For those who have only been playing video games for a few years, you might not fully appreciate just how far computer graphic technologies (hardware and software) have come. But if you want to see for yourself, the release of the latest version of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator is a great case study.
From the earliest days with crude monochromatic vector drawings to the modern day visuals that look like a feature film, video game graphics have soared to new heights. From vector graphics to full-motion video, and from 2D to 3D (and beyond with VR), faster processors and graphics accelerator cards have changed the look and feel of modern game play. Alvy Ray Smith famously said, “Reality is 80 million polygons per second.” It appears that we’re approaching reality at warp speed.
