What does the future of gaming hold? - a guest post by George Ebey

I played a lot of video games when I was a kid.

I can remember the first console my parents bought for the family when I was just a little gaming tyke. It was an Intellivision II, and I loved it from the start. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Tron Deadly Discs. Night Stalker. I spent countless hours delving into these worlds, following clues, battling monsters - rejoicing every time I conquered a new level and feeling devastated whenever I lost my final life and had to start all over again.

Much like a good story, a video game has the power to transport you to another realm, one where you can experience life through the eyes of the hero for a brief time and see a whole new world built purely from the creator’s imagination.

I’ve watched the genre evolve over its various eras: Atari/Intellivision, Nintendo/Sega, Play Station/Xbox. When looking back over that expanse, I can’t help but ask myself one question: What’s next?

Sometimes, at least for this author, that’s how a new story comes about. You remember something fondly from your past, contemplate the elements that made is such a notable part of your life, and then find a question that sets you on the creative path.

What’s next? What are the little gaming tykes of the future going to play?

This got my wheels turning. I pictured a virtual world containing artificial environments and characters that can represent whatever the designer wants them to be. This might sound exactly like the games of today, but our futuristic version has one special twist: Your avatar, the character you control, is a physical object and not a computer generated image. In this game, kids design their own hero, build it from the ground up, and use it to play against others in a high-stakes competition that could determine the course of their lives.

That was all I needed to get started.

Soon, other questions began to pop up. What physical form is the avatar going to take? Who’s controlling it? Who are they playing against? What will they win if they win?  What will they lose if they lose? And from these questions, a new manuscript for my upcoming novella, DEBBI, began to evolve.

As for the answers to those questions…

Sorry, there are no cheat codes in this particular game. You’ll just have to wait until the story is released to find out. But don’t worry. The world of DEBBI will be here before we know it.

And all are welcome to play.

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George Ebey is the author of the forthcoming Phoenix Saga, a series of fantasy adventure tales for young readers. In addition, his soon to be released novella, DEBBI, is set to be the first entry in his upcoming Rovers of Mars series. 

Prior to turning to the world of Middle Grade and Young Adult adventure, he got his start by writing works of mystery and suspense. Ebey’s previous titles include: Broken Clock; The Red Bag; Dimensions: Tales of Suspense; and Widowfield.

These days he’s proud to be an author with Glass House Press as well a contributor to the International Thriller Writer’s online webzine, The Big Thrill.