The Most Realistic Video Games Yet

Console videogames move beyond mere fancy graphics to lifelike physics, characters and controls

By Scott Steinberg Posted 10.28.2008 at 12:45 pm 7 Comments

Smashing Looks In Fallout 3’s postapocalyptic Washington, D.C., your opponents sustain unique injuries depending on where you clobber them. Bethesda Software

Games are beginning to exploit the computational muscle of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to generate characters and environments that follow the rules of reality, not just preset sequences.

WHY NOW
Developers have finally figured out how to write software that takes better advantage of the multiple processing cores in the Cell chip that runs the PS3 and the Xenon CPU that powers the Xbox 360. By performing several tasks at once, the chips can execute billions more instructions per second than their predecessors.

THE BENEFIT
You’ll battle virtual enemies as smart and unpredictable as real people, experience adventures that are different every time you play, and control games without a joystick.

Turn the page for a look at three games pushing video closer toward reality.

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7 Comments

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barron101

10/28/08 at 1:05 pm

i still doubt that tom clancy's endwar's voice recognition is 95% accurate. many many voice recognition software does not work, plus, although the game may have 95% accuracy, your mike may not. take the xbox360. many games i have played, the voice recognition does not work very efficiently, even when im just chatting with friends. i have had to upgrade my headset a few times to get that clearer sound.

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Bones less

10/29/08 at 12:39 am

I've been playing the End War demo and it doesn't seem to understand the word Two in a New Zealand accent.

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w00zzy

from wichita, ks

10/29/08 at 8:04 am

You should try it with the new PS3 BT headset with the HQ features. 95% would be accurate.

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/30/08 at 8:19 pm

I wonder what they will come up with next?

Virtual reality made for your home?

Could the Power Glove make a comeback?

<(^.^)>

-THE KID

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Everyday Normal Kid

10/30/08 at 8:19 pm

I wonder what they will come up with next?

Virtual reality made for your home?

Could the Power Glove make a comeback?

<(^.^)>

-THE KID

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duce2231

11/02/08 at 10:10 pm

I played the Endwar demo and was thinking it would be simple commands with little to no accuracy, however it was 100% accurate for me. With many different words too and variations also. During the voice command tutorial it told you what to say, after complying with the directions I tried to get off track and say something else thinking it would still advance, it didn't. It just said that it was the wrong command, I repeated that a few more times but it stayed consistent with recognizing my attempts to fool it. It is a truly shocking game, the gameplay is flawless in time with the voice commands and character movements.

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thinker35

10/26/09 at 8:53 pm

another game that had similar features to end war was hawx. GREAT game! i got it for pc and it ran beautifully! graphics are awesome and the voice commands are useful when using flares :) i think ill get end war to see how it goes.