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Technological environment of video Game Industry Essay The Video Game industry is constantly undergoing new innovations and ground breaking technology. New trends and innovations are introduced on a yearly basis that alters the marketing environment. The Level of technology in this industry is very high. The speed of technology and usage is ongoing and expanding throughout the country and the world. With the constant growth, a fast and a high rate of Obsolescence is the outcome. The video game industry also has social concerns pertaining to the overall health of the users. Within the past 10 years the video game industry has boomed to keep up with the rapid growth of technology. Each video game console starting from the Atari 2600 ( September 1977) to the Nintendo 64( September 1996) and to the recent Sony Play station, Nintendo WII, and Microsoft X-box franchise has evolved insignificant ways. Trends: Mega-Gaming, Interactive †¢Mega-Gaming A new trend like Mega-Gaming which has been becoming popular Schmidt, D(2013,November )â€Å"These last ten years have ushered in the age of the mega-game; video games with budgets of $100 million and massive marketing pushes designed to break single-week sales records† Video Games in the US. Retrieved from IBIS World Industry Report. This Mega-Gaming consists of a high return and in return comes with high risk ,where if one game does not meet sales then the whole gaming company can go under. The highest budget game is Grand Theft Auto 5 reaching 265 million dollars invested to production, but within the first 3 weeks their sales were above 1 billion dollars being the most successful release in all entertainment in the world. Such high budgets come from factors like developing and development staff. But the majority of the portion of their budget is put in to marketing. Even to the very little spent on development, a big part of it goes towards the non-gameplay parts such as motion capture and expensive voice acting talent. The result in this could either consist of a horrible outcome, or a big take home. †¢Interactive Gaming The Video Game industry is based around new and upcoming technology. Interactive Gaming is becoming more popular within the industry. In the age of technology social media is slowly integrating itself into gaming. Many game franchises are starting to focus on the aspect of playing online and the interaction between players. It is seen where in future consoles they can link their social media sites to share videos, gameplay, and statistics with friends. This has already been seen with android and IOS games, where many of the games have a link to sign in through Facebook,Twitter, Instagram to post their scores. Innovations: Motion Sensor, 3D, Neuro-Gaming †¢Motion Sensor With the more hands on Interactive gaming experience, the most recent motion sensor and even seen in the future Neuro-Gaming will take over the industry. The big break came from the notorious Nintendo Wii which monitored movement by sensors in controllers that the user held. This quickly branched out to Play Station’s Move, and X-box Kinect where Kinect is censored by actual body movement which was another new innovation. This type of interaction continues to grow, and the industry is trying to get the user more hands on within the game. †¢Three Dimensional (3D) The new state of the art 3D imaging is putting players as close to the game as possible. New faster, more efficient processing units and graphic cards create a game play experience that intermingles with every other component. †¢Neuro-Gaming. Neuro-gaming is a new innovation that is expected to revolutionize the gaming industry and alter the gaming experience over the next five years. As stated in an article by Forbes writer Aaron Frank (2013) â€Å"Driven by explosive growth in computer processing, affordable sensors, and new haptic sensation technology, neuro-game designers have entirely new toolkits to craft an immersive experience that simulates our waking life (Web). It will be made of sensors, processing power, fast bandwidth and incredible design talent creating a whole new platform for video games. Neuro-gaming incorporates a range of inputs, which monitor a player’s heart rate, brain waves, pupil dilation, hand and body gestures, and the change of your emotional state to make for amazing game play. Speed and Usage of Technology †¢Speed of Technology The speed of technology transfer in the video game industry is very high, and is transferred throughout in a positive and growing manner. The software, hardware, and methods are fast developing. The process of transferring these things among other franchises and institution for the development is a big part of growth and competition. As seen at the 2013 Neuro-Gaming Conference and Expo, various institutions came to demonstrate similar yet different innovations to put into future development. Licensing and turn overs on concepts consistently make it to the market in the video game industry. The transfer of technology to other less developed countries in the past have been almost non-existent but due to the on growing technology boom many video games, especially educational games are being sent over to less-developed countries. †¢USAGE of TECHNOLOGY The use of technology defines the video game industry. Every aspect of this industry relies on technology and technological advances. The high rate of obsolescence demands an increase in technology. The type of technology differs from each device. May it be hand held device like cell phones or tablets, video game consoles, and computers. Each have hardware and software that are key to its use. To computers and personal consoles it will be the hardware, the graphic cards and processing units. But without the technology of various input devices like the different controllers, keyboards, and other hand held devices the industry would not be what it is now. Rate of Obsolescence and Social Concerns †¢Obsolescence Obsolescence is an all too common thing in the video game industry, due to factors of so much growth and the new trends in the industry. Many video games either it be on a personal device, a home console, or personal computer are factor to being part of a series. The success of a game guaranties it for another title, or updated version. Once this new title comes out the previous game almost instantly becomes obsolete and although still in perfect condition, is no longer wanted. Carrying on from the video games, the consoles are updated with new innovations, hardware and software. This is seen common in the Play station and X-box Franchise each having 3 different version of each console, and therefore the trouble of only being accustomed to a specific sort of game. Such as were Play Station 3 console and games have thrived, but when the upcoming Play Station 4 is released, both the console and games will become obsolete. †¢Social Concerns What is most controversial about the video game industry and the social concerns is the damage it is seen doing to children. Although video games have their benefits for learning, the controversy of gaming violence are becoming a concern to society. The infamous game series Grand Theft Auto, being in the head front of this issue is often accused of giving young Americans the motive and ideas to carry out action in the games in real life. Shown in a medical study done by Gentil,Choo,Liau (2011) greater amounts of gaming, lower social competence, and seemed to act as risk factors for becoming pathological gamers. This is where depression, anxiety, social phobias, and lower school performance seemed to be the outcomes of pathological gaming in the video game industry. The Social Concerns categorizing itself with obesity, lack of exercise in the youth, addiction and social problems. 1. Schmidt, D. (2013). IBISWorld Industry Report NN003. Video Games in the US. Retrieved November 13, 2013 from IBISWorld database. 2. Frank, A (2013) The Future of Gaming- It May Be All In Your Head. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/sites/singularity/2013/06/03/the-future-of-gaming-it-may-be-all-in- your-head/2/ 3. Gentile DA, Choo H, Liau A, (2011) Pathological video game use among youths: a two-year longitudinal study. Pediatrics. 2011;127(2):e319–e329.