Multimedia Games Development

COM429

Week 6 Evolution and Genres

Lecture overview

Game beginnings Rise of home consoles Rise of arcades Home computers Handhelds Next generation consoles Games genres

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)

Early video games

Generally agreed that W.Higginbotham invented the first video game

Oscilloscope based tennis game

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

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

Early video games: Atari

Nolan Bushnell formed Atari in 1972First commercial success was Pong

Rise of home consoles

Home Pong (Atari) 1975 Telstar (1976) Fairchild Channel F (1976) used

programmable cartridges

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

Rise of the home computerHome 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

Consoles:Nintendo/Sega Famicom, Nintendo (1984) Launched as Nintendo Entertainment System

(NES) in USA (1985) Sega Master System, Sega (1986)

Console market was reborn

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

Rise of the arcades II

Street Fighter, Capcom (1987) Street Fighter II, Capcom (1991) Mortal Kombat, Midway (1992)

Rise of the arcades IIl Fighting games revived arcades but they never

fully recovered Arcades focussed on high end games with

specialised hardware

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)

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

Console wars (1990’s) Sega Saturn (1994) Sony Play station (1994) Nintendo 64 (1996)

Market supported all versions

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)

Console wars (2005+)

Microsoft 360 (2005)

3 core processor Wireless Hard-drive Network support High-end graphics

Console wars (2005+)Nintendo Wii (2006)

Console wars (2005+) Play station 3 (2006)

Console wars (2005+)

Games (2010+)

Multi-touch

Brain computer interface

Games (2013+)

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

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

Myst 1993Tomb Raider

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

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

World of WarcraftFinal Fantasy

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

Command and conquerRome: Total War

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

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

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

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.

Genres: God Games Games with general objective Players encouraged to experiment No correct way to play Typically open ended

Black & White 2

Genres: Puzzle Games Intellectual challenge Solution is real objective Real-time or not

Tetris

Genres: Educational Games Used to teach while entertaining

(edutainment) Generally aimed at a younger audience Content must be appropriate

Disney Learning Adventure

Genres: Serious GamesApply of game technologies/skills for non-

entertainment applications e.g.

Business/medical/educational/military applications

Business game Pixelearning

Cross Genres Hybrids: Survival horror in space

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

Massively Multiplayer /Online

Multimedia Games Development

COM429

Week 6 Evolution and Genres