Video Games

History• The first game created was in 1958 by Physicist

Willy Higinbotham. History• The first game console created, called “The

Brown Box”, was created in 1968. It only played one game with multiple game modes Brown Box

• In 1977 Atari released the Atari 2600 which was the most successful system of it’s time EBay

• This release marked the start of the “2nd Generation of Video Games” the “1st” being given to all previous systems

Market Crash• From 1977 – 1983 market became inflated with

many consoles that supported no games• The company's that made consoles had no

control over who made games for their system so that had to increase the price of their console to make money.

• Most games created aimed more for quantity rather than quality of the game itself. This discouraged anyone from buying into the market

Recovery• The market seemed to have dried up in

America and it appeared the movement had died.

• However, to investors surprise, in 1985 Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and is was a hit.

• The inclusion of a special chip in the game cartridge allowed only Nintendo to develop games for their system.

• This marked the start of the “3rd Generation”

3rd generation• Lasted from 1983 - 1988• Aka. 8 – bit era• Featured 8 – bit consoles • The consoles could display up to 32 colors at

once from a palette of 256.• Screens could smoothly scroll where as

previous systems worked in a screen by screen manner.

• Mono audio• They began use of a D-pad

3rd generation• Major consoles / their creators:– NES / Nintendo– Sega Master System / Sega– Atari 7800 / Atari

* In order of list

4th generation• Lasted from 1988 – 1993• Aka. 16 – bit era• Featured 16 – bit consoles• 64 to 4096 colors on screen from palettes of

65,536 colors• Cartridge based systems • Stereo audio• Multi-button controller

4th generation• Major consoles / their creators:– TurboGrafx-16 / Hudson Soft – Mega Drive/Genesis / Sega– Super Nintendo EntertainmentSystem (SNES) / Nintendo– Neo Geo AES / SNK

* In order of list

• Lasted from 1993 – 1999• Aka. 32-bit era, the 64-bit era or the 3D era• Some systems used CD – ROM format, which

allowed for larger storage space and full motion video. Nintendo refused to switch this generation

• Up to 16,777,216 colors Display images up to 480i and 576i

• CD quality audio recordings (music and speech)• 3D polygon graphics • Thumbsticks began to be used on controllers

5th generation

• Major consoles / their creators:– 3DO Interactive Multiplayer / 3DO– Atari Jaguar / Atari– Sega Saturn / Sega– PlayStation / Sony– Nintendo 64 / Nintendo

5th generation

* In order of list

• 1999-2005• Aka. 128 – bit era• DVD player• Improvements to resolution• Online gaming

6th generation

6th generation• Major consoles / their creators:– Dreamcast / Sega– PlayStation 2 / Sony– GameCube / Nintendo– Xbox / Microsoft

* In order of list

• 2005 – 2012• Blu-ray Player• High definition rendered resolutions• Motion sensors

7th generation

7th generation• Major consoles / their creators:– Xbox 360 / Microsoft– PlayStation 3 / Sony– Wii / Nintendo

* In order of list

• 2012 – Present• Touch pad• Social Media integration • Improved motion tracking• Impulse triggers (Buttons that will vibrate on

command)

8th generation

8th generation• Major consoles / their creators:– Wii U / Nintendo– PlayStation 4 / Sony– Xbox One / Microsoft

* In order of list

Game Genres• Video game genres are classified independent

of their setting or game-world content, unlike other works of fiction such as films or books.

• For example, a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or in outer space.

Action• The action genre includes any game where the

majority of challenges are physical tests of skill.

• These games require high reaction speed and good hand–eye coordination.

Action• Beat 'em up and hack and slash: emphasis on

one-on-many (computer enemy's) close quarters combat

• Traditional Fighting game: emphasis on one-on-one close quarters combat

• Platform game: emphasis on traveling by climbing or jumping around environment

• Shooter: combat involving weapons, such as guns and missiles.

Adventure• Adventure games are not defined by the story

or content but instead by a manner of gameplay with less reflex challenges or action such as puzzle games.

• Text adventures: enter commands via keyboard to interact with game– Modern examples of this replace the text with

graphics and usually involve a mouse for clicking instead of typing. Ex: Point-and-click, Visual Novel, or interactive movie.

Action - Adventure• A blend of the two genres. This blend occurs

often enough to have been dubbed with its own classification.

• These games require many of the same physical skills as action games, but also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialogue, and other features of adventure games

Action - Adventure• Stealth games: emphasize on subterfuge and

precision strikes rather than the mayhem of shooters

• Survival Horror: focus's on fear and attempt to scare the player via traditional horror fiction elements such as atmospherics, death, the undead, blood and gore.

Role-playing• Role-playing video games (RPGs) use much of

the same terminology, settings and game mechanics as early pen-and-paper role-playing games.

• A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities, and characters are typically designed by the player

• Role-playing video games also typically attempt to offer more complex and dynamic character interaction

Role-playing• Role-playing Choices: give the player several

choices in how their story will develop• Sandbox RPGs: give players high about of

freedom and usually allow for exploring a open world (large world with very little boundries)

• MMORPGs: Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs

Simulation• A simulation video game describes a diverse

super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate aspects of a real or fictional reality.

Simulation• Sports: simulates the playing of traditional

sports• Life simulation: simulates management of a

day to day life• Construction and management simulation:

players build, expand or manage fictional communities

• Vehicle: simulates the usage of vehicles• Medical: simulates medical procedures

Strategy• Focus on gameplay requiring careful and

skillful thinking and planning in order to achieve victory

• The action scales from world domination to squad-based tactics

Strategy• Turn-based: works on a turn by turn basis,

only so many moves can be preformed per turn

• Real-time: employs quick thinking along with reaction time

• MMORTS: Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy

Sports• Sports are games that play competitively one

team, containing or controlled by you, and another team that opposes you. This opposing team(s) can be controlled by other real life people or artificial intelligence.

• Racing: One competes against time or opponent using some means of transportation

• Sports game: emulate the playing of traditional physical sports.

Other info• It is estimated the net worth of the video

game market is $86.9 Billion• PlayStation 2 is the best selling system of all

time with more than 155 million units sold• Tetris is the best selling game ever selling

more than 143 million copies