In the early days of game development, players were not exactly at risk from sensory overload. But technology is a discontented beast, always striving to reach the giddy heights of the next big thing. Black and white blocky drawings and flashing cursors swiftly gave way to, well, colourful blocky drawings and flashing cursors and then beyond. Now, both console and PC (or Mac if you're that way inclined) games are getting ever closer to cinematic quality, 3D images. Digital smoke and mirrors maybe, but no longer under the guidance of a child with grass stained knees making their first stumbling attempts at card tricks. Instead, a master of illusion on a Vegas stage is making the magic. Games have grown up.

Doom 3 brings us another step closer.

It's probably fair to say that for the most part, people don't find TV and film violence distressing - most of the time. The progression of special effects in visual media is a likely indication of how visual effects in games will develop over time. With new movie making production techniques relying heavily upon the use of computers, the crossover of these techniques into games is natural (especially with Cg instructions in the new Nvidia and ATI cards). However, we as a society have become numb to the nightly displays of violence paraded in front of us on television, all in the name of entertainment and consequently, probably haven't considered fully enough the impact such realism will have when it kicks in properly in home gaming.

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