Monday, April 29, 2013

XBox Illumiroom?

The game sites are all talking about this Illumiroom device, or the concept of it anyway. To simplify the whole thing: imagine a projector that extends your tv screen so that it can create effects or visuals in your entire room. It's actually a pretty amazing concept but I don't know we'll it can actually be pulled off. It's also hard to say how likely it is that game companies will support this extra peripheral with already strained budgets. Even so, this is something I really want to see become real.
I've been playing a lot of Tomb Raider over the weekend and the visual presentation in that game is breathtaking. The color desaturation that occurs when the player gets hurt is the most obvious and would be a great fit for this device. If they could actually make your entire living room turn black and white as your character's life drains away it would immerse you so much in the game.
I was also thinking about the opening sequence in amass Effect 3. Specifically the end sequence of the intro where Sheperd is flying away as the earth is being blown up. What if the image on the screen was the doorway he/she is looking out of and the entire room turns into the interior of the ship he's flying away in? This would form an interesting interaction as your tv becomes a more literal window into the game world: out there is the war, here we are safe. And once the player becomes used to that idea how interesting would it be to shock them out of their compliance? Maybe at a critical moment, that feeling of safety is shattered by having a wall get blown out or an enemy attack from that previously "safe" area.
Anyway, here's to hoping these guys and gals can pull this off. I'm impressed with what I've seen so far and all of them have my respect for thinking outside of the box.
(See what I did there? The box? XBox? Oh, never mind.)