Smashing ideas for the future of gaming

While PCs and traditional consoles were busy focusing on how many pixels could be cinematically shaded with ultra-realism a decade ago, the team at Nintendo went in a different direction with the Wii. It was a serious wake up call to the big boys and led to products like Kinect. At GamesCom 2012, KitGuru wonders if some of the new products on show by university students will create a different tomorrow.

You can be sure that, for every 100 home-spun-genius ideas that get as far as a drawing board, almost 100% will get knocked back, ignored or labelled ‘not likely in this decade'.

One of KitGuru's operatives recently observed his child walk up to a TV in a store and try to make the picture bigger with an Apple-style finger gesture. While kids doing this in 2012 might make parents smile, we'll think it's perfectly normal by 2022.

So what ideas grabbed KitGuru's attention at GamesCom 2012?   Deep within Hall 11 there were a number of stands that had been set up by various universities. The aim is to try and see where virgin minds might take us.

Funding is provided by the ‘happy, happy people ‘ at the Bundesministerium fur Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Having scoured the stands, Pong Invaders was our favourite by miles.

In classic Space Invaders manner, the evil baddies descend down your screen – the difference is that it is a touch screen and you can blast them with a ping pong ball. Gamers were getting genuine exercise and having a real laugh playing. We like the fusion at work here.

KitGuru says: While we will all play more mainstream games than independents, by their very nature, it's the left-field-inspirational idea that often changes the market. We like the idea of completely new interfaces – and we very much love the idea that government funding should be set aside to create projects where young people can try to genuinely innovate. More power to the Bundesministerium fur Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend!

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