Now as I think you know, I am not the world’s most enthusiastic gamer, but I do recognise the significance of gaming culture and its importance in the world of transmedia artforms.
I was therefore interested to read about improvements in the sophistication of games, particularly the developments coming out of Crytek the video game company. For those, like me, not familiar with all this, Crytek market a game engine called CryEngine and they have just unveiled the latest version, which I am sure will have developers everywhere getting very excited. 
What struck me was just how realistic the effects are – the characters who people games look incredibly realistic, even in close up. And apparently they have even improved the glass shader: it can represent a wide range of glass types, including regular windows, stained glass, leaded glass, beveled glass, some crystal types and some types of transparent plastics as well. The improved glass shader now also boasts features such as a dirt layer designed to produce extremely realistic-looking glass surfaces complete with dust and dirt, differential fog and refraction blur. Incredible!
Watching their demo made me think about how far we have come since the 1990′s.
Have a look at Sierra’s very popular King’s Quest VI:
And then compare it to the demo for the new CryEngine technology and marvel at how you could have been addicted to something so basic …
