Multimedia Games Development COM429

1. Multimedia Games Development COM429 Week 8 Evolution and Genres

2. Lecture overview • Game beginnings • Rise of home consoles • Rise of arcades • Home computers • Handhelds • Next generation consoles • Games genres

3. In the beginning • Evolution of the video game industry can be traced back to pinball and before. • Automatic Industries Whiffle machine (1931) was one of the first coin operated devices. • Evolved to electric machines (1933) with the addition of cash pay out (later banned)

4. Early video games • Generally agreed that W.Higginbotham invented the first video game • Oscilloscope based tennis game

5. Early video games • Spacewar (1961), Steve Russell • Used toggle switches and allowed two players to control ships which fired torpedoes at each other • Generally accepted as the first real video game

6. Early video games • Ralph Baer (1972) Magnavox Odyssey • Form of ping pong using a moving ball and player controlled paddles. • Game box, two simple controllers and TV as a display

7. Early video games: Atari • Nolan Bushnell formed Atari in 1972 • First commercial success was Pong

8. Rise of home consoles • Home Pong (Atari) 1975 • Telstar (1976) • Fairchild Channel F (1976) used programmable cartridges

9. Rise of home consoles • Atari 2600 (1977) • Magnavox Odyssey 2 (1978) • Mattel Electronics Intellivision (1979)

10. Rise of arcades • Taito Gunfight (1975) • Exidy Games Death Race (1976) • Football/Space Invaders (1978)

11. Rise of arcades • Lunar Lander, Atari (1979) • Asteroids, Atari (1979) • Pac-Man, Namco (1980) • Battlezone, Atari (FPS) (1980)

12. Rise of arcades • Donkey Kong, Nintendo (1981) • Frogger, Centipede (1981) • Pole Position, Joust (1982) • Mario Bros, Spy Hunter (1983)

13. Home consoles evolve • Atari ports Space Invaders to the 2600 (1980) • Activision formed (1980) • Atari ports Pac-Man to the 2600 (1981) • Release of E.T. on Atari 2600 (Failed) (1982) • Failed release of the Atari 5200 game console • General Consumer Electronics Vectrex (1982) • Coleco releases Colecovision (1982) • Both consoles failed, industry crashed (1984)

14. Industry crash 1983-1984 Video game market collapsed in 1984. Factors for collapse include • Lack of innovation • Over supply • Poor strategic choices by Atari • Arrival of home computer • Press/public perception (Fad)

15. Rise of the home computer Home computers began to grow in popularity • Use as a gaming platform • VIC 20, Commodore (1981) • Commodore 64 (1982) • Amiga • Apple II • IBM and IBM clones Arrival of developers e.g. EA, Lucas Arts

16. Consoles:Nintendo/Sega • Famicom, Nintendo (1984) • Launched as Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in USA (1985) • Sega Master System, Sega (1986) Console market was reborn

17. Nintendo/Sega • Sega Genesis console (16-bit) • Nintendo Super NES (1991) • Introduced the world to Sonic the Hedgehog

18. Rise of the arcades II • Street Fighter, Capcom (1987) • Street Fighter II, Capcom (1991) • Mortal Kombat, Midway (1992)

19. Rise of the arcades IIl • Fighting games revived arcades but they never fully recovered • Arcades focussed on high end games with specialised hardware

20. Handheld machines • Atari Lynx (1989) • Nintendo Game Boy (1990) • NEC TurboExpress (1990) • Sega Game Gear (1991) • Game Boy Colour (2001) • Nintendo Game Boy (2003) • Nokia N-Gage (2003) • Nintendo dual-screen (2004) • PSP (2005)

21. Rise of the home computer II • SimCity (1989) • Myst (1993) • Doom, Id Software (1993) • First-person shooter/multiplayer gaming

22. Console wars (1990’s) • Sega Saturn (1994) • Sony Play station (1994) • Nintendo 64 (1996) Market supported all versions

23. Console wars (2000+) • Sega Dreamcast (1999) • Sony Play station 2 (2000) • Nintendo Gamecube (2001) • Microsoft Xbox (2001) • Sega Dreamcast withdrawn (2001) • Internet connectivity on consoles (2002)

24. Console wars (2005+) Microsoft 360 (2005) • 3 core processor • Wireless • Hard-drive • Network support • High-end graphics

25. Console wars (2005+) Nintendo Wii (2006)

26. Console wars (2005+) • Play station 3 (2006)

27. Console wars (2005+)

28. Games (2010+) • Multi-touch • Brain computer interface

29. Games (2010+) • 3DTV

30. Games (2010+) • 3DTV

31. Game Genres • Numerous types of video games • Each can be broadly classified as belonging to a particular genre • Appearance of games in the same genre can look different but will share similar characteristics • Have common design problems • Share similar gameplay/mechanics

32. Genres: Adventure Games • Typically story-based • High level of puzzle solving to complete game • First, second or third person perspective • Typically vast complex world, interesting plot lines and diverse characters • No temporal constraints (not real time) • Game waits for player action Tomb Raider Myst 1993

33. Genres: Action Games • Typically real-time games with short reaction times • First-person shooter (FPS) e.g. Doom, Call of Duty and Unreal Tournament • Shooting games e.g. Space Invaders • Computer generated or human players opponents • Fast pace with less focus on puzzle solving

34. Genres: Role-Playing Games • Role-playing games typically involve heroes and quests • Based in large complex worlds with dynamic storyline • High level of player management of characters • Characters evolve and gain skills • High level of combat included to gain skills/magic or money • Diverse range of characters Final Fantasy World of Warcraft

35. Genres: Strategy Games • Resource management to fulfill objectives • Trade off related to materials, buildings • Turn based or real-time • Can be either turn-based or real-time • Human or AI opponents Rome: Total War Command and conquer

36. Genres: Simulations • Simulations (serious) emulate real world • Accuracy is important • Requires effort to learn elements of games • Typically simulate complex machinery e.g. Aircraft • Simulations (trivial) simplified to facilate easy game play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

37. Genres: Sports Games • Players typically participate in sporting events • Manager or coaching roles • Scenario involved single match or entire season • High level of accuracy needed to reproduce the rules and strategies of the game Madden NFL 2007

38. Genres: Fighting Games • Control figures on screen • Use combo’s to attack opponents/defend • Basic attacks and complex combinations to master • Short periods of action • Side view (multiple cameras) Virtual Fighter 5

39. Genres: Casual Games • Easy-to-play, short length games • Little or no learning curve • Hearts/solitaire • Adapted from TV • Players familiar with format so must be followed • Players generally want to drop into and out of these games quickly.

40. Genres: God Games • Games with general objective • Players encouraged to experiment • No correct way to play • Typically open ended Black & White 2

41. Genres: Puzzle Games • Intellectual challenge • Solution is real objective • Real-time or not Tetris

42. Genres: Educational Games • Used to teach while entertaining (edutainment) • Generally aimed at a younger audience • Content must be appropriate Disney Learning Adventure

43. Genres: Serious Games Apply of game technologies/skills for non- entertainment applications e.g. • Business/medical/educational/military applications Business game Pixelearning

44. Cross Genres • Hybrids: Survival horror in space

45. Genres: Multiplayer /Online • Covers any of genres discussed but includes multiplayer network play • Hundreds/thousands of players • May evolve into online communities • Just starting off World of Warcraft

46. Massively Multiplayer /Online

47. Multimedia Games Development COM429 Week 8 Evolution and Genres