Evolution of the GameChapter 2!

May 3, 2011

What makes a Video Game a Game?

Three main categories of Computer Software Entertainment:– Audio/visual effects– Video Game– Digital Toy

Audio/Visual Effect• Audio means something you hear.• Visual means something you see.• Together, audio/visual effects are any entertainment that you

can be seen and heard.• Examples:

– Screen savers– Movies– Cut scenes– Presentations

• This type of entertainment is simply enjoyed and has no user interface.

We have:

Experimental Media

Mainstream

Media

Obsolete

Experimental

• New• Innovative• Few users• Not very popular• Just becoming popular

Mainstream

• Is the Norm!• Many users• What we use today

Obsolete

• Was popular• Few users• Replaced by something better

History????

• How has technolgy been linked to media experimentation and becoming obsolete?

Let’s take a look at our History!

Ancient Times

• Art! Was the NORM...it was popular...it was the Mainstream Media.

• Examples:– Brilliant paintings– Sculptures– Architecture– Songs– Frescos

Ancient Times

• Greeks Introduced Theater!• It was Experimental Media• Romans not use to Theater.• It was consider a fanciful activity• Little following• Not popular

Last Century

• Experimental Media was the invention of Motion pictures!

• Had no sound• Short films– People dancing– Baseball players

hitting a ball– Children dancing

Last Century

• Another experimental media is the RADIO!• Invented by individuals who wanted to talk to

each other over distances.• Amateur radio operators built their own

devices in their basement.• Very Expensive!

Radio became Mainstream!

• As the cost of the technolgy for a Radio dropped people began to embrace the Radio!

• People would gather around the family radio to listen to voice drama, rock and roll, Jazz sounds and lyrics, shows, plus much more.

The Television!

• Began to show up in homes in the 1940’s• Shows were black and white• Just one or two shows a day• Television was in the experimental stage!

Television

• Moving to Mainstream in the 1950’s• Rapidly becoming the preferred media of the day.• ½ households in America has a TV set.• TV Shows:– Flash Gordon– Father Knows Best– Rin Tin Tin– Dragnet– Zorro– Wonderful World of Disney

Current Times – Today!

• Television is still Mainstream!• Moved from audio/visual entertainment to

Interactive Entertainment Media!• Video Games!!!

Newer Technologies

• Is the computer!• Was Experimental Technology– Few people using it– Very expensive– Not popular

• Today Mainstream!– You see a computer everywhere – Very, Very, Very Popular

• Takes on many forms.

Computer

• Opens a world of:– Movies– Games– Books– Magazines– Museum Art– Internet!– Plus much more....

What are Video Games?

• Is an electronic software product that has all of the elements of a game.

• It is played by combining a computer generated game evironment with a graphic display and a user interface.

What exactly is a game?

• An activity organized by rules.• With an objective, goal, or victory condition.• In a game environment that enables play or

pretending.

A Game?

Victory!

Rules

Game Envirnment

Game Play

• Is what the player experience during the game as a result of the core machanics and structure of the game.

• Includes:– Set of challenges and obstacles– The action a player can take to avoid and

overcome those challenges or obstacles.– Everything the player does and how the game is

played.

Today’s Video Game

• Game play can exist in multiple gameplay modes.

• Such as:– Multiplayer mode– Advanced mode– Easy mode– Quest mode– Online play mode– Changing characters with different skills

Graphic Display

• This is where the game is shown.• It can be a:– Television– Computer Monitor– Hand-held device (Game-boy and/or cell phone)

• Is a pinball machine a video game?

User Interface

• Is any device used to input information from the player into the computer running the video game.

• They are:– Game controllers (wireless, motion based

controllers)– Keyboard– Mouse

Type of Games• Games can be put into different catagories:• Examples:

– Action– Board/card/quiz– Educational– Fighting– Music/party– Puzzle– Role Playing– Shooter – Simulation– Sports– Stragtegy– Toy

• Themes are games that have similar characteristics

Digital Toy

• Does not meet the criteria of a game.• Why?– Does not have a structured set of rules.– Has not objective or game play goal.– No challenge– No purpose for playing– No Victory condition– No points, no levels– No mission objectives

Marketing You Vido Game

Step 1: You need to know your Theme!Step 2: Need to identify your target market.Step 3: Unique Selling Point

Marketing Your Video Game

• Each theme has a certain number of followers.• These are your customers!• People who purchase a game in a certain them are

likely to purchase more games in the same theme.• Need to identify your target market!• Tarket market is the segment of the population

on which you will focus your attention and resources to attract a buyer.

• These are your potential customers.

Demographic Segregation

• Use of characteristics, such as:– Age– Income– Gender

• Helps determine the most likely potential customer.

Marketing Tools• Are any device or action that draws attention to your product.

– TV commercials– E-mail blast– Product website– Free Trials or demos– Brochures– Game packaging– Billboards – Computer Screen Savers– Demonstrations– Booths at trade shows

Unique Selling Point

• Is simply what your product offers that other products do not.

• It can also help target potential customers.

• Finish your Balloon Pop Game!• Call me when finished for credit.