Video aka Digital Games March 27 2014 Brief history of digital games o The term digital games is better because this can also refer to computer games and games on other types of electronic media o First computer game Spacewar 1961 Developed by some graduate and undergraduate students at MIT in a club called the Tech Model Railroad Three or four guys who met and were looking to see who computer technology which was still quite new at the time might be used for a variety of purposes o Spacewar started with their mapping the stars and then sticking some little spaceships in it It was not meant to be sold just for educational purposes and to see what computers could achieve o These guys shared Spacewar with some of their friends at other universities they had to take the code write it down and mail it so that the other people could input it into their computers o Spacewar created the first joystick game pad to be used to control the game o Nolan Bushnell at the University of Utah was one of the people who received access to the game He loved it He was working at an arcade with mechanical games to pay for college and he had the idea that digital games could be added to the arcade He and some friends each took out 250 each and put it into a pot and started a company called Atari o First home gaming system Odyssey 1972 o Atari and Magnavox were the forerunners in the gaming industry Magnavox also sold other things though and Atari developed games and made them more popular and economically viable through their systems which were more affordable Atari developed a game called Pong and sold it through Sears Roebuck and Co so it was much more popular and was easily accessible o First handheld games Mattel Electronics 1977 o 1981 a very important year for the development of video games because Donkey Kong was introduced This game was important because it introduced the idea of having characters in a game and having a game take place in the narrative This matters because it introduced subsidiary rights into the gaming industry With characters things like stuffed animals t shirts etc could be made allowing a secondary market to open in the video game world Eventually video games developed into motion pictures and vice versa o 1986 Another important year with the introduction of the Legend of Zelda This game allowed you to wander and go where you wanted to in the game the idea of open source play You did not have to remain on one screen until you made it to the next level With the introduction of open source play you had to be able to save where you were in the game so this also was introduced with Zelda Open source play and being able to save games is how the industry works today o 1993 Doom released One of the first first person games specifically a first person shooter game This caused outcry and argument among parents that it was Digital games today still realistic and these complaints have not gone away Doom was also the first game in which you could play with other people who were not physically with you could connect to a local area network LAN and play with others who had the game This was before the introduction of commercial internet so it was a groundbreaking idea o Because of public outcry in regards to games the same thing that happened to the radio film TV industries happened Senate hearings were held the government said that it would regulate games if the industry needed it to Like the others the gaming industry said that it could handle itself and the ESRB ratings were established in 1994 Major criticism of the ratings system not always enforced not too effective Kids can play games that their older friends parents siblings have purchased and thus are still exposed to violence and other negative things in these games meant for older people o 2006 Important year with the introduction of Nintendo Wii The ability to be completely emerged in the gaming environment mapping of all body movement o 58 of Americans 72 of American homes play but who knows what kinds of games they are playing o 135 million Americans regularly play 1 5 billion globally o Average age of a gamer is 37 years old gaming is not necessarily a young person s industry o 82 of the gamers are 18 and up o The gaming industry has historically been male dominated o Women are beginning to play more female gamers specifically those over the age of 18 are the fastest growing game demographic This demographic females over 18 currently makes up 37 of game playing Compare this to males under the age of 18 13 of game play Women over the age of 18 own more than half of the Wiis and PS Portables o Family gamers 45 of parents play games with their kids 80 of families say that gaming brings them closer together 52 of families say that gaming plays a positive role in a child s life o 72 billion industry worldwide 36 billion in the U S alone o Best selling video games Action and first person shooter games are the most popular genres making up more than 40 o On the other hand best selling computer games casual games games played just to pass time on PCs tablets phones Angry Birds Candy Crush etc role playing games and strategy games are the most popular genres o World of Warcraft people were paid to do menial tasks in the games so that the people were paying them could advance in the game without having to do all of the work o Trends in gaming are like those in the film industry franchise games sequels remakes of older games o Top 20 selling video games of 2012 all are part of a series of a sequel For example COD Black Ops II Madden NFL 13 etc o The same is true for the computer game side of the industry as well top 20 selling computer games of 2012 include Diablo III Guild Wars 2 The Sims 3 etc o Criticisms of this No creativity very easy for developers limits the type of games that exist although apps and the ability for individuals to create games is mediating this customers will take fewer risks leading to loyal buying because they know what they re getting in to This also makes it more difficult for new gamers to break into the business because there are already several games in a franchise It may make it more difficult for new game developers to break into the industry too at least in regards to actual video games Franchises also are a way for money to be made easily for example if you have extensions and add ons with Sims 2 you will have to buy them again for Sims 3 because the same add ons will not work there Also you might
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