digm 465: overview of gaming prof. paul diefenbach ta: patrick kemp gam´ing pronunciation:...
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DIGM 465:DIGM 465:
Overview of GamingOverview of GamingProf. Paul DiefenbachProf. Paul Diefenbach
TA: Patrick KempTA: Patrick Kempgam´ing Pronunciation: gām´ĭng
Noun - the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning
Is winning important?
Gaming – entertainment containing “gameplay”.
Gameplay - One or more causally linked series of challenges in a simulated environment.
IntroductionIntroduction
Design of digital games and interactive media from concept to production.
Gaming: Art vs. Technology– Entertainment + technology component– Interactive media requires engineering
Syllabus Review Questionaire Gaming Overview
A Brief History of GamingA Brief History of Gaming Tic-Tac-Toe ’52 – first CRTTic-Tac-Toe ’52 – first CRT Tennis-for-two ’58 – pong on o-scopeTennis-for-two ’58 – pong on o-scope Space War ’61 – 1Space War ’61 – 1stst widely dist. widely dist. Atari’s Pong ’72 – 1Atari’s Pong ’72 – 1stst popular arcade popular arcade Wump , Adventure ’72 – 1Wump , Adventure ’72 – 1stst text adventures text adventures Death Race ’76 – 1Death Race ’76 – 1stst controversial controversial Atari 2600 ’77 – 1Atari 2600 ’77 – 1stst cartridge console cartridge console Zork ’77 – 1Zork ’77 – 1stst commercially successful text adventure commercially successful text adventure Space Wars ’78 – 1Space Wars ’78 – 1stst vector arcade vector arcade Space Invaders ‘78 – 1Space Invaders ‘78 – 1stst high score high score MUD ’79 – 1MUD ’79 – 1stst multi-user adventure multi-user adventure Pac-Man ’80 – most popular arcadePac-Man ’80 – most popular arcade
William A. HiginbothamWilliam A. Higinbotham
Father of Video Games?Father of Video Games? Brookhaven National
Labs – 1958
William A. HiginbothamWilliam A. Higinbotham
Tennis for TwoTennis for Two 3 weeks to build Debuts Oct. 1958
Tech Model Railroad ClubTech Model Railroad Club
SciFi SciFi Nerd Inventors? Nerd Inventors? MIT club -1961 Discussing E.E. "Doc" Smith’s
“Lensman” Demo for new DEC PDP-1 ($120k)
Tech Model Railroad ClubTech Model Railroad Club
Spacewar!Spacewar! Led by Steve Russel 1962 OpenHouse debut Demo for new DEC PDP-1 Copies spread over ARPAnet
Ralph BaerRalph Baer Console Industry VisionaryConsole Industry Visionary
1951 - Loral TV engineer– “Build best tv set in world”– Why not include interactive games?
1966 – Sanders Associates 1968 – first patent No takers till 1971
Ralph BaerRalph Baer Magnavox OdysseyMagnavox Odyssey
Introduced 1972: $100 B&W, no sound
– two sizes of color mylar overlays– six plug-in game cards, a pack of
playing cards, poker chips, play money, a scorecard (as the machine itself can not calculate or display any scores) and a pair of dice
100,000 copies, $100M licensing fees
Nolan BushnellNolan Bushnell Video Arcade VisionaryVideo Arcade Visionary
1962 University of Utah student– Spacewar! exposure
1965 Salt Lake City carnival
1970 invents “Computer Space”– W/Ted Dabney
Bought by Arcade-game manufacturer Nutting Associates – makes 1500
1972 - Leaves over money dispute and w/Dabney starts a new company…….
AtariAtari Pong is Born!Pong is Born!
Term from Japanese game “Go” 1972 - Al Alcorn hired
– Given simple tennis game assignment as learning exercise
Bally passes on game– Atari markets game itself– test-marketed in “Andy Capps” bar for 2 weeks
1976 Sold to Warner - $28M 1977 Introduces Atari Video
Computer System (2600)for $250
Vector vs. RasterVector vs. Raster Spacewar! revisitedSpacewar! revisited
Cinematronics - 1977– “Space Wars”
Vector graphics – method of drawing
sharp geometric shapes with straight lines
– Earliest form ofpolygon graphics
Golden AgeGolden Age 1978 - Space Invaders
– High score triggers coin shortages– Spurs home console market
1980 - Pac Man– 600k various arcade versions
Battlezone – first 3D game Donkey Kong – “Mario” branding 1982- arcade videogame industry makes
3x $ of the movie biz– double number of videogame arcades
than there were in 1980.
1982 – consoles $1B 1983 – consoles $3.2B
CrashCrash Console crash – 1983-84
– Atari 2600 Pac-Man, ET– Too many products, too many
companies– Failed company games discounted– Commodore 64 – 22M sold– Surviving companies can’t compete
leading to high inventories.– Atari loses $356M in 1983
Arcade gaming down some 40%– estimated that up to 1/2 arcades close
this year.– Saved by laserdisk? “Dragon’s Lair”
by Don Bluth
A Brief History of GamingA Brief History of Gaming Nintendo ’85 – revived industryNintendo ’85 – revived industry Game Boy ‘89 – 1Game Boy ‘89 – 1stst popular handheld popular handheld Doom ’93, DKC ’94 – 1Doom ’93, DKC ’94 – 1stst popular 3D FPS popular 3D FPS Playstation, Nintento 64, Sega – battle of formatPlaystation, Nintento 64, Sega – battle of format EverQuest, Lineage – successful MMORPG EverQuest, Lineage – successful MMORPG PlayStation 2 ‘00– 1PlayStation 2 ‘00– 1stst DVD, dynamic 3D DVD, dynamic 3D Nokia N-Gage ‘03 – 1Nokia N-Gage ‘03 – 1stst multi-function handheld multi-function handheld 2006: Xbox 360, Playstation III, Nintendo Revolution2006: Xbox 360, Playstation III, Nintendo Revolution 2006: Fight Night Round 3 – today’s State of the Art2006: Fight Night Round 3 – today’s State of the Art
Traditional GamingTraditional Gaming
Display– TV, monitor
Controller– Joystick, gamepad, wheel, etc.
Console– PC, PS2, Gameboy, etc.
Graphics– Vector, sprites, 3D
Logic– Rules, storyline, levels
CategoriesCategories
Console PC Arcade Online Handheld Location-Based Entertainment Gambling Non-Entertainment
Non-entertainmentNon-entertainment
Education Business – teaching fiscal, economic
and trading skills. Military uses simulation-based games Health/medical sector
– doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster .
Marketing:– GM & wild tangent in Computer Graphics
magazine.
Game CategoriesGame Categories
Action– FPS– 3rd person– Fighting– Hybrid Action/Adventure
Adventure– Graphics Adventures– Fantasy Role-Playing (FRP,RPG, MMORPG)
Simulation– Vehicle– Construction/Management
Sports Strategy Other: Puzzles & Casual, Educational, etc.
Game IndustryGame Industry
Customer
Retailer
Distributor
Publisher
Developer
Subcontractor
CustomerCustomer
Pays $20-70 for 20-40hrs entertainment ($1-$2/hr)
Under 18: 34% PC, 45% console – 90% adult purchased
Average 2004: 28 y.o., (27 female) Now 30 y.o., (28 female) 43% female Casual vs. Hardcore
RetailerRetailer
Wholesale ~50% MSRP – actual price 10-50% above wholesale
Mail Order General Merchandise Software Other: online, bundling, etc.
DistributorDistributor
Distributors are Middlemen
Warehouse Sales Staff Fulfillment
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1997 2000 2003
shipped
PublisherPublisher
Software Owners
Funds Development Advertises Name branding Financial control Contracts developers
– In house, external 0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1997 2000 2003
$ Sales
DevelopersDevelopers
Creative team that creates game
Most companies < 200 people Lives contract to contract 10-50 people per title Receives advance and royalty Programmers, writers, artists, modelers,
animators, musicians, sound engineers, researchers, etc.
Business and Design IssuesBusiness and Design Issues Technical
– Non-intrusive user interfaces– Information overload – Standards– Resources: location dependent DB
Public acceptance– Privacy concerns/legal– Social behavior
Business Model– Oligopoly vs. open source– Minimize costs : Repositories– Non-gaming games
Idea to GoldIdea to Gold1. Idea2. Pre-production
Small staff overseen by Publisher-assigned producer Fleshed out Design Doc. & Demo Project Planning
3. Production Fully Staffed
4. Testing Alpha, Beta Configuration QA Content ratings, Licensing, etc.
5. Manufacturing – “going gold”
Idea to GoldIdea to Gold