Computer and video games

This article is about computer and video games. For the magazine see Computer and Video Games (magazine).

A computer game is a computer-controlled game. A video game is a computer game where a video display such as a monitor or television is the primary feedback device. The term "computer game" also includes games which display only text (and which can therefore theoretically be played on a teletypewriter) or which use other methods, such as sound or vibration, as their primary feedback device, but there are very few new games in these categories. There always must also be some sort of input device, usually in the form of button/joystick combinations (on arcade games), a keyboard & mouse/trackball combination (computer games), or a controller (console games), or a combination of any of the above. Also, more esoteric devices have been used for input (see also Game controller). Usually there are rules and goals, but in more open-ended games the player may be free to do whatever they like within the confines of the virtual universe.

The phrase interactive entertainment is the formal reference to computer and video games. To avoid ambiguity, this game software is referred to as "computer and video games" throughout this article, which explores properties common to both types of game.

In common usage, a "computer game" or a "PC game" refers to a game that is played on a personal computer. "Console game" refers to one that is played on a device specifically designed for the use of such, while interfacing with a standard television set. "Video game" (or "videogame") has evolved into a catchall phrase that encompasses the aforementioned along with any game made for any other device, including, but not limited to, mobile phones, PDAs, advanced calculators, etc.

For specific information regarding "computer games", see personal computer game.
For specific information regarding "console games", see console game.

History

Beginnings

The first primitive computer and video games were developed in the 1950s and 60's by Jon Snell and ran on platforms such as oscilloscopes, university mainframes and EDSAC computers. The earliest computer game, a missile simulation, was created in 1947 by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. A patent application was filed on January 25th, 1947 and U.S. Patent #2,455,992 issued on Dec 14th, 1948. Later in 1952, was a version of tic-tac-toe named Noughts and Crosses, created by A. S. Douglas, as part of his doctoral dissertation at Cambridge University. The game ran on a large university computer called the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC). In 1958, William Higinbotham - who previously helped build the first atomic bomb - created Tennis for Two at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York to entertain visitors at the lab's annual open house. In 1962 MIT's Steve Russell created Spacewar! and John's Great Adventure. The game ran on a PDP-1 mini-computer. The game spread quickly to universities and research facilities around the country. In 1968 Ralph Baer, who would later be known as the "Father of Video Games", applied for a patent for an early version of a video game console named the "Television Gaming and Training Apparatus." In 1967, Baer created a ping-pong like game for the console that resembled Tennis for Two (and the future 1972 arcade game Pong). He worked with Magnavox to create and release the first console, named the Magnavox Odyssey, in 1972.

The Golden Age of Arcade Games

Arcade games were developed in the 1970s and led to the so-called "Golden Age of Arcade Games". The first coin-operated arcade game was Computer Space, created in 1971 by Nolan Bushnell. In these pre-arcade days, the game was placed in bars and taverns. The game required players to read a set of instructions before playing, and never became a hit in the bar scene. In the spring of 1972, Bushnell attended a demonstration of the Magnavox Odyssey system in Burlingame, California, and played Baer's ping-pong game for the first time. Soon afterwards Bushnell and a friend formed a new company, Atari (the friend was the same one who came up with the idea for the Chuck E. Cheese restaurants). Nolan envisioned creating a driving game for arcades. He hired an electronic engineer named Al Alcorn and directed him to build a ping-pong game. The game Alcorn created was so much fun that Nolan decided to go ahead and market it. Since the name Ping-Pong was already trademarked, they settled on simply calling it PONG. The intuitive interface led the game to be wildly successful in the bar scene and ushered in the era of arcades.

Consoles and beyond

The 1970s saw the release of the first home video game consoles. The patent for Ralph Baer's Magnavox Odyssey was granted in 1972, and paved the way for the next wave of home consoles. The late 1970s to early 1980s brought about the improvement of home consoles and the release of the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision. They enjoyed a successful number of years on the market, especially the Atari 2600. However that soon came to an end.

The video game crash of 1983, which was brought forth due to the oversaturation of the video game market by 3rd party support of these systems, specifically the Atari systems, produced a dark age in the market. Another factor that led to the demise of the home gaming market was the fact that many of these games that were being produced were just ill produced games with no play value whatsoever, all in order to take advantage of the game craze.

Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) reached North America in 1985 single handedly brought back the home gaming market. Sega released its Master System, but it never reached the level of popularity as the NES did, at least not in America. Nintendo went on to create some of America's most well known characters, with games such as Mario Bros. and other Nintendo franchises, many of which are still popular today. One of the main factors that Nintendo regulated, to prevent another crash, was the limiting of 3rd party supporters for the NES by limiting the number of games they could produce for their system, which was 5 a year. Subsequently gaming houses such as Konami and others created subsidiary companies to go around the regulations. Nintendo also created its Seal of Approval to games to help gamers make decisions on games that met the standards of Nintendo.

The last two decades of game history have been marked by separate markets for games on video game consoles, home computers and handhelds. See the article on Console wars for additional information on that facet of game history.

In 1989, Nintendo released the Game Boy, the first popular handheld console. Included with the system was Tetris, which became a popular puzzle game. Several rival handhelds also made their debut around that time, including the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx. While some of the other systems remained in production until the mid-90s, the Game Boy remained at the top spot in sales throughout its lifespan.

The North American market was dominated by the Sega Genesis early on after its debut in 1989, with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System proving a strong, roughly equal rival in 1991. The NEC TurboGrafx 16 was the first 16-bit system to be marketed in the region, but did not achieve a large following, partly due to a limited library of English games and effective marketing from Sega. In Japan, the PC Engine's (Turbografx 16) 1987 success against the Famicom (SNES) and CD drive peripheral allowed it to fend off the Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1988, which never really caught on to the same degree as outside Japan. The PC Engine eventually lost out to the Super Famicom, but retained enough of a user base to support new games well into the late 1990s. CD-ROM drives were first seen in this generation, as add-ons for the PC Engine in 1988 and the Megadrive in 1991. Basic 3D graphics entered the mainstream with flat-shaded polygons enabled by additional processors in game cartridges like Virtua Racing and Starfox.

In 1994-1995, Sega released Sega Saturn and Sony made its debut to the video gaming scene with the PlayStation. Both consoles used 32-bit technology; the door was open for 3D games. After many delays, Nintendo released its 64-bit console, the Nintendo 64 in 1996, selling more than 1.5 million units in only three months. The flagship title, Super Mario 64, became a defining title for 3D platform games. Nintendo's choice to use cartridges instead of CD-ROMs for the Nintendo 64, unique among the consoles of this period, proved to have negative consequences. In particular, SquareSoft, which had released all previous games in its Final Fantasy series for Nintendo consoles, now turned to the PlayStation; Final Fantasy VII (1997) was a huge success, establishing the popularity of role-playing games in the west and making the PlayStation the primary console for the genre. By the end of this period, Sony had dethroned Nintendo, the PlayStation outselling the Nintendo 64. The Saturn was moderately successful in Japan but a failure in North America, leaving Sega outside of the main competition.

1998 saw the releases of the Sega Dreamcast in Japan (1999 in the US) and the Game Boy Color from Nintendo. In 2000 Sony released the widely anticipated PlayStation 2. In 2001 Microsoft entered the videogame console industry by releasing its new home console, the Xbox. Its flagship game, Combat Evolved, was available at the system's launch. Nintendo released their successor to the Nintendo 64, the GameCube, and the first all-new Game Boy since the console's inception, the Game Boy Advance. Sega realized they could no longer compete especially with Sony's new PS2, and announced they would discontinue the Dreamcast and no longer manufacture hardware, becoming a third-party developer in 2002.

Nokia entered the handheld market with its N-Gage game-phone hybrid in 2003. It was criticised for being poorly designed, and flopped. In 2004 Nokia released a re-designed N-Gage, called the N-Gage QD, which didn't fare much better. The other two more technically advanced handhelds to be released in 2004, the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable (PSP) (2005 in the US), didn't help the N-Gage. The Nintendo DS is a highly innovative handheld, the PSP is much more powerful and also includes limited media capabilities. In Western countries the consoles have had similar levels of success but in Japan the DS has been a huge hit, vastly outselling the PSP.

The end of 2005 saw the release of the Xbox 360 - the first of the seventh generation of video game consoles.

The future of gaming

Consoles

2006 will see the continuation of the next generation of console gaming in the form of two new consoles. Sony with the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii (aka 'Revolution') will join Microsoft with the already released Xbox 360 in this year's "console war". The Xbox 360 is powered by a multi-core CPU, the PlayStation 3 will be powered by Cell processor technology and will have a motion sensing controller rather than the dualshock controller, and Wii will allow the gamer to interact with the game via a wireless motion sensing controller (such as using the controller in driving game by moving it left or right, or using it as a light saber in a Star Wars game) and promises more innovations, although full technical specifications are yet to be revealed; but it has been rumored that its graphics processor is similar to an ATI X1800 or a Geforce 7800GT graphics chip, one of the most effective of its kind on the market. All the next-generation consoles are starting the transition from traditional media-based games (e.g. on a cartridge or DVD-ROM) to be able to utilize streamed content that is downloaded. This innovation is possible due to the increasing ubiquity of broadband internet access and availabilty of large storage mediums on the consoles.

Hardware

As computers get faster in the future, games will have better graphics, more realistic details, shorter load times, and fewer glitches. Games on consoles will not require installation nor licence agreement (like PC games), as the game can be played straight from the disc. Future discs will hold more memory for bigger, deeper game worlds. Wider age groups will play games, as new types of games in other fields appear that appeal to those ages. Games will be used to teach kids and adults (for job training) in school and at home making learning fun and 'hands on', a process that has already begun. Battle simulation games are expanding into driving and car repair simulation, electronics repair simulation, war training, surgery simulation, etc. Virtual Reality visors and touch suits, that create an illusion of fuller game immersion, may eventually come into common use when their tech problems are solved and their prices lowered.

Gameplay Trends

Yet another distinct form of evolution in video gaming are the trends of popular gameplay. Natural progression of and consumer demand for increased complexity has gradually forced game software companies to be more creative and expansive in their design of new games. Video games have moved not only forward in the visual dimension, but also in the very concept of restrictive goals and objectives of the game. Patterns in contemporary gameplay continue to show less distinction between "levels" or "areas" . Furthermore, the linear aspect of video games has shown a popular and somewhat constant push towards non-linear or explorative gameplay.

The acceptance of less restrictive and more wide-open gaming can be seen in the growing popularity of massively multiplayer online gaming (which, since the founding days of MUDs, has been a pioneer platform of never-ending objectives) as well as the Grand Theft Auto series, among numerous other examples. Such "sandbox" games lead to games where the main plot can be ignored completely for hundreds of hours, as in Morrowind, and MUSH-inspired non-games like Second Life.

Gameplay

In computer and video gaming, gameplay (sometimes called "Game mechanics") is a general term that describes player interaction with a game. It includes direct interaction, such as controls and interface, but also design aspects of the game, such as levels and graphics.

Although the use of this term is often disputed, as it is considered too vague for the range of concepts it describes, it is currently the most commonly used and accepted term for this purpose when describing video games.

Genres

Games, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres based on gameplay, atmosphere, and various other factors. In fact, games are often much easier to classify by genre than films, music, or books. Due to gaming's relatively short history, technical limitations, and the commercial pressures currently affecting the North American and Japanese markets, electronic games are ensconced in a period of extreme formalism. Recently, video games have begun to explode in popularity, a rise which coincides with an increase in production value, and thus, development cost. As gamers come to expect talented voice acting, enormous, meticulously-constructed worlds and Hollywood-quality sound effects, production costs rise, and owing to the tremendous investment required by publishers (who want to maximize profits), most choose to make games based upon "tried-and-true" ideas, borrowing heavily from previous games and concepts.

This is most evident in the fact that publishers' tend to establish "franchises", which often recycle the same characters, situations, conflicts, gameplay mechanics, and themes for any number of sequels. Therefore, though many games may combine genres, very few exist outside the paradigm of previously established genres, with notable exceptions.

The most common genres in use today include:

Most games nowadays are a combination of two or more genres (e.g action/RPG). There are also number of genres, which are mostly unpopular today, that were hybrid forms of other media, such as books or movies; the most familiar being interactive fiction and interactive movies.

The increase in the popularity of online gaming has also resulted in sub-genres being formed, such as massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).

Popularity

The popularity of computer and video games, as a whole, has been increasing steadily ever since the 1984-1987 drop-off caused by the video game crash of 1983, and the popularity appears to be continuing to increase. The average age of the video game player is now 30 , belying the myth that video games are largely a diversion for teenagers.

Sales

The two largest markets for computer and video games are the United States and Japan. Other significant markets include Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Germany, South Korea, Mexico, France and Italy. Both India and China are considered emerging markets in the video game industry and sales are expected to rise significantly in the coming years.

Sales of different types of games vary widely between these markets due to local preferences. Japanese consumers avoid computer games and instead buy video games, with a strong preference for games catering to Japanese tastes. In South Korea, computer games are preferred, especially MMORPG games and real-time strategy games; there are over 20,000 PC bang Internet cafes where computer games can be played for an hourly charge.

The NPD Group tracks computer and video game sales in the United States. It reported that as of 2004:

Console and portable software sales: $6.2 billion, up 8% from 2003
Console and portable hardware and accessory sales: $3.7 billion, down 35% from 2003
PC game sales: $1.1 billion, down 2% from 2003

These figures are sales in dollars, not units; unit shipments for each category were higher than the dollar sales numbers indicate, as more software and hardware was sold at reduced prices compared to 2003.

Retail PC game sales have been declining slightly each year since about 1998, but this fact should be taken with a grain of salt: the retail sales numbers from NPD do not include sales from online downloads, nor subscription revenue for games like MMORPGs.

The game and film industries are also becoming increasingly intertwined, with companies like Sony having significant stakes in both. A large number of summer blockbuster films spawn a companion game, often launching at the same time in order to share the marketing costs.

What the player gains

Perhaps the most visible values of computer and video gaming are simply its artistic and entertainment values. As a form of multimedia entertainment, modern video games contain a highly unique fusion of 3D art, CG effects, architecture, artificial intelligence, sound effects, dramatic performances, music, storytelling, and, most importantly, interactivity. This interactivity enables to the player to explore what amounts to a stylized, artistic depiction and simulation of some three-dimensional environment (something no other form of entertainment can allow) with the actions of the player operating as a single, irreducable variable. In this respect, every game scenario will play out a slightly different way every time, since the player is a constant variable. Even if the game is highly scripted, this can still feel like a large amount of freedom to the person who is playing the game. Consider, for example, a game such as Earned in Blood, where your objective is often to eliminate German squads by commanding a group of soldiers from a first-person perpective. Many aspects of the game are highly controlled-- the number of Germans and the places they originate from does not vary, nor does the strength and armament of friendly or enemy troops. The maps are meticulously designed in such a way as to provide clear paths and cover at key locations. And still, the overall strategy, the tactics, and the execution will vary every time. Within the rather broad boundaries of the game, the player is able to exercise far more freedom and control than in traditional forms of entertainment or art.

A related property is that of emergent behavior. While many games including card games and sports rely on emergent principals, games are able to create simulated story worlds where emergent behavior occurs within the context of this world. This also is very appealing to players. In discussing the issue, game designer Warren Spector has used the term "emergent narrative" to describe how, in a simulated environment, storyline can be created simply by "what happens to the player." ^*

In Steven Johnson's book, "Everything Bad Is Good For You," he argues that video games in fact demand far more from a player than traditional games like Monopoly. In order to experience the game, the player must first determine the objectives, as well as how to complete them. They must then learn the game controls and how the human-machine interface works, including menus and HUDs. Beyond such skills, which after some time become quite fundamental and are taken for granted by many gamers, video games are based upon the player navigating (and eventually mastering) a highly complex system with many variables. This requires a strong analytical ability, as well as flexibility and adaptability. To emphasize the point, Johnson notes that that the strategy guide for Grand Theft Auto III is 53,000 words long. He argues that the process of learning the boundaries, goals, and controls of a given game is often a highly demanding one that calls on many different areas of cognitive function. Indeed, most games require a great deal of patience and focus from the player, and, contrary to the popular perception that games provide instant gratification, games actually delay gratification far longer than other forms of entertainment such as film or even many books. ^* Some research suggests videogames may even increase player's attention capacities.

Multiplayer games, which take advantage of the fact that computer games can use the internet, provide players with the opportunity to compete with other players from across the globe, something that is also unique to electronic gaming. MMORPG's take the concept much further with the establishment of vast, online communities existing in persistent, virtual worlds. Millions of players around the globe are attracted to video gaming simply because it offers such unprecedented ability to interact with large numbers of people engaged simultaneously in a structured environment where they are all involved in the same activity (playing the game).

Even simple games offer potential benefits to the player. Games like Tetris and Pac-man are well-designed games that are easy to pick up but difficult to master, in ways not unlike chess or even poker. Despite their simplicity, simple games may also feature online capabilities or powerful AI. Depending on the game, players can develop and test their techniques against an advanced computer player or online against other human players.

More obvious benefits to the player can come in the form education on the game's subject matter. For example, an RTS set during the Civil War may feature the use of period armies engaging in historical battles, and outwitting an opponent such as Robert E. Lee.

Controversy

Like related forms of media, computer and video games have been the subject of frequent controversy and censorship, due to the depiction of graphic violence, sexual themes, advertising, consumption of illegal drugs, consumption of alcohol or tobacco, propaganda, or profanity in some games. Among others, critics of video games sometimes include parents' groups, politicians, organized religion groups, and other special interest groups, even though all these can be found in all forms of entertainment and media. Various games have been accused of causing addiction to such and even violent behavior.

Video game censorship is defined as the use of state or group power to control the playing, distribution, purchase, or sale of video games or computer games. Video game controversy comes in many forms, and censorship is a controversial subject, as well as a popular topic of debate. Proponents and opponents of censorship are often very passionate about their individual views.

Historically, this type of controversy and criticism is not unique to video games. The same situation has been applied to Comic books, music, and motion pictures. Moreover, it appears to be a question of age. Since these art forms have been around longer, the backlash against them occurred farther in the past, beyond the remembrance of today's youth. In both cases, the attempts at censorship in the United States were struck down as a violation of First Amendment rights, and they have gone on to become fully integrated facets of society.

Games that have sparked notable national controversy in the United States include Mortal Kombat, Night Trap, Doom, the Grand Theft Auto series and, most notably, San Andreas' infamous Hot Coffee mod fiasco which boosted the game's M (Mature) rating to an AO (Adults Only) See also ESRB.

Development

Video games are made by developers, who used to do this as individuals or small teams in the 80's. Now, development commonly requires a large team consisting of designers, graphic designers and other artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, and other technicians; all of which are managed by producers. The visionary for any game may come from any of the roles outlined. Development by committee rarely works.

With the start of the 21st century we can see a major boom in the numbers of game developing teams and studios. This business, although tough and risky, proves to be a goldmine for the determined groups. Previous industry giants like EA Games, Valve, and Rockstar are slowly being displaced by newer studios with smaller budgets yet more determined and younger members who have developed a passion for video gaming throughout their whole lives. Most of these studios are modding existing engines and games until they get enough media attention and sponsors to start a new project from scratch. Prime examples of such teams are Dimension Studios and Turtle Rock Studios. Both of these provide content for already existing games and are making a fortune out of it. An older team, Gearbox Software, started out in a similar fashion by modding the original Half-Life engine; now it is one of the major video game developers.

Video games are developing fast in all areas, but the problem is of cost, and how developers intend to keep the costs low enough to attract publisher investment. Most video game console development teams number anywhere from 20 to 50 people, with some teams exceeding 100. The average team size as well as the average development time of a game have grown along with the size of the industry and the technology involved in creating games. This has led to regular occurrences of missed deadlines and unfinished products; Duke Nukem Forever is the quintessential example of these problems. See also: video game industry practices.

Game modifications

Games running on a PC are often designed with end-user modifications in mind, and this consequently allows modern computer games to be modified by gamers without much difficulty. These mods can add an extra dimension of replayability and interest. The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute mods, and they have become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games. Developers such as id, Valve, and Epic ship their games with the very development tools used to make the game in the first place, along with documentation to assist mod developers, which allows for the kind of success seen by popular mods such as Counter-Strike.

Popular mods are very occasionally bought by the developers of the game. This was the case with Valve's Half-Life. Valve bought a number of popular mods including Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat. After the release of Half-Life 2 Valve developed these mods for the sequel and sold them through their Internet digital distribution software, Steam.

Recently, computer games have also been used as a digital art . See artistic computer game modification and Machinima medium. One of the most well known games that have awakened people to the digital art is the game Half-Life 2.

Naming

Non-gamers use several umbrella terms for console, PC, arcade, handheld, and similar games since they do not agree on the best name. For many, either "computer game" or "video game" describes these games as a whole. Other commonly used terms include "entertainment software," "interactive entertainment media," "electronic interactive entertainment," "electronic game," "software game," and "videogame" (as one word). Gamers are quite happy to use the vague term "games", or "videogame/video game" to distinguish them from board games and card games when necessary. In the past, it was common for parents and/or elderly people, who were unfamiliar with video games, to refer to all of them as "Nintendo games" due to Nintendo's overwhelming popularity in the late 80's and 90's (this is comparable to the public referring to all brands of facial tissue as Kleenex). Computer and video games are a subset of interactive media, which includes virtual reality, flight and engineering simulation, multimedia and the World Wide Web.

References

What Economists Can Learn From Online Video Games - Yale Economic Review

Articles to be expanded | Computer and video games

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