Video Games in Our Life!

PAPATHANASSIS DIMITRIS

PANTAZIS PAVLOS

TRAKAS ILIAS

PANTAZIS LAMBROS

Supervisor: Yannis Kotsanis

May 2013 The E

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Contents

Project Goals

Definitions

Game Categories

Game History

Game Research

Conclusions

Define terms about gaming (e.g. video-game, gamer,

console, types of gamers, categories of games etc.)

Study the history of video games and construction of

a history timeline

Investigate interests and attitudes of our classmates

about video gaming

Conclude the impact of video games in students life

Project Goals

Definitions gaming “Gaming is the running of specialized applications known as electronic games,

especially on machines...”

WhatIs.com video game “any of various games that can be played by using an electronic control to move

points of light or graphical symbols on the screen of a visual display unit”

The Collins English Dictionary gamer “a person who plays computer games or participates in a role-playing game”

The Collins English Dictionary console (game) “an electronic device used in playing computer games on the screen of a television to

which it is connected”

The Collins English Dictionary online game “a video game played over some form of computer network, using a personal

computer, video game console or handheld game console”

Wikipedia campaign game “a campaign is a continuing storyline or set of adventures, typically involving the same

characters”

Wikipedia

Types of Gamers

Gamer Type Time Types of games Consoles Age Characteristics

Casual limited easy various 10-20 for fun

Hardcore significant time spent competitive games pc 20+ competitive,leagues

Midcore

limited(not as high as a

hardcore creative,complex ,diverse nitendo, Wii U 10-20 fun,competitive

Pro

huge amounts of time

spent competitive games pc 20+

sponcored by major

companies,earn money

Newbie limited or huge online games xbox,ps3,wii u 10-20 novice

Game Categories

Action (e.g. Halo)

Simulation (e.g. The Sims)

Driving (e.g. Test Drive)

Board/Puzzle/Card (e.g. Tetris, Monopoly)

Role Playing (e.g. WoW: World of Warcraft, LoL: League of Legends)

Adventure (e.g. Myst)

Strategy (e.g. Civilization)

Sports (e.g. FIFA)

First Person Shooter Games (e.g. CoD: Call of Duty)

Music/Dance (e.g. Guitar Hero)

Source of Categories: CLASHE Project

Game History

Source: ICHEG

Tic-Tac-Toe

The pencil-and-paper game,

Tic-tac-toe (OXO) is one of the

first known video games. It is

the most famous and historical

video game and, during its 1st

release, the only digital device

you could play it, was the

EDSAC computer in Cambridge

University.

by Sandy Douglas, British professor

Tennis for Two

Another historical game “Tennis

for two”, a two-player

electronic tennis game, “had

separate controllers connected

to an analog computer and an

oscilloscope screen” and only

if you visited the Laboratory

you could play this game.

by Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Upton, New York

Space Wars

In 1961, a group of MIT

students, start programming

ancestor of arcade games

“Space wars”. The game,

where 2 players try to destroy

the opposite spaceship, could

run only in one computer of the

MIT University called “PDP-1”.

by Steven Russell

Computer Space

Nine years later, in 1971,

“Computer Space" was

released, a one player game,

where a player controls a

“rocket ship”. “Computer

space” was the first coin-

arcade-style game ever and

was placed in taverns, bars

etc, but it never become

famous.

by Nolan Bushnell & Ted Dabney

Odyssey

The home commercial console

was “Odyssey” made by Ralph

Baer in 1972. In this console

you could play only 12 games

but the most known game was

“Ping pong”. After the creation

of his console, Baer became

famous as “the father of video

games”.

by Ralph Baer, German Engineer

Pac Man

The most popular game ever

“Pac-Man” was developed by

one of the most famous

Japanese companies. The

initial name was “Puck-Man”

but the name was changed,

because the Japanese feared

that the Americans would alter

the name of the game into

something more offensive…

by NAMCO Company

Tetris

In 1985 a Russian

mathematician called Alexey

Pajitnov developed a great

game named “Tetris” which is

a simple puzzle game. The

name is derived from the

greek prefix “tetra”. It’s a very

popular game, even today,

with million copies sold.

by Alexey Pajitnov, Russian mathematician

Mortal Kombat

In 1992 the first “Mortal

Kombat” was released. In this

game you fight with one of the

game characters and to win

the game you must kill him.

Also “Mortal Kombat” is

famous from quotes, such as

“finish him” and “fatality”.

by Midway Games Company

Grand Theft Auto 4

Grand Theft Auto 4 was

developed by Rockstar on 29

April 2008. During the first

day of its realise, more than

3.5 million units were sold, and

in 4 first months, the company

shipped over 10 million copies.

The story follows a criminal

named Nico Bellik in his trip to

America, where Nico becomes

a gangster and comes across

various adventures.

by Rockstar Company

Our Internet Poster!

http://game4.edu.glogster.com/game-history

Research issues

140 of our classmates of 2nd and 3rd grade of Junior

High School participated in this research.

An initial pilot test was conducted with 25 students

before the final version.

Questionnaire included 18 questions (most of them

were of “Yes/No” type)

We decided to deliver it printed (and not electronic),

so as, at the same time, be present during its

completion and secure its direct conduct.

Questions 1-3

90: 64%

50: 36% Yes

No

Do you play video games?

9: 18%

41: 82%

Yes

No

If not would you like to start?

32: 36%

58: 64%

Started byyourself

You wereinspired by asibling of yours

How did you start to play games?

0 10 20 30 40

less than 1

1-2 hours

2-3 hours

3-4 hors

more than 4 hours

How many hours do you play

Questions 4-6

31: 32%

65: 68%

Online

Campaign

Do you prefer online or campaign?

125: 89% 15: 11%

Ye…

Do you find them interesting?

Questions 7-8

125: 89%

15: 11%

Yes

no

Do your friends play games?

81: 58%

59: 42% Yes

No

Do you discuss with your friends about games?

Questions 9-11

26: 29%

64: 71%

yes

no

Have you made new friends from games?

11: 42% 15: 58% yes

No

If you have have you met them;

34: 53% 30: 47%

Is it because you don’t meet strangers

it didn'thappen

If not…

Questions 12-13

0 10 20 30

iPhone

iPad

Xbox

Wii

Ds

playstation

If you bought a console which would you buy?

0 20 40 60 80

Pc

Wii

Xbox

iPhone

Ds

playstation

iPad

Which consoles do you prefer?

Questions 14-16

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

sims

subway surfers

wrc

pvz

parking mania

fruit ninja

pacman

mario bros

2k

minecraft

saints row

uncharted

fifa

assasign's creed

god of war

Gta

pro

Wow

lol

cod

FAVORITE GAMES?

0 20 40 60 80

saints row

read dead

2k

pro

god of war

wow

gta

assasign's…

fifa

lol

cod

Which games have u have finished?

0 20 40 60 80

2k

minecraft

fifa

gta

assasign's…

pro

wow

lol

cod

Which games you think are popular?

Questions 17-18

76: 54% 64: 46%

yes

no

Do you believe that games give you skills?

32: 23%

108: 77% yes

no

Do you believe games make you violent?

Digital Games Usage

Source: CLASHE Project Demographic Data: 189 junior high school students:50,3% Female and 49,7% Male participants

Results of our research

The percentage of children playing games (64%) is not

particularly high!

Most children prefer playing alone (68%) and not in

cooperation with others on the internet (32%)

Over 2 hours per day spend only 30% of children

The most popular games, for boys are “War” games (CoD) &

”Fantasy” games (LoL/WoW), while for girls are

downloadable applet games (e.g. Fruit Ninja, Subway).

Most children believe that by playing games they improve

their skills (54%) and they do not become more violent (77%)

The conclusions of our research do not contradict with other

professional researches (e.g. research of CLASHE project)

Conclusions

Video games are particularly popular both between our classmates as

well as to the whole world. Despite the fact that not all children play video

games (25-35%), it seems that boys are more attracted to them.

The evolution of video games is rapid in terms of devices and software.

30 years after the launch of the first commercial video games, their

features have been extremely impressive.

The most attractive characteristics of games are graphics and action.

These are capable of resulting in million of sales for a very good game

(even in the 1st day of its realease!). And many children (54%) agree that

a good video game helps them develop new skills.

The features of the most popular games are violence and “war”

characteristics (at least for ages of 12-15 years old). But only to a small

scale (23%), may this affect them in violence (as children say).

There are many other topics in which we could work, such as: advantages-

disadvantages of games, addiction, educational games, integration in

education, relations with real jobs (e.g. pilots, economists, archeologists).

DIGITAL SOURCES

- Video Game: Wikipedia

- The first site of video game PONG-Story

- History of Video Games: Wikipedia

- A History of Video Game Consoles: Time

- Computer and Video Game History: About.com Inventors

- The Video Game Revolution: PBS

- Video Game History Timeline: The Strong Play Partners

- The 25 Greatest Breakthroughs in Video Game History: IGN

- Top Categories at Games Universe: CD Universe

- The Benefits of Video Games: ABC News

- The Impact of Video Games on Children: Palo Alto Medical Foundationk

- The Effect of Violent Video Games on Teens: Medical News Today

- Continuous Learning Anywhere: Clashe LLP Project

(accessed 15/05/2013)

We would like to thank Mr. Panos Papoutsis, Project Manager of European Project “CLASH”,

for his input in our research and for the translations of some texts.