iWrite Midnight Release

     On its current track, the advance of technology is set to make video games as realistic as possible and real life as simple as a video game. Recently, Facebook purchased the Oculus Rift virtual reality firm for $2bn. The most popular use of virtual reality headsets like the Rift is to make the experience of playing video games more realistic. Using the headset blurs the distinction between the game and your life outside of it by reducing your peripheral vision and allowing you to see as the character you are playing. In particular, this has made playing, and watching people play, horror games much more exciting. When combined with the advancement of photo-realistic graphics, the game industry is seeking to create gaming experiences that are as close to reality as you can get without being seriously injured. Often, real life will try to do the opposite and simplify experiences for the sake of efficiency instead of complicate them for realism. A good example of this is the idea that (relatively) soon cars may be able to drive themselves. A possible outcome of this this is that our society will reach a golden age of entertainment and the pinnacle of efficiency in daily life. Another possible outcome is that we will all get in our self-driving cars as fast as possible to run home and play game with our Facebook Oculus Rift. I believe that this trend will continue, with advancements in video games increasing immersion with graphics and gadgets, allowing players to sink deeper into the oh-so addicting “wait, it’s 4 o’clock already?” vortex that we desperately seek and aspects of daily life such as driving, learning, and reading being made 11.5% better than they were last week by Facebook, Apple, and Google.