egrady – Looking Outwards 1

Virtual Reality has caused quite the stir recently in video games, creating a more interactive experience by literally placing the user in the game world. While I may not be referring to a specific design of virtual reality, I am referring to the usherance of this new and innovative form of game design as a collective idea, which I find not only highly intriguing, but also highly inspiring. And while the concept itself may be in it’s early stages of development, the entire idea of virtual reality is inherently promising.

Many established developers are attempted to incorporate VR into their games, such as how Bethesda Softworks is creating a VR adaptation for “Fallout 4”. This is interesting, because Bethesda in this case is inspsired by how immersive Fallout 4 is already, in terms of the game. It puts the players in the shoes of the character, who gets to explore an unfamiliar world. But with the addition of VR, the ‘immersiveness’ is taken to a whole new level.

The usherance of this new form of entertainment creates, with it, a new process in creative development, with a more ingrained focus on world building and immersiveness. I think that the emminence of virtual reality proves that the majority of gamers who desire to play, do so with a similarly equal desire for a sense of escapism, of which virtual reality can most definitely provide. We go from thinking of video games as a simply action based quick button five minutes of fun, to a more cinematic experience, where the user is quite literally put into the shoes of the protagonist, while hoping to experience an event as close to real life as possible, without it being real life, of course. I find it highly inspiring, because it opens up new possibilities for what gaming can achieve. It also additionally opens up a new world of possibilites for creating a universe for which virtual can be employed. The focus is now placed on art, where through art, hopefully entertainment can be achieved.