For seven weeks, What We’re Watching is being taken over by the Paley Center’s Teen Transmitters internship cohort! Each week a different pair of students will share their thoughts on the 2021 media landscape along with personalized recommendations. This week we hear from Elkin Mantilla and Malakhi Boyce, both rising seniors at The Brooklyn Latin School. We hope you enjoy this unique opportunity to hear directly from young voices.

As always, if you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at eduny@paleycenter.org.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term “video game” means “a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen.” This loose definition covers anything from a simple computer game of Tic Tac Toe like Bertie the Brain, to more sophisticated creations. The technology behind video games advances every day, and in this newsletter we will be exploring two of our favorite advancements: virtual reality and video game streaming services, as well as the games that they offer.

Imagine you are a pirate embarking on the most perilous journey throughout the seven seas. You can hear the waves crashing against the hull of your ship, and your crew’s boots shuffling along the deck to keep you afloat as they grasp the sails, but to no avail, you capsize. Flying forward into the monstrous waters below, you try to shield yourself with your hands, but you're met with a pesky black screen, displaying the words “Game Over” in front of your face.

This is Virtual Reality! This revolutionary technology, that was formerly considered fantasy, will forever change how we play games in the future. Rather than settling for a console and controller to play video games on a television, we can now opt for a headset that, when put on, will change the physical surrounding of our world to the virtual. Your beautiful living room floor will now become the polished deck of a pirate ship, with a pirate crew spawning in and awaiting your first order.

The evolution of virtual reality has been exponentially progressing for the past decade, but we haven’t even scratched the surface of what this technology is capable of. Much of what is believed to be virtual reality now doesn’t necessarily affect anything below the cognitive level. There is no subconscious gaming, or link disrupting the user from its current “reality” completely. Objects within the user's surrounding area remain within the physical world, while they experience virtual representations of the game they are playing.

Oculus (see photo above, left), a brand from Facebook Technology, is the essence of virtual reality. Its most notable features are how interactive it is through casting and cooperative play. Facebook, one of the largest social media platforms in the world, is being represented within this virtual reality interface by providing an emphasis on “Friends” exploring worlds and sitting through live events together. Although the gaming catalog isn’t as notable, this technology truly exemplifies the social aspect of virtual reality.

●   Beat Saber: A game where the player uses a sword of light to cut through neon blocks that arrive on the beat of music.

●   Superhot VR: An extremely immersive first person shooter where the game moves as you do. Whether in slow motion or even speeding up, the game will follow the speed of the player.

PlayStation (see photo above, right), already known for its gaming console line, boasts an ever-growing game catalog that is actively transferring from console to virtual reality. PlayStation VR is a titan within the world of virtual reality as gamers are able to immerse themselves within a plethora of games with advanced specs and quality. PlayStation is particularly a favorite out of the two titans of virtual reality because of the transferable gameplay and interactivity through its smooth gameplay.

●   Resident Evil 7: Another game within the Resident Evil line, it truly promotes horror in a video game, daring anyone to play it, especially when played through virtual reality.

●   FireWall Zero Hour: An online multiplayer shooter that completely immerses you within the “military experience” as you look down your rifle and feel as though you are actually there.

Video game streaming is not unlike regular video streaming on Netflix or YouTube, it just has a couple of extra steps. An input is sent from one’s home through the internet to a remote server in order to receive an output on the screen. Due to this extra step, to get a good frame rate and picture quality, faster internet speeds than those required for video-only streaming are required. This factor is what has caused many streaming services to kick the bucket, and what is causing many others to be on the chopping block. In this section, we will talk about two of the most popular gaming streaming services and what they offer.

Google Stadia was Google's answer to gaming giants like Microsoft and Sony, and it promised high resolutions and amazing frame rates. However, when the launch date came, this was not the case. While it is theoretically possible to hit the frame rate and picture quality promised by Google, it is very difficult to do so unless your computer is connected directly to a WiFi router, greatly limiting the mobility of the service.

Malakhi purchased Ghost Recon: Breakpoint for $10 in October of last year, after discovering the service through a YouTube ad. The download speeds at his house average around 200 mbps when close to the router, which is pretty fast as he is on a 5G network. Still, he found that Stadia was having a hard time keeping up with his inputs, and it was close to impossible to actually aim in the game. After thirty minutes of trying, he called it a day and turned on his Xbox One which, of course, ran smoothly. He did not think of Google Stadia for some time, and considered the money lost, but recently went back to see whether it had improved. He paid $10 for the Pro Subscription, which had a very small library of games, but the games were pretty good. One notable game is Little Nightmares 2, a 3D horror platformer that requires little precision, unlike Ghost Recon. Malakhi really enjoyed this game overall, but the input lag was unbearable, and he kept falling into cliffs because his jumps wouldn’t register. Besides that, it was a nice experience, and he wishes there were more games like it on the platform.

GeForce Now was released from beta testing in February of 2020 as an alternative to Google Stadia. GeForce uses a different approach to cloud gaming than Stadia. Instead of purchasing or renting video games directly from the platform like Stadia, GeForce Now connects to a user’s Steam and Epic accounts and provides games that a user already owns. Malakhi started using GeForce after it was recommended to him by a friend (emphasis on recommended instead of advertised). He connected his Epic games account, which allowed him to play Destiny 2, Rocket League, and Fortnite for free. However, when you boot up the service, you have to wait for a server to open so that you can play, which can take up to thirty minutes. There is also a one hour time limit per gaming session, but you can get on the waitlist right away. From time to time, a ranked game of Rocket League is interrupted by this time limit, but overall GeForce Now has much better game selections than Stadia, as well as less input lag. GeForce Now is not perfect, but it is the best alternative for those wishing to game on the go. A premium version is also available for $10 a month, which allows a user to get better graphics and more time per session, but is not necessary to have a good experience with the service.

These video game advancements are nowhere near perfect as of yet. Small issues have to be worked out, and game speeds and picture quality can always get better. However, this is only the beginning, Version 1.0 if you will. The future holds more exciting advancements in the gaming world and we cannot wait to see what is next.

Happy Gaming,

Photos—PlayStation: Sony; Oculus: Facebook Technology; Virtual Reality: iStock; Streaming: EA

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