Take a look at the two images above. Go ahead, study them a bit…I’ll wait here. All set? OK then””what do you think? If someone were to ask you which of these two images was an actual photograph and which of the two was a demonstration of what the future of video games might look like, would you be able to answer correctly?

Some of you may unleash your eagle–eye skills and be able to tell, but for the vast majority of us (myself included), it’s very, very difficult to discern the difference between the two.

Video game company Square Enix, publisher of the excellent Deus Ex: Human Revolution, was in Japan recently for a press conference where they showed off a tech demo for their Luminous Engine, which they hope will become the future of gaming as we know it.

Continue reading for more and to see a few side–by–side comparisons!

These images are just a very basic demonstration of what the Luminous Engine can do, too. Square Enix says that the engine will allow game–makers the ability to produce photo–realistic images, simulate cloths and fluids, and perform real–time reflections and tessellation techniques that lower the level of detail in 3D models, effectively minimizing memory usage cost.

On top of all of these incredible new tools the engine will provide next–gen video game producers, it gets even better. Square Enix chief technical officer Yoshihisa Hashimoto says that Luminous will make for much faster development times and, most importantly, a 30% decrease in the costs of making a game.

Hashimoto also says that the engine can be used to make everything from casual games to complete next–generation titles.

Personally, I’m nowhere near ready for the next–gen consoles to be released yet. Hell, current consoles still have plenty of issues many years after they were first released, so there’s no need to jump into a brand new console and piles of brand new system problems to figure out. That said, this new Luminous Engine makes me very excited for what next–gen consoles might bring to the table. There’s a hell of a lot of great technologies out there that could be used to create an unbelievable new gaming experience, and we the gamers can only dream about what we’ll one day be playing.

Here’s a few demos shown off by Square Enix at the press conference. Click them to go bigger!

NOTE: The images marked “RealTime” are the Luminous demos created from the real pictures, which are marked “Photo.”

Images

[Source Game Watch, Edge via Game Informer]