Ty Pederson Essay

What will the future of computing look like?

Ty Pederson

I bel ieve th at th e future of computing , at least in my future career field, game development, wi ll

look surprisingly similar to h ow it does today. With regards to technology, we will always be impro ving

on wh at we have , so there will always be something new and exciting to use to build game s and other

applications. However, even though we improve upon the operating systems that run the games we love ,

we aren ’t going to stick to playing the same g ame very long .

The se new games that we are boun d to

make and play aren ’t going to be made with our current hardware restrictions in mind, so even if you

were to get a fancy new computer o r console that runs five times bet ter or faster, those new games will

req uire five times as much storage, RAM, and processing power.

Th ere ’s always going to be that feel of

not having enough of something or another to run a game with what you have.

However , with regards to all th is; the games that we will make and play are go ing to change a

lot. They already have. Take the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warf are for example. Up until now the

larges t amount of people playing in the same match was thirty -two people versus thirty -two others in

one of many games of the Battle fiel d fra nchi se. Modern Warfare is changing the game with Activision

stating th at their new mode, “Ground War would support 100 players in a press release during the

game’s multiplayer gameplay premiere event .” [ 1] This is only possible beca use of t he advancements in

technology and being a ble to connect so many people in the same match. I thin k that in the coming years

the already existent competition betwe en Battle field ’s iconic huge battles and Call of Duty infringing on

what sets their compet itor apart , will caus e the number of players playing against each other rise to

massive numbers, possibl y even to the po int of thousands of p eople playing together.

I th ink that the gaming industry wi ll soon change as a whole with many countries looking into

the ever -growing issu e of microtransactions in video games which make up a large amount of many

gaming companies ’ income . A few weeks ago, “Senator Josh Hawley introd uced the Pro tecting Children

from Abusive Games Act , a bill that bans “pay -to-win” microtransactions and loot boxes in games

geared toward children .”[2] If thi s bill passes, along with several others in different countries, then

gaming companies will be forced to cre ate games that produce interest before and after launch with

enticing gameplay and more importantly make sure that they aren’t riddle d with game -bre aking bugs

and mechanic s. This hopefully will force companies to create bett er and more innovative games tha t

pus h technology even fu rther and harder than eve r before.

I believe that within a hundred years t hat tech nology could be at the po int where games are no

longer separate titles , but all part of one giant game that players , other content creators , and com pani es

can build upon , modify , and make what ever they want o r go exp erience other s’ creations. I think that

people will only have to buy and download one game and pay a premium to access other s’ creations

which may be as complex as completely new ga mes. I think that the only wa y that something like this

could be possible would for it to be entirely online, meaning that for it to be accessible for everyone , the

quality and availab ility of internet wou ld have to drastically increase.

Overall, I thin k that te chnology will continue much as it already has, prod ucing exciti ng new

opportunities and challenges that wi ll allow us to create and experience something g reat. There will

always be something that we make that pushes the limits of the current hardware that drives us to make

it better and better.

REFERENCES

[1] B. Walker. More Details Revea led on Call of Duty : Modern Warfare ’s 100 -Pla yer Ground War

Mode. Dot Espo rts. 2019

[2] S. Chung. Senate Bill Could Me an Game Over for Microtransactions And Loot Boxes. Breaking

Medi a, Inc. 2019