Dreams and Nightmares of Future Tech

Champions Online

Defender: The most famous Champions hero does not seem to have aged since the game's origin in 1981.  Marshall Louis Reaves

The PC game pays homage to this tradition by providing -- unlike other MMORPG games -- a blank canvas for players to explain the science (or magic) behind their powers. This is realized as a customizable character profile visible to others in the online world. In this way, the Champions world can constantly stay in touch with the newest in technology and science by putting it in the player's hands. This hand-off has saved Champions creators from constantly having to re-release their game with the newest guns, armor, genetics, and pharmaceuticals. Although it is not all technology: magical superpowers abound as well.

The executive producer, Bill Roper, formerly at Blizzard Entertainment, has been on the cutting edge of gaming for 15 years. Over a decade ago, he pushed the famous title Warcraft into developing game play for up to eight players -- at the time people thought Roper was a madman -- paving the way for the multi-million-player World of Warcraft today. Now, he envisions that through the new character freedom, technology will flow from the net to character profiles and around the world via the game. This might seem a lofty goal, but probably isn't. Online players in other games are known to spend tens of hours to acquire a sleek looking shield or fashionable threads. Given this desire for uniqueness and the constant quest for superior gear in MMORPG worlds, to think that the newest technology featured on PopSci.com might wind up running around in a virtual world is hardly a stretch.

Look for Cryptic Studios to release Champions Online this spring.