AI in video games means characters that react to what we do and act accordingly.
Physics in video games means environments, objects and characters that react to what we do to them.
Open and freeform level designs means game levels that change (and hence 'react') depending on how you approach it.
The games of the future will put me at the absolute centre. Not by putting me at the start of an indistructable tunnel with enemies that do nothing but run straight at me, shooting till they're dead, along with NPC's that say what they're scripted to say, not minding one jot if I spend five minutes throwing crates at their heads (heeeellllloooooo Deus Ex:IW). Instead they will do this by putting me in a world in which I'm not the absolute centre but through my actions and the game worlds reactions to those actions, become the centre. That would feel good.
On a related note, something I'm surprised nobody has mentioned is audio.
One of the most important (but sadly often overlooked) elements of a film is actually a good soundtrack. A cracking audio score to a film can really make a difference to the emotional impact of a scene or just plain add to the excitement. The problem videogames have is that due to their level of interaction it's extremely difficult to judge how to score them. Not knowing when the 'Really Exciting Bit' is going to happen means that it's difficult if not impossible to make sure that the soundtrack score swells and crescendoes at that precise moment.
This is one of the things Halo does better than anygame I've ever played and rarley gets credit for. I've lost count of the number of times that the score on Halo has kicked off and gone soaring to it's peak at the exact moment when I'm running staright at the last standing Elite and I've just ran out of ammo and shields. It's a real
moment I can tell you.But for every time it does that they're dozens of times where it doesn't get it right and for every Halo there are hundreds of games that just loop the same audio sample regardless of wether I'm in a pitched gun battle with the enemy or I'm standing around doing nothing.
The next big thing for me will be when the music reacts to what's happening on screen and adjusts the score to reflect this. And not just switching from one audio sample to another, either. I mean proceduraly produced music that changes in real time. So that the score will change swiftly and naturally from 'minimalist, atmospheric and tense' to 'gung-ho and over the top' the minute I kick open the door and open fire with the machine gun.
So, for me the future of video games will arrive when the music reacts to what I do on screen and changes accordingly. That'll be sometime this year then Jeff, Yeah?
... Fluffy 
