I noticed this picture over at Joystiq. It’s a sceenshot from the EA monopoly NFL franchise for Microsoft’s next Xbox, and it looks pretty good at first. Pretty damn good. But take a closer look. Look into the player’s eyes.

Yep, you feel like screaming in horror, because it’s so close to real, your instincts kick in and send you a warning that this is either a preditor pretending to be human, or someone who is very sick. This occurance was first noted in 1978 by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori. He dubbed it the phenomenon the Uncanny Valley, and it’s a big problem that’s going to be hitting the video game market this coming generation.

The issue was discussed in this Slate article a little less than a year ago, and I find it delightful that it’s coming to fruition. Delightful in that little children will soon be screaming in fear at video game characters.