[StudentCorner] Stay seamless, stay social

[StudentCorner] Stay seamless, stay social

Jang Ye-beet By Jang Ye-beet As a student who is majoring in culture technology, my research focuses on investigating the social and psychological impacts of new communication technologies. I have long been interested in newly emerging technologies, including virtual environments, augmented-reality and especially games. In November, G-STAR 2010, the biggest global game exhibition in Korea was held at Bexco in Busan. Along with the game exhibition, the International Content Creator’s Conference (ICON 2010) was held at the same time. I attended the conference and looked around the game show for two days. It was an inspiring experience. Simply put, the two key trends were “seamless” and “social.” First, I went to the G-star. The hall was filled with famous game companies proudly launching their new game titles for Korean game goers. Since I was eager to play the two brand-new movement-based video games, Microsoft’s (MS) Xbox 360 KINECT and Sony Computer Entertainment’s (SCE) PlayStation Move, I went straight to those companies’ booths and spent a few hours playing the new games. At the “KINECT booth,” helpers who were wearing purple t-shirts with the slogan “You are the controller” showed players how to enjoy the games. Without any controller, I used my full body to skateboard, box, and tame a baby tiger. It was fun. Then I visited the “Move booth”. There, players with Move controllers were immersed in playing various games. I tried the 3D driving game and role-playing games with Move controllers. The Move sensors detected the movements more accurately and rapidly. It was also thrilling. I confirmed the first key trend “seamless.” Those game companies were striving to create “seamless” mediated experiences as if it was real based on intuitive interface and natural control. Jenson and De Castell once mentioned that a game played by the intrinsic natural body movement of the player instead of a complex set of buttons signifies a critical epistemological shift from simulation to imitation. At G-STAR I was able to experience what they said myself. Now we just jump in and play saying goodbye to those painful times of learning complex game manuals. After the G-STAR exhibition, I attended the ICON, a Korean version of GDC (Game Developers Conference) where distinguished game developers from all around the world gather at one place to network and share knowledge about engineering and business trends. Among the many presentations, two keynote speeches grabbed my attention. The first one was delivered by Mart Warburton, MS’s regional director. Warburton introduced MS’s world’s first controller-free game platform, KINECT, and its natural user interface (NUI). The way you move becomes the input, so a harmonious synchronization between the real world and the mediated world on a screen can then be realized. Furthermore, what was more astonishing was their ambition to turn Xbox into an entertainment and communication hub in the upcoming 3-Screen era. Soon, when we have that smart platform, we can play games, watch TV, and even call up our friends with it. Since I was not able to listen to the second keynote speech by SCE’s director Yoshio Miyazaki, I read the published articles later. It said that based on Sony’s consumer research analysis, people tend to play Move “with” other people. It could be one’s family, friends, or whoever it is that wants to play. Players’ “social” needs were one of their primary development strategies. Those two international console game giants confirmed the transition by setting up a new vision of connecting people through games with enjoyable social interaction. Summing up, “social” was another important key trend in the gaming industry. The problem is how to add the “social” feature in future gaming technologies. Korea has strength in online and mobile games. In comparison, the conventional video game was not our major concern. However, we have a community of amazingly talented and creative developers. We may develop online games to have more “social” features or create new game platforms that will offer more innovative interfaces. Bold and daring ideas will shift the future gaming paradigm. I hope my studies can provide fundamental explanations of game-playing mechanisms for users and give practical insights into the industry. Leaving Busan, I had a thought about what we can do next. What will be the form of future gaming technologies? And what will happen in the world’s gaming industry in the near future? For my train of thought, Alan Kay has already given wise answers. “The best way to predict the future is to create it” Jang Ye-beet is a Ph.D. candidate at the cultural management & policy lab in the Graduate School of Culture Technology, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr