The first computer games go back to the 50s when a nought and crosses game was created using an EDSAC computer. An effort at MIT ten years later led to a the multiplayer Spacewar game developed in a PDP-1. Even though these games were primitive, a game industry was born with the first games available in special locations – arcades. Today’s games are produced with modest Hollywood budgets and some are selling more than box-office hits. he 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 computer games and the gaming market. Also we cover the impact of gaming and the trends.

1. Lecture L21
GAMES

3. Image: mbl.is
Future of games?
Virtual reality game
Valkyrie by CCP
shown at 2015 Fanfest

4. Games are the
one of the
most powerful
force in the
world

5. Computer Game History

6. Early Games
Cathode ray tube amusement device, 1947
Analog game, purely electromechanical
Controlled by control knobs which influences the
trajectory of the CRT's light beam
Player controls a reticle and aligns it to an airplane to shoot down

7. Noughts And Crosses, 1952
A Tic-Tac-Toe game
Ran on EDSAC
Used the tank display CRT as
35 x 16 pixel screen for
displaying his game
Game did not get well known
Early Games

8. Early Games
Early 1960s - Two cultures contributed to the idea that
computers should be things we interact with and play with:
Walter Isaacson: The Innovators
Hackers - “the hands on imperative”
Rebel entrepreneurs - eager to break into the amusement
industry

9. Spacewar! 1961
Early Games

10. Programmed on PDP-1 in MIT in 1960
by Steve Russel
One of the first time-sharing computers
Space game where two players try to
shoot each others without being drawn
to the sun in the center
Spacewar! 1961
Early Games

11. Impact:
1. Collaboration - Liquid network effect
2. Free - Open Source
3. Computers should be Personal and
Interactive in real-time
Spacewar! 1961
Early Games

12. Arcades
Special purpose machines
Most popular game was PONG
Arcades became popular amongst
young in 1971-1974
2-D boards and movement
of objects
Special controls and buttons

14. Pong 1974
Atari VCS 2600 1977
Game Consoles
In 1974 game consoles start to appear
Computer games market emerges
Atari became the industry leader - Nolan Bushnell
VCS – Video Computer System 1974 – 1984
Discontinued in 1991

16. The Video Game Crash
In 1983 the computer game market crashed
Throughout the 1984 and 1985, the home video game industry
was nearly dead
Too much supply of similar games
Low quality
The public lost interest
Atari did not want to credit developers

17. Game Consoles Come Back
Nintendo Entertainment System, 1986
Started the second computer console revolution
Changed the way games were marketed
Strict control of what games were produced and sold
Instituted quality standards
Instituted content standards

18. Enter the Personal Computer
In the 80s Personal computers become more wide spread
Games slowly appear in the PCs

20. Interactive fiction
In the 80s Interactive fiction games became popular
Role-playing game in which the player moves around in imaginative
adventure world and solves mysteries
Early games where text games with simple commands
Slowly graphics was added

21. Enter CD-ROM
With CD-ROM new types of games became possible
More graphic
The 7th guest from 1992
Myst from 1993 became an
unexpected huge success

23. Multiplayer and 3-D Games
Early games were multiplayer games
Pong and Spacewar! were multiplayer
Most games after that were single player games where
player plays against the computer or players take turn
In the late 80s and early 90s networks start to appear
Ethernet LANs, then the Internet

25. DOOM introduced 3-D graphics and multiplayer capabilities in 1993
3D game where the player moves around in a 3-D world
Breakthrough graphics
Multiplayer capability on a LAN
Multiplayer and 3-D Games

26. Timeline

27. Impact of Computer Games

31. Addiction
Some games are highly addictive
Role playing games, MUD (Multiple User Dialog)
Example: EverQuest
Games with progression, construction and commands
Examples: WarCraft, CounterStrike, Sims
Impact of Computer Games

33. Really simple game, but highly addictive
Released on May 24, 2013,
discontinued Feb 8, 2014

34. Violence
Some games are violent, made for mature
adult audience
Most games are not violent
Impact of Computer Games

36. The Gaming Market
“In twenty years, games will have taken over the world and everything will
be virtual reality.”
-- Ray Kurzwiel

37. Average Game Player Age
31
Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

38. Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

39. Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

40. 1990
$10 bn
2000 2010
$20 bn
$50 bn
Games

41. 2014

43. Game Consoles

45. Nintendo
Products: GameCube, GameBoy
Wii, Wii U, DS
Appeal to families
Apply strict standards
Wii got a very good start with
Wii Remote

47. Sony
Products: PlayStation, PlayStation2, 3 and 4
PlayStation Portable
Have the broadest market
Has most of the games
PlayStation3 came with IBM’s Cell
Movie and TV show downloads
PlayStation4 released late 2013

49. XBox
Products: XBox, XBox 360, XBox One
Appeal to hard-core games
Most powerful console
Xbox Live – online game service
Kinect
Microsoft is promoting
xbox as entertainment
device

50. The Market
PlayStation 2 is still on top
What is the most popular
game console of all time?

51. Games for Everyone

52. The Market
Tetris
What is the most popular
game of all time?

53. Games are the
one of the
most powerful
force in the
world

54. Games are universal

55. Games are
everywhere

56. Games are
played by anyone

57. Games are part of
growing up

58. Millennials wants
entertainment and play
in their work, education
and social life

59. Starts early

60. On-line
digital world
is also
changing
older
generations

61. Why should we stop
playing when we
grow up?

62. Casual Games

63. Casual Games

64. 9billion hours / year

65. Pictures from
PopCap
Source: IGDA 2008-2009 Casual Games White Paper
Simple
Easy
Addictive
50+ hours
Short
Low barrier

66. 9 billion hours / year

67. Social Games

69. Source: The online computer and video game industry (OECD Report)
The MMORPG Top List
Thousands of players
Roles and responsibility
Continuity and progress
MMORPG

70. VIRTUAL STUFF
Tom Chatfield
7 ways video games engage the brain
(2010)

73. 90+ million
monthly
active users

75. worth 8billion USD

76. The 90-9-1 Rule
In social communities, 90% of the
users don’t contribute
In gaming 90% play for free but
are needed so the community
works
90% Play for free
9% Pay for added value
1% Pay for anything

77. Image: business insider
Mobile Games

78. Early Mobile Games
Games appear very early in phones
SMS games, J2ME
Simple single player with real limitations - data,
memory, processing

79. MOBILE GAMES
With iOS and Android, mobile
game industry has exploded
Fastest growing segment
Once upon a time in the App Store

81. 0"
10000"
20000"
30000"
40000"
50000"
60000"
2012" 2013" 2014" 2015"
VIDEO&GAME&MARKET&REVENUE&
Video"Game"Console"
Handheld"Video"Games"
Mobile"Games"
PC"Games"
Millions
USD
Source: Gartner

82. Give player access to play significant portion of the game
without paying.
Then charge for extras, VIP access, more choices, virtual
stuff, advancement
Based on the Freemium concept
Free to Play - F2P

84. Can it be misused?
Free to Play - F2P

86. Next:
Gamification and why it is important for you to play
video games