the comic world's life story.
He's got me playing Donkey Kong and reading Ultimate Spiderman.
Posted by: mortisha8 | May 19, 2005 10:16 AM
I flew down to LA from SF to catch your amazing show Tuesday and tried to get into E3 the following day but no luck! My girlfriend is there working and I brought her to the show and now she's in LOOOOOOOOVE with a certain lead singer. ;) Man, you are the triple-threat!
So, there's this big Sony party she's going to tonight and I'm suspecting this "secret" Camp Freddy show I've heard about might be, um, happening there? You can tell us, the party is invite only but I wanna tell her to bring the camera just in case.
Thanks for a great show!
Posted by: Craig | May 19, 2005 10:38 AM
it's a fascinating theory
that an online game becomes an alternative reality when so many people around the world are playing at the same time (with each other)
what really apealed to me in the further Matrix movies was when Neo discovered life within the programme itself. separate programmes living in a reality as real and precious to them as life is to us
crazy
Posted by: Richie6Fingers | May 19, 2005 11:28 AM
Hey Steve,
A live report from E3. I'm here now and sensory overload would be putting it mildly.
Bending color, light, sound and funneling it all through doll eyes. I find myself amazed, frightened and dizzied but the scope of it all.The Sony Playstation booth rocks! Lucite sky chairs PSP and Soul Caliber 3. Alas no sign of the new PS3 console!?! I'm down from San Francisco and caught your show on Tuesday night at the Dragonfly. I was so impressed. This was my first time seeing you all together live. You really connected with the audience. By the way hardly noticed your 6 string break...all together a powerful performance.
I'm writing since you eluded that you might be playing an E3 gig tonight and wanted to know more unless of course it's top secret Sony stuff. ; )
Somewhere in the E3 vortex, JJ
"Cyberspace was a consensual hallucination that felt and looked like a physical space but actually was a computer-generated construct representing abstract data."
William Gibson
Posted by: JJ | May 19, 2005 12:32 PM
Hi Steve,
I'm a very big fan of your blog - I thoroughly enjoy the depth and thought you put into posts, and it will be amazing to see TPC when you guys tour. Anyways...I just thought I'd share this link to Billy Corgans blog I just found on myspace...interesting read.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=9685952&blogID=26839808&Mytoken=20050519125133
Siamese Dream is in my top 5 desert island discs.
Posted by: Simon | May 19, 2005 12:59 PM
hi, i found your opinions on virtul reality quite interesting and how close we are to making a real artificial inteligance. although at this time it doesn't seem like a real possibility as i read some where ages ago that silicon chips that are used today like you normal intel or whatever, are nowhere near as sophisticated to encompass that sort of information, because at the moment we are just telling machines what to do just like elctrical versions of spanners or something.
how much desktop PCs were there anyhow? it seems like you to me that you could build your own computer anytime and blow consoles away. although games wouldn't be as avanced if consoles weren't around the last game i played was the last prince of persia it boasted "a hole new combat system" which was disappointing after all the hype but still was pretty good they have advanced so much since i spent the early 90's playing the original, how much more advanced will they get in like 10 years time??
Posted by: ssb | May 19, 2005 03:43 PM
Steve,
The whole brain-video game connection is on! I am a biofeedback therapist, and there is some new NASA technology that we are using that interfaces a Sony Playstation with an EEG (measures brain wave activity.) You use the video game as a "reward" for operantly conditioning certain kinds of brain activity. I think it's amazing. If you think the idea is interesting, you should check out the NASA stuff at http://www.smartbraingames.com/
Anyway, thanks for all the interesting and frequent posts lately!
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer | May 19, 2005 08:46 PM
Talk Nerdy to me people! I never post but boy did this thread get me going : ) This year at E3 there has been panel discussions and talk surrounding the human mind and game interfacing. They say Sony is really developing the hardware to make this a reality.On the topic of artificial intelligence~ It's one thing to teach a computer to play chess...but to teach it to step out of it's defined operational boundries and think independently of it's programming is near to impossible.
But some people at MIT are working on it check out Kismet.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/kismet.html
~JJ
Posted by: JJ | May 20, 2005 11:44 AM
You have no idea what you've done, JJ. You said "talk nerdy to me" and now I seem to have a Poison song stuck in my head. *heehee*
Posted by: Bonita | May 20, 2005 04:05 PM
In a similar, but completely different vein, this marks the 20th ("I haven't seen you in ages-how are the twins? Twins? You mean triplets! My God, has it been THAT long?") year of the release of the movie "Brazil". This movie was so ahead of it's time, both in the political sense and in it's cultural commentary. I suggest everyone revisit this incredible assault on the senses to mark the anniversary. Your description Steve of the overwhelming feeling of "of course" in relation to Neuromancer made me immediately remember "Brazil" in vivid detail with the same feelings. Excellent post, btw. You really do have a gift for this writing thing-have you ever thought of writing your own science fiction novel?
http://www.trond.com/brazil/
Posted by: Lyn | May 23, 2005 06:30 AM
No matter how many times I re-read 'Neuromancer' I still don't quite get Gibson's vision, yet it's one of my favorite books and one of the few worlds I genuinely wish I could live in...
As far as Gibson being "onto something", isn't that the general consensus? Or is my thinking just too insular? ~shrugs~ Either way, beautiful book.
Posted by: daisy_glaze | May 24, 2005 11:48 PM
P.S. Jeffrey Deaver's "The Blue Nowhere" is also worth checking out for an alternate take on the cyberspace phenomenon. (My personal opinion is that it's alarmist bullshit but it's still worth a read.)
Posted by: daisy_glaze | May 24, 2005 11:57 PM