One-hundred thousand copies of Esquire’s October issue, hitting newsstands across the good ol’ U.S. of A. as I write and you read, are freaking me out. The other ones aren’t, they’re just magazines. But the one-hundred grand I’m talking about look like the future. The covers of these issues are equipped (infused? I’m not sure what word to use here.) with an E Ink display. That is to say, the paper itself is an electronic display with a shifting image. It’s fairly innocuous looking in this video, but the casual implementation here, the cover of a consumer magazine, has far reaching implications that are both terrifying and exciting as hell. Terrifying because we’re one step closer to Back to the Future II’s vision of 2015 being real. Exciting as hell because E Ink could be a whole new world for videogames.
Not just games journalism mind you, though that’s certainly a consideration. Imagine picking up the latest issue of Edge and finding previews of not static screens but pages and pages of game footage. No, I’m thinking of going to your local newsstand and walking away with an issue of full games. Given, the technology isn’t even close to this state yet, but just fantasize with me here: you walk into the shop and pick up the October 2035 issue of EGM. Turn to page four, touch the page, and play the latest revision of Tetris 4D. Centimeter-thick Super Mario Bros played by touching the bottom of a piece of paper. It would be, in a word, mad.
The future, dear reader. It’s looking awful futuristic.
(Link and video courtesy of Engadget, via NeoGAF user TTP)
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R.I.P. Xbox 720 and Playstation 4: The Future of Gaming
Bringing Sexy Back: Retro Controllers of the Future
The Death Of Awesome Pack-In Material