“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” - Steve Jobs
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When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, I experience my first technological shift. The way we interact with the world around us changed forever. A similar technological shift is happening again. Remember when our parents used to say to not play too many video games because there was no future in it? Within the decade, the whole world is going to be one giant video game…“TAKE THAT MOM!” Turns out that I was investing in my future all along * drumroll sting *. The year 2022 was jam-packed with technological innovations to make living in a video game possible. Improvements in the metaverse, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and fusion energy have fast-tracked us to a techno-utopia (or dystopia) within a few short years. 2023 is year one of a brave new world.
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The first area of innovation that pushed metaverse technology forward was console games. The power of new-generation consoles gave us incredible single-player experiences. The high-fidelity graphics, at 60 frames per second, placed us in fleshed-out worlds that felt alive and intuitive. The consensus amongst gamers is that Elden Ring and God of War are the winners of Game of the Year. Eh… I suck at Elden Ring and I haven’t played God of War yet. This article is my version of the Game Of The Year awards. This article is a rare look at my elite gameplay prowess.
When I play current-generation video games, I try to envision what the next generation of gaming will be. Horizon: Forbidden West has an amazing template for next-gen gaming. Key elements include fully exploitable environments, random combat story moments out in the wild, and a world that feels alive. The traversal options such as riding on a robot bison, or capturing a robot raptor then using it to attack other machines are amazing. My favorite part is flying through the sky on a robot pterodactyl, jumping off at the destination point, deploying a futuristic hang glider over a hostile enemy and plunging my spear into the enemy’s back. These features liven up the artificial environment and create the illusion that the player is interacting in a world filled with communities, tribes, rebels, and hostile robot dinosaurs. Using various NPCs to push the story forward is also interesting. Each NPC has an optional backstory that can further expanded on to learn more about the politics and development of the world. I enjoy the farming and crafting mechanics. After a robot is killed, the parts can be dismantled to upgrade weapons and armor. Parts can be shot off, and each robot has a weakness that can be targeted. Playing a version of this game in the metaverse would be a dream come true.
Another game that I enjoyed this year is SIFU. It is a completely underrated gaming experience. Especially if you enjoy Kung Fu movies or Hong Kong Cinema in general. This game is fantastic and engaging. It kind of reminds me of Final Fight from Super Nintendo. There is a skill threshold that you must surpass to beat the game. Spamming attacks will increase the rate at which you die, and the game punishes you for dying by increasing the age of your character. An increase in age results in less health but more powerful attacks. It reminds me of the deliberate combat system of Ghost of Tsushima. A metaverse version of this game would be like that scene in the matrix when Morpheus teaches NEO kung-fu. The more I think about it, the way the Matrix works in the movie could be the metaverse’s main utility. By that, I mean, the Matrix’s ability to teach muscle mechanics that would usually require the training and dedication of a master. Instead of training for years to meet the standards of a master in a martial art, a metaverse interface could train a person’s muscle memory to execute perfect strikes and combos.
Returnal: Tower of Sisyphus DLC is my favorite Rogue-like Shooter of 2022. A common thread in my taste in gaming is a challenge. There is something about playing a very hard game that requires the player to develop insane muscle memory and quick reflexes. Returnal reminds me of the classic Space Invader game from the beginning era of video games, except in 3D. Returnal pushes the players' reflexes and reaction speed to the max. When the player gets good at this game they reach a flow state, it becomes this crazy adrenaline filled dopamine rush. Returnal implements a feature called procedurally generated environments that create unique game environments based on the provided assets. In theory, given enough assets, the game can generate an endless variation of game environments. This game would be interesting to play in the metaverse, but it may be impossible to beat because of keeping track of all the enemy types, their position on the map, and their current attack state. It would be fun though.
BMW using NVIDIA’s Omniverse
The metaverse isn’t all about playing games, it’s also about experiencing alternate worlds. People see blockchain, Metaverse, and Artificial Intelligence as separate industries, but I’ve always viewed them as compatible components. The metaverse is the view layer, blockchain is the economic layer and artificial intelligence is the logic layer. The next killer app will utilize all 3. Currently, the leaders in each industry are the Ethereum Blockchain, the NVIDIA Omniverse, and Open AI’s GPT-3. For starters, Ethereum’s blockchain is the most robust protocol and responsible for the most innovation in Blockchain. Inovations include ICOs for fundraising, NFTs for asset validation, and Defi’s restructuring of the financial system. Then integrate Ethereum blockchain with OpenAI’s ability to generate new content. Artificial Intelligence is trained using the works of professionals who have toiled for years to perfect their craft. When a prompt generation mentions an artist, author, or specific expert then that expert should receive a royalty because of the contribution to the generation quality using a ERC721 Smart contract. Then lastly, integrate that economic and logic layer into the Omniverse’s view layer to create and monetize anything imaginable. What if Horizon, Elden Ring, God of War, and SIFU were remade in these 3 interfaces? A brave new world awaits us in 2023.
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