Covering...SIDE A:

> A Brief History of Video Games

SIDE B:

> Serious Games> My Work at University of Ulster,

Coleraine

The Origins

1958Tennis For Two

William HiginbothamOscilloscope

1961Spacewar!

Steve Russell (MIT)PDP-1 computer

The Early Years• Magnavox

Odyssey 1972 – Ralph Baer.– First home TV

console.

• Pong 1972 – Nolan Bushnell & Al

Alcorn.

VCS/2600 1977 • First multi-game

cartridge console.• First system to

feature 3rd party games.

The Early Years

• Space Invaders 1979– Taito– Caused a coin

shortage in Japan.

• Pac-Man 1980– Namco– Caused “Pac Man

Fever”.

The Birth of Arcade

• Battlezone 1980– Atari– Maybe used for

training US Army gunners (first serious game?)

• Donkey Kong 1981– Nintendo– First appearance of

Mario.

The Birth of Arcade

• Pole Position 1982– Atari– Advertising in

similar style to kids toys.

The Birth of Arcade

Early HandheldsGame & Watch– Nintendo 1980

• One of the first handheld gaming devices.– (Worth a lot on eBay now if

you still have one in the attic...)

Computer Games> Sinclair ZX Spectrum

> Commodore 64

> Apple Macintosh> IBM PC> Amiga (Later)

Circa 1982

1983... MARKET FILLED WITH: Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Bally

Astrocade, ColecoVision, Coleco Gemini, Emerson Arcadia 2001, Fairchild Channel F System II, Magnavox Odyssey, Mattel Intellivision, Intellivision II, Sears Tele-Games systems, TandyvisioN, Vectrex.

MARKET FULL OF POOR TITLES FROM START-UPS.

RESULTED IN...

1983

VIDEO GAME CRASH OF NORTH AMERICA

Video Game Revival1985

NINTENDOENTERTAINMENTSYSTEM (N.E.S.)– Known as the Famicom (family

computer) in Japan.– Set the standard for control

pads.

SUPER MARIO BROS.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

1985

1987

Home ConsolesTwo series were born...

SegaMaster System• Mainly successful in Europe

1986

Mega Drive• Known as Genesis in U.S.

Sega unleashed their new mascot in 1991...

1990

Home Consoles

Super Nintendo(SNES)

Bundled with the excellent Super Mario World.

1991

Home Consoles

Handhelds

GAMEBOY• Bundled with Tetris

GAME GEARSega

1990

1991

PC Gamingid Software develop first person shooter (FPS) PC games:

- Wolfenstein 3D- Doom Controversial - Played by one of the Columbine shooters.

- Quake

All games rated M/16/18.

19921993

1996

Not all shooters!

- Sim City 2000City creation game - One of the first games of the Sims series.

- MystMultimedia adventure game – one of the best selling PC games of all time.

- Secret of Monkey IslandHumourous point & click adventure.

PC Gaming

1993

1993

1990

Decline of Arcades

Mid-90’s

Worldwide closures – game over man!

Reasons:• Popularity of games consoles in the home.• Market had many poor clones.• Lack of variety.

The 3D RevolutionSony PlayStation 1995

— Highly successful, won this generation.— Sold over 100 million.— Remained in production until 2006!

Landmark titles:— Metal Gear Solid— PaRappa The Rapper• Popularised music & rhythm games.

— Crash Bandicoot— Final Fantasy VII— WipeOut

Nintendo 64 1996— Very successful, but still behind PlayStation.— Super Mario 64

—Defined the 3D platformer.— GoldenEye 007— Zelda: Ocarina of Time

—Often cited as best game of all-time.

Sega Saturn 1995— Failed in America & Europe.— Tomb Raider• Later released on PlayStation/PC.

The 3D Revolution

The 128-bit Generation• Sega Dreamcast 1998

– Failed to become a hit.– Had several landmark titles:

—Rez—Jet Set Radio—Shenmue

• Nintendo Gamecube 1999– Hindered by reputation as a kid’s console.– Games:

—Metroid Prime—Resident Evil 4

—Another best game of all time.

• Sony PlayStation 2 2000– Continued Sony’s market reign.– Best selling console ever.– Huge game’s library.

—Shadow of the Colossus—God of War—Guitar Hero—Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• Microsoft Xbox 2001– Microsoft’s first console – proved a worthy competitor.– Bundled with Halo.

The 128-bit Generation

Meanwhile, in Computer Gaming...

• World of Warcraft 2004– The world’s biggest and most addictive online

game.– Currently has over 11.5 million subscribers.

• Rise of Casual Games– PC casual gaming on the rise:

• PopCap’s Bejeweled.• Diner Dash.• The Sims.

– Surpassed Myst as best-selling computer game of all time.

The Current Generation• Nintendo DS 2004

– Touch screen gaming.– Iterations: DS Lite, DSi– Highly successful for both casual and

hardcore games market.

• Sony PSP 2004– Most powerful than Nintendo DS.– Traditional control scheme (buttons).– Iterations: PSP-Slim, PSP-Lite, PSP-Go– Trailing behind the DS.

The Current Generation• Microsoft Xbox 360 2005

– First “HD generation” console.– Xbox Live set the standard for online console

gaming.– Uses DVD format.– Halo 3 & Gears of War flagship titles.

• Sony Playstation 3 2007– Free online play with PlayStation Network.– Metal Gear Solid 4 biggest title so far.– Uses Blu-ray disc format.

The Current Generation• Nintendo Wii 2006

– Initially predicted to be a disaster.– Uses motion control.– Bundled with Wii Sports game (tennis,

boxing, baseball, bowling and golf).

– Well marketed.– Currently leading the generation (by a

large amount!).– Proved highly successful with casual

gamers.

...and lets not forget!• Apple iPhone 2008

– App Store appeared in 2008, opening the doors for indie and commercial game developers.

– Low price-point for games.– Allows for instant purchase and

download of a game wherever youare.

– Games can be expanded (with downloadable content) and updated easily.

Now for the stats...

Stats from http://www.theesa.com/facts/ and http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24859

Stats from http://www.theesa.com/facts/ and http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24859

Video Game PlayersThe average game player is 35 years old and has

been playing games for 12 years.

84% of all games sold in 2008 were rated "E" for Everyone, "T" for Teen, or "E10+" for Everyone 10+.

92% of game players under the age of 18 report that their parents are present when they purchase or rent games.

63% of parents believe video games are a positive part of their children’s lives.

Stats from http://www.theesa.com/facts/ and http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24859

2008 Video Games MarketUK saw 26% increase in 2008 sales over 2007,

compared to 15% in U.S. and 13% decline in Japan, meaning that it's now overtaken Japan to become the second largest videogames market in the world.

Combined growth across the three biggest markets in the world averaged out at 11%, with 409.9 million units of software sold compared to 367.7 million the previous year.

UK video games industry worth over £4 billion in 2008.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/uk-leads-global-videogames-market-growth

and http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/jan/07/nintendo-games

Game Playersare maturing

(and kids are still playing).

Games are no longer just toys!