**8. Summary**

Computer video games have come a long way and have evolved from a pure graphics and visual rendering into a fully fledged multimedia experience. Videogames try to appeal to all senses of the human player. Video graphics are very sophisticated and the definition, speed and overall quality of the visual stimuli is at its best. Audio has become an integral part of any computer video game as well, from small audio clues about events on the game to full soundtracks that give character to the titles. We argue that video and audio were the dominant media channels in the videogame industry in what could be called the first generation of games.

In this new era where computers are miniaturized and with even higher capacities of processing and memory, developers and researchers have focused on extending the sensory experience to include the sense of touch. Initial implementations include vibrotactile feedback with a rumble effect on game input controllers. However, in an attempt to achieve a more immersive experience other haptics modalities have been explored, particularly force feedback. There are already haptic devices available in a consumer level market that have complex hardware implementation that allow for more realistic reactions from the controller to game dynamics and user actions.

Another trend on games has been mobility. The wide availability of low cost, high performance mobile phones and tablet PCs has created a whole new market for game titles

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that can be played on the go. Along with this trend haptic technology has been introduced even on those constrained environment by means of sophisticated algorithms that can create a whole array of vibrotactile effects for each type of game condition.

Finally, games have ceased to be a purely entertainment element. The so called serious games are making people to engage in more practical and meaningful activities (in the fields of education, government, military, corporate, healthcare, politics, religion and arts), while still having the fun that game play always brings. Even in these particular type of games, haptic technology promises to enhance the activity and may be even provide a type of interaction or achieve a specific goal that would not be possible by using any other media channel.

In the future, it can be expected that machine haptics will evolve and improve into a more robust technology reaching a wide spectrum of human endeavour. And we are sure that gaming in all of its forms will always be one of the fields where the haptics potential can be exploited.
