Game On! The Origins of In-Game Realism

With a controller in their hands, gamers want to be transported into new worlds. Medieval castles, competitive sports fields, colorful race tracks – or anywhere that isn’t a gaming chair in their own living room. Next generation graphics are here, bringing rich worlds and jaw-dropping stories into sharp focus. Their seat belts are strapped, and they are ready to dive in. Let’s put the specs aside for one second and think about where the future of gaming is headed. Although the talk for next generation gaming is around 4K or even 8K, ray tracing and super-fast load times, the umbrella that encompasses everything is immersion. Realism – whether it’s near photo-realism from top-end graphics, believable characters or compelling gameplay, gamers want to be taken away from their couches and into the games themselves. Whether they’re wearing a VR headset or not is somewhat secondary. Huge AAA titles are in the works that will push gaming to new limits and the hardware is about to become a very exciting space in the next few months. The arrival of the PS5 and Xbox Series X is imminent and PC gaming continues to be a powerhouse too. With graphics, in particular, it’s a never-ending cycle of innovation to ensure gamers have a perfect combination of realism and speed. Both are vital. Regardless of how great a game looks, it’s very easy to be taken out of the moment if players have to wait too long between levels. That’s been a particular focus area for the next generation consoles. Overall performance is important because games need smooth movement and consistency in the gameplay, as well as the arresting visuals themselves. Performance Gaming The performance provided by the memory is invaluable. Gaming is evolving, taking on different form factors unseen in previous generations. For instance, there’s VR and AR that we’re seeing both at the top end, powered by pro-level gaming PCs, and in widely accessible mobile devices. These will become more powerful and adventurous, and there’s always the chance that gaming will continue to proliferate. Meanwhile, if the global COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that fun shared experiences are important, even if the people sharing them are in different locations. There’s scope for online gaming to evolve. Who knows where the future will lead the gaming industry? What we do know is that the breakthroughs we’re currently seeing are exciting. And they’re all leading to high capacity memory for slick and fast gaming graphics and performance. As well as making chips more powerful, they are also becoming more energy efficient. This makes for lower power consumption, which is a key trait for mobile devices such as laptops. The concurrent bandwidth increases make graphics applications faster and more capable, whatever the form factor. The use of such solutions is increasing in versatility. Take the Samsung GDDR6 DRAM, for instance. The 16Gb DRAM has enabled Samsung to provide fast graphics for a variety of solutions. It was applied to the Nvidia RTX2000 series GPU, which sports an impressive array of features for high performance gaming. Ray tracing performance was higher on the RTX2000 series, making lighting and reflections in games shimmer with realism. It also calls on AI to upscale resolution without taking a hit on overall performance. But that’s just one instance of Samsung’s GDDR6 in action. The technology is still enabling gaming to do new things. Thanks to increasing demand for high capacity gaming, Samsung’s GDDR6 DRAM is now available for use in consoles and as such, a whole new market can capitalize on the leading memory solution that has already delighted countless gamers around the world. New Visions With GDDR6 still firmly in the industry’s plans for the future, there’s a lot for various industry sectors to investigate using the technology. Everything from computer-aided design (CAD), digital content creation (DCC) and scientific visualization applications are benefitting from leading edge DRAM. In the world of gaming, 8K gaming is now available and will be in homes globally soon enough. If you think resolutions are high now, wait until you enter the field of battle at the highest resolution possible. The sharp skid of a car in hot pursuit, the swish of a blade in combat, the triumph of defeating a stubborn foe to complete a game. They are all moments to enjoy and when they take place in realistic environments that enhance the exhilaration, it’s all the better. Even the most ardent of technophiles won’t think about the DRAM in the heat of the excitement but they will always appreciate the end result. The innovation continues to make best use of the memory and graphics solutions available. And those improvements won’t always be about getting faster and more efficient, they will also be about enabling new experiences and helping players to see and feel new things for the very first time.