Technology is a different kind of beast. It's an animal that we attempt to tame, but it’s a phenomenon whose evolution is hardly predictable. I say that because we are now living in the Web 2.0 era, which is kind of crazy because we are less than 10 years removed from the first Internet boom in the late 1990s.

(For the uninitiated, think of Web 2.0 as a way to interact with and change things online -- social-networking sites and Wikipedia are examples.)

Web 2.0 is also playing a role in the videogame world. Online gaming is constantly becoming more social and more technologically advanced. In fact, the power behind some of the videogames being pushed out by various companies is challenging applications and web services that you can find on your own personal computers.

Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360)

Graphic design is now typically done on a MacBook Pro or via an Adobe Photoshop Suite canvas. But in 2007, The developers at Turn 10 Studios decided to break the mold and deliver their own graphic-design interface, which was first introduced in Forza Motorsport 2 for the Xbox 360. Dubbed the "Livery Editor," this digital toolkit was used to create works of art that could be be seamlessly layered onto the carbon-fiber exteriors of the digital car of your choice. This gave car enthusiasts across the globe the chance to customize their favorite driving machines inside and out, from the advanced engineering and tuning to a glossy paint finish.

And now in 2009, the possibilities with Forza Motorsport 3 are essentially endless. The Forza 3 "Storefront" gives users their very own homepage within the game’s user interface. This is a personal profile page that is equipped with friend lists, favorites, photo sharing, video sharing, ratings and the auction house transactions that were introduced in Forza 2. Users can even save vinyls, paint jobs and tuning setups that were created for certain cars and share them or sell them in their auction house for in-game credits. Forza 3 also features an online leaderboard for the most creative tuners and artists.

James Elterman, an actual professional race-car driver, went to the Forza Motorsport 2 online community for some design ideas for his own ride. The community provided Elterman with a digital preview of his car model that had a number of customized graphics on it. He chose a design from the game and had a professional paint it onto his car.

NBA 2K10/NBA Live 10 (360, PS3)

With just a flick of the right stick on the 360/PS3 controller, anyone can bring up the main with relative ease in 2K Sports’ latest basketball title, NBA 2K10. And from the main menu, users can launch right into a quick game and invite a friend to play with them. In other words, as soon as you turn on the game you are always connected to the other people online playing 2K10.

2K10 also implements NBA Today whenever you boot up the game. At a base-level, NBA Today is an online news feed that compiles all of the latest news, headlines and scores from the NBA. In addition, all the real-world stats are streamed seamlessly to NBA 2K, which gives you stats and scores from the real ongoing NBA season. Now that is somewhat impressive, but the interactivity is the main selling point.

Really, think of NBA Today as a more interactive RSS feed. Users can launch into a recent matchup that occurred in the NBA, or a matchup that is about to happen that very night in real life. For example, if the Celtics are playing the Magic Thursday night on TNT, you can bring up that game within NBA Today and play it if you want.

But what's probably the coolest part about this whole thing is the fact that the commentators will talk about the ongoing NBA season within your videogame. So not only does the game update the stats and standings, but the commentators will also talk about the ongoing playoff chases, a player's recent big game, upcoming games on TV and even a recent player injury.

When it comes to updating player ratings, injuries and so forth it would also be a mistake not to mention NBA Live 365 because NBA Live 09 introduced the ability to update player tendencies that were based on real-life data from Synergy Sports. With this technology in their hands, the developers can actually tweak tendencies and change how a player will react during any given game.

That's some pretty wild stuff I must say.

Returning to NBA 2K10, 2K Share is a fairly basic concept that allows you to download and share files over Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. 2K Share gives users the ability upload rosters and gameplay sliders that can then be downloaded by friends and strangers. Users can upload fully edited draft classes, download customized players, export customized teams, or even upload created player "DNA." You can also snag gameplay sliders within NBA Live 10.

Moving Forward

User-generated content pushed out from these games is becoming more and more imaginative every day. NBA 2K10’s Reelmaker and the NBA Live 10 highlight system -- a system that ties into all EA Sports games these days and also the EASportsWorld (EASW) site -- allow users to save the most amazing plays from their games.

You can upload these replays to 2KSports.com or EASW and share them with friends online. Just look at what MessenjahMatt has done with 2K’s basketball game.

This type of social sharing is the foundation that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were always meant to be built on. Now it’s just about continuing to bring in fresh and creative minds to develop and push the technology forward.

Props to the development teams out there making the most of this beast we call Web 2.0.