Today marks the 30^th anniversary of the Atari 2600’s unveiling. This may not seem to mean a lot for most people, in fact, the Atari brand is hardly a household name these days, being credited with only a few noteworthy games the past few years.

                                              Part of Atari's original logo.
 

For those not in the know, the Atari 2600 is a game console introduced on October 1977 as a machine that could replicate arcade gaming for home use. It ushered in gaming as a leisure activity (eventually addiction) and set the stage for dozens of pretenders to the throne that wanted a piece of Atari’s then-lucrative pie. From this 30 year-old game console comes the likes of the current PS3, Xbox360, DS Lite and PSP.

This event is still important for those who does not recognize the name “Atari” as this piece of equipment gave the world its first taste of “video-games” for the home, as opposed to going to a “game-arcade” and playing the games on an overpriced and overweight arcade game box. It also introduced a new dimension in the form that entertainment was to evolve into – the typical two-hand controller and TV setup.

                                             Proto gamer-couch-potatoes.

At the time of its introduction, the Atari 2600 was revolutionary, as strange it is to consider now. There was no such thing as multi-gaming before this console, except for a few notable pioneers like the “brown box” introduced 10 years hence and Atari’s own single-game wonder “Pong” that was marketed under the tele-games brand. Unfortunately neither saw wide acceptance until the Atari 2600 model.

This revolution had the user take advantage of a single platform from where multiple games could be played – using a controller held in the hands and a display / television screen to display the action. Up to now, this basic formula is followed by the latest and the greatest, with inevitable improvements along the way. Thus we see wireless controllers, eye-popping graphics, innovative game mechanics and a form factor that has not changed at all over three decades of console gaming.

                                              Atari's revolutionary model 2600.

I am not in any way against the current scheme of things and in fact can get carried away with a game as much as the next guy. The thing is, my sense of wonder and sci-fi tendencies is tickled by the fact that the kind of technology more in keeping with sci-fi flavor "mind-control" is already available, and only needs a shift in focus for it to be implemented. Alas, the state of gaming and game consoles right now precludes that.

Yet there are many pointers to the possible eventual demise of this typical controller + TV setup for games, as even graphics brilliance has to stop somewhere at or a little beyond photo-realism. We have seen examples of innovation nibbling along the edges of change such as in the Wii remote, a hand-held, wireless controller that made use of movement detection to create more interaction with the gamer. Other control schemes have also surfaced, but one specific technology is interesting in that it represents the potential to give a brand new revolution for console gaming – brainwave games.

                                             Future peripherals won't have handholds.

In most studies, psychological content is the focus, yet the this kind of technology is obviously applicable to gaming or more specifically, a new dimension to this 30 year-old leisure activity. This is basically a new way to immerse yourself in the game, and a new way to interact with “virtual reality”. I can imagine a console that uses a hands-off control scheme along with the normal display and console setup eventually replacing handheld controllers and eliminating hand-eye coordination as one of video games’ benefits.

                                              This is an actual "brain-game" peripheral that detects eye movement and brain waves.

In place of this we will be seeing “improved mental acuity” and “better brain-wave control”, along with perhaps not a few furrowed brows along the way. In any case, a new video game paradigm is in the works, just in time to start a period of innovation that will represent another three decades of improvement that may culminate, perhaps, in a Tron-like interface for gamers and even ordinary computer users. Perhaps. One can dream, after all.

                                              Tron was actually a depiction of future computer interaction. It is yet to come true.

Credits: 

 > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tron_(film) - the not-so-outlandish (now) concepts presented by Tron made it a cult hit.

 > Brainwaves - currently helps in research matters, but has unlimited potential in games.

 >  console timeline - where consoles came from

 > ITZ - a blog entry pertaining to sci-fi and technological progress

 > ITZ - another blog entry depicting new control peripherals and the potential paradigm shift in PC's.