Computer and video games were mostly single player games played using computers or consoles. With the emergence of the Internet, things are changing. The Internet is becoming a practical platform for the games. The growth is in both on-line games and connectivity of games. A new genre of games has appeared – casual games. These are simple and short games that people can play for short sessions. In this lecture we look at the trends in computer games and look at casual games.

1. Computer Games Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Part II

2. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Games are universal

3. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Games are everywhere

4. The on-line world is part of growing up

5. Digital natives are gamenatives

6. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson The Net Gen wants entertainment and play in their work, education and social life

7. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson The Net Gen has need for speed – not just in video games

8. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson On-line digital world is also changing older generations

9. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Are Games Bad for you?

10. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson “ ... people who play action games far outperform the people who don’t” - Green and Bavelier’s experiment

11. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Track more objects

12. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Better in monitoring cluttered world

13. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Better at processing visual stream of information

14. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Games Drive Technology

15. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Graphics Source: Economist: Play to Win

16. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Physics Processor BjarniÞórÁrnason: Evolution of Physics in Video Games

17. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Virtual Worlds Characters that behave human Artificial Intelligence Source: When looks are no longer enough, Play to win HannesHögniVilhjálmsson

18. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Casual Games

19. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

20. 9 billion hours / year (or so they say)

21. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson 9 billion hours / year

22. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

23. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Simple Addictive Short Easy 50+ hours Pictures from PopCap Source: IGDA 2006 Casual Games White Paper

24. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

25. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson revenues are increasing new players broad appeal Pictures from www.certusgames.com Source: IGDA 2006 Casual Games White Paper

26. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson broadband access entertainment 40% prefer games to TV Pictures from www.certusgames.com Source: IGDA 2006 Casual Games White Paper

27. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson market size is estimated at $2.25 billion growing 20% Source: Casual games get serious

28. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

29. revenue models High Barrier Skill (Fees) Subscription (Annual / Monthly Fees) High Barrier Audience Size Downloads (Revenue Per Download - $19.95) Low Barrier Free Online (Ad Revenue) Low Barrier Slide from Jónas Antonsson Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

30. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Multiplayer Games

31. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson players compete withother players role playing MMORPG Pictures from www.certusgames.com Source: IGDA 2006 Casual Games White Paper

32. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson MMORPG Thousands of players Roles and responsibility Continuity and progress Source: The online computer and video game industry (OECD Report) The MMORPG Top List

33. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

34. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

35. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson 80+ million monthly active users

36. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson casual and multiplayer games age of participation Source: www.danskespil.dk

37. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson

38. Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Presence Communications Relationship

39. Can games make the world better?

40. Computer Games Copyright © 2010, Ólafur Andri Ragnarsson Part II