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