The High Definition Era of Gaming

The idea of HD gaming may have started as far back as the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was the first system to support vga, s-video, and rgb inputs. It was also capable of outputing games at a resolution of 640x480 on a pc monitor. Microsoft a few years later said that the Xbox wil support HD with a minimum support of all games at 480p. For the 360, Microsoft made the decision that they would push HD gaming into the mainstream. So now I dare ask the ultimate question of life.


Are we there yet?

High Def gaming. Is it really the future of where the next gen of gaming needs to go? Are we at the point where we all need High Def to further improve our gaming experience? Well to be brutally honest I believe we aren't quite there yet. Right now I am pretty sure all you High Def buffs are all up in arms now about I don't really see the point in pushing high def gaming yet.

I mean look at the Xbox 360. Its the system that is SUPPOSE to bring us into the HD era. Thats what Peter Moore and other Microsoft execs have said. Don't believe me, go ahead and read some transcripts from E3, GDC, and the Tokyo Game Show back in 05. Yet after almost 6 months since the system's release every game I've seen are games looks that like they could be played on a High End Alienware PC. The best looking games for the 360 currently are Oblivion, Fight Night 3, Dead or Alive 4, Call Of Duty 2, Madden 2006, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Ghost Recon. With exception to Fight Night3, Madden and DOA4, all the other mentioned games look exactly like their PC counterpart.

Okay now all the Xbox 360 owners are now up in arms. Let me calm you down by letting you know I also own a 360. I like my Xbox 360 system a lot. I love the user interface, the improved Xbox Live community and the games for that matter. Unfortunately the system isn't at the level of High Def gaming that it was promised to bring. I will admit that the games look freaking great on my 32inch Dell HD LCD tv, but I am not taken aback by the games visually yet. Okay I mean the graphics are amazing but not True High Def knock-you-off-your-sock-amazing.

But we are getting there. The first proof of this is of course Fight Night round 3. The game is simply gorgeous and definitely shows off the potential of Hd gaming. However you will have to realize that the game is mostly played in a small arena where they can go all out on character and enviromental details. Then theres Ninety-Nine Nights, Unreal 2007 and Gears Of War which are not only the most highly anticipated titles coming out but some of the best looking games to come out for the next gen. However they will only do so little to continue the push for High Def gaming.

The Playstation 3 also boasts High Def gaming yet all they have done to show for it was a trailer of rendered gameplay for Killzone 2. However I do believe that someday all games will look that good. I just think its too soon for games on any system to look THAT good. And when the games start looking that good then we are truely at the time of HD gaming. Then we will actually have an excuse to spend $1500 on a HDTV other than to watch the Superbowl.

However that's just a few years away. Oh no I definitely don't think it'll be years till the HD era will be upon. At the least I think we have a 2 year wait on us, but I don't see HD gaming really taking off for about 3 or 4 more years. I can't really supply facts to support this, however I can say this just by looking at the games themselves. So if anything I difinetly think everyone should consider saving up for some kind of HD compatible TV. In case you didn't know the deadline for the airways to convert to HD frequency programming is almost upon us. It wouldn't hurt to have high res looking games either.