User:Frecklefoot/Sandbox/ArchiveVideoGameArticle
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Image:Pac-man.png|thumb|Namco's 1980 video game Pac-Man was an incredible hit, and actually became a cultural phenomenon. The video game spawned merchandise, a cartoon series, pop songs and was one of the most heavily cloned video games ever. Pac-Man is still a very recognizable video game to even most non-gamers.]] A video game is a game which uses a video display as its primary form of output and feedback. Almost all video games use other electronic circuitry in addition to a video display, such as a general-purpose or specialized computer and controls.
The term game in video game may refer to either the virtual universe and all of its governing rules ("Nethack is a game"), or a particular instance of that game ("my game ended in yet another annoying death", "game over"). Typically, a new instance of a game's universe is created by selection of a "new game" option, while previous instances and player states are retrieved with "load game" or "continue".
A video game is composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with. Player input is taken through various types of controls, and output is usually given through a screen and sound devices, as well as through an increasing trend toward haptic feedback.
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[edit] History
The first primitive video games were developed in the 1950s and 1960s and ran on platforms such as oscilloscopes, university mainframes and ESDAC computers. Coin-op games were developed in the 1970s and led to the so-called "Golden Age of Arcade Games". One of the most well-known of these games is PONG, the first widely available and successful video game.
Even early on in the history of video games, controversy was developing over the use of gratuitous violence in games. The 1970s also saw the release of the first home video game consoles. The late 1970s to early 1980s brought about the improvement of home consoles and the release of the very famous Atari 2600. In the early 1980s, however, there was a crash in the video game market that was not remedied until the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System.
[edit] Types
The term video game is often used to describe several specific types of video games, most often console games. Video game is an umbrella term which encompasses several different types of games played on different platforms. These specific types of games include:
The largest segment of these types of video games is console games with computer games a distant second.
Arcade games are often found in video arcades, though during the 1980s and early 1990s they could be found in a number of additional venues, such as supermarkets and convenience stores.
Computer games are video games played on a home computer or personal computer. Today, the most popular computer game operating system (OS) is Microsoft Windows, but almost any OS can be used for gaming, such as Linux or Mac OS X.
Console games are played on video game consoles, normally connected to a television used as the primary display device. In the 1970s there were dozens of competing home entertainment consoles, but the Atari 2600 eventually reigned supreme for over a decade. Today the most popular video game consoles are the Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox.
Handheld games are played on handheld video game systems, such as Nintendo's GameBoy line, or on the newer generation of cell phones and PDAs.
Internet games are those which require a connection to the Internet to play. Internet gaming was originally an offshoot from personal computer games but may be considered a platform in itself due to its growing scope and the inclusion of Internet capabilities in modern consoles.
[edit] Input
Many video games require specialized input devices. The first video game, PONG, used knobs to control two onscreen paddles. Buttons were employed early as a common input mechanism, but soon different types of joysticks became the preferred input device for arcade and console games.
Today console games use specialized game controllers, while computer games most often use the computer's keyboard and mouse. Arcade games continue to use specialized hardware, such as custom steering wheel controls and other devices. Handheld game consoles employ integrated gamepad-like controls while cell phones and PDAs use the device's keypads or onscreen controls.
[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay includes all player experiences during the interaction with game systems, especially formal games. Proper use is coupled with reference to "what the player does" and how well they enjoy that experience.
[edit] Genres
Image:halobox.jpg|185px|right|thumb|Halo: Combat Evolved is a First-Person Shooter, which is one of the many genres of video games.]] Video games, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres based on gameplay, atmosphere, and various other factors.
The atmosphere or setting of a video game can often be described as historical, urban, near-future, sci-fi, comic book, gothic, mythological, fantasy, or cartoonish. These are often referred to as genres of games. Some game developers eschew traditional settings so their games stand out (for example Rez, Psychonauts, Katamari Damacy').
Most gamers favor some categories of gameplay over others. These could include sports, racing, third-person shooters, first-person shooters ("FPS" games), fighting, action, adventure, stealth, role-playing games (RPG), card-based , puzzle, platformers, simulation, strategy, or various combinations. Overhead and side-scrolling 2D games could also be considered of a different gameplay genre than 3D games (for example Super Mario Bros. versus Super Mario 64).
[edit] Popularity
The current industry research shows that the popularity of video games, as a whole, has been increasing steadily ever since the 1984-1987 drop-off caused by the video game crash of 1983, and that the popularity is continuing to increase. The average age of the video game player is now 29 [1], indicating that video games are not largely a diversion for teenagers, as many non-gamers assume.
Each year, the theory goes, the generation of children familiar with arcade and console games becomes one year older (and one year larger), and with more disposable income available to the group as a whole, sales should continue to grow, presumably until the entire population has grown up with video games easily available. Multiplayer gaming communities specifically targeting adults are also becoming more commonplace as adults are seeking to find other mature individuals to play with in a team oriented environment.
[edit] Sales
The four largest markets for computer and video games are the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. Other significant markets include Spain, Germany, South Korea, France, and Italy. China is not considered a significant market, probably because an estimated 95% of video games sold in the country are pirated. [2]
Sales of different types of games vary widely between these markets due to local preferences. Japanese consumers avoid computer games and instead buy video games, with a strong preference for games created in Japan, that run on Japanese consoles. In South Korea, computer games are preferred, especially MMORPG games and real-time strategy games; there are over 20,000 PC bang Internet cafes where computer games can be played for an hourly charge.
The NPD Group tracks computer and video game sales in the United States. It reported that as of 2004:
- Console and portable software sales: USD$6.2 billion, up 8% from 2003 [3]
- Console and portable hardware and accessory sales: $3.7 billion, down 35% from 2003 [4]
- Computer game sales: $1.1 billion, down 2% from 2003 [5]
These figures are sales in dollars, not units; unit shipments for each category were higher than the dollar sales numbers indicate, as more software and hardware was sold at reduced prices compared to 2003.
Retail computer game sales have been declining slightly each year since about 1998, but this fact should be taken with a grain of salt: the retail sales numbers from NPD do not include sales from online downloads, nor subscription revenue for games like MMORPGs.
There is a commonly repeated, mistaken belief that video game sales now exceed the revenues of the movie industry. This is untrue; in the United States, video game sales have exceeded the movies' total box office revenue each year since about 1996, but the movie studios trounce the video game publishers when the movies' "ancillary revenue" is counted, meaning sales of DVDs, sales to foreign distributors, and sales to cable TV, satellite TV, and broadcast television networks. Also video game sales are calculated including sales of systems, such as personal computers and video game consoles, while movie industry figures do not take into account sales of DVD players and other venues for playing entertainment media.
The game and film industries are also becoming increasingly intertwined, with companies like Sony having significant stakes in both. A large number of summer blockbuster films spawn a companion game, often launching at the same time in order to share the marketing costs.
[edit] Video games in popular culture
Several websites and publications devoted solely to video games exist, including Official Xbox Magazine, Nintendo Power, Official Playstation Magazine, GamePro, GameSpot, GameSpy, IGN and GameFAQs.
Video gaming seems to be becoming a bigger part of popular culture. Merchandise is widely available that directly references video games, such as merchandise with pictures of video game paraphernalia. Video games have also become a major part in cross marketing platforms, such as in Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh, where a child can watch the television show, buy the trading cards, and play the various video games available.
Video game properties have had mixed success when migrating to the movies. One of the first films based on a video game property was The Wizard, which some criticized as a 90-minute ad for Super Mario Brothers 3. In the mid-90s, films for Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Wing Commander and Mortal Kombat were released. Reviews were generally poor.
Despite the ultimately poor performance of these movies, many studios still want to turn big games into movies, hoping that the popularity of the game will help the movie. However, after the initial bunch, many projects materialized that were never finished, but the success of films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider has led to more films materializing. Doom, a game which film makers were trying to cross over since the mid '90s is finally going into production. John Woo is also producing a movie on the popular Nintendo game, Metroid.
However, there is still debate in the movie industry on whether video games can be turned into good, profitable movies. Films like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which has received mixed responses from audiences, with some saying it is a great movie, and others saying it is a very bad movie with excellent computer-generated imagery, but ultimately flopped in the box office. Uwe Boll's House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark, which both ended up being horrible flops both in fan reactions and box office performance and both ending up on the IMDB's bottom 100 movies, do not, in turn, give much confidence in whether these movies will be handled seriously. The recently released Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children may change some people's minds though, even though it's a straight to DVD affair.
On the other hand, video games get much more success when adapted into cartoon series and animes. Some notables examples of major success includes the various Mario Bros. cartoons, Sonic SatAM, Captain N: The Game Master and Earthworm Jim. However, Sonic Underground, the American Mega Man cartoon and 4Kids' dubs (although this isn't limited to their video game-based dubs) are cited as being poor. Sometimes, they can help more obscure/Japan-only games pick up popularity in the US although rarely; To Heart would be the best example of such thing.
Movies have had far more success moving the other direction, to video games. Most summer blockbuster films now have a simultaneous video game release; some of the most lucrative video games of recent times are based on movies, such as Electronic Arts' Lord of the Rings series of games, and Activision's two Spider-Man movie games.
Even though movies have had more success in game conversion, not all movie games are good. Some publishers believe that the success of the movie will help the game sell, and so may not have as lengthy a development schedule as needed to make a compelling game. Some examples of this are the Catwoman and King Arthur movie games.
Also, video games have found themselves on MTV2, in a popular show called Video Mod, where characters from popular video games perform songs from hit artists, such as characters from The Sims 2 performing the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne.
On the Internet, gaming has also become a popular subject of many webcomics. Currently there are two varieties. The first one is the sprite comic, such as 8 Bit Theatre, in which the artist uses sprites from the earlier Final Fantasy games to tell stories. Sometimes these are original stories, but are often parodies of the game in which the sprite came from. The other type are more traditional comic strips, containing original art, like Penny Arcade. Here, the storylines or jokes revolve around current events in video gaming. The success of Penny Arcade has attracted many people in the industry, including Ubisoft. Other parodies have come in the form of amateur videos, such as those of Mega 64.
In Germany, the TV channel NBC Europe broadcasts a show called GIGA, which turned more and more into a video and computer game show. In the show, new games are presented and reviewed. Lately, the show featured the esports scene a lot, by introducing professional players to the audience and broadcasting live competition matches.
Medical professionals and professional athletes use video games to help them perform better in their line of work. Surgeons of the medical field use video games to improve hand-eye coordination and NASCAR drivers use video games to help them learn different race tracks and the quantity and quality of turns on the track.
[edit] Development
Video games are made by developers, who can be individuals, but are almost always a team consisting of designers, graphic designers and other artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, and other technicians. Most video game console development teams number anywhere from 20 to 50 people, with some teams exceeding 100. The average team size as well as the average development time of a game have grown along with the size of the industry and the technology involved in creating games. This has led to regular occurrences of missed deadlines and unfinished products, such as Duke Nukem Forever. See also: video game industry practices.
Video games are developing fast in all areas, but the biggest problem facing developers is one of economics in price scaling. Developers must keep consumer prices where they are while incorporating better technology, that inevitably costs more.
[edit] Game modifications
Games running on a PC are often designed with end-user modifications in mind, and this consequently allows modern computer games to be modified by gamers without much difficulty. These mods can add an extra dimension of replayability and interest. The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute mods, and they became an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games. Developers such as id, Valve, and Epic provide extensive tools and documentation to assist mod makers, leveraging the potential success brought in by a popular mod like Counter-Strike.
Recently, computer games have also been used as a digital-art medium. See artistic computer game modification.
[edit] See also
- Computer and video game articles by topic
- Computer and video game articles by category
- List of computer and video game external websites
[edit] References
- Lieu, Tina (August 1997). "Where have all the PC games gone?". Computing Japan.
- Costikyan, Greg (1994) "I Have No Words & I Must Design"
- Crawford, Chris (1982) "The Art of Computer Game Design"
[edit] External links
- MobyGames, an online database of video game information
- The Killer List of Videogames, an online database of arcade games
