Barcamp Derry (Side A) - A Brief History of Video Games

Covering...
SIDE A:
> A Brief History of Video Games
SIDE B:
> Serious Games
> My Work at University of Ulster, Coleraine

The Origins
1958
Tennis For Two
William Higinbotham
Oscilloscope
1961
Spacewar!
Steve Russell (MIT)
PDP-1 computer

The Early Years
Magnavox Odyssey1972
Ralph Baer.
First home TV console.
Pong 1972
Nolan Bushnell & Al Alcorn.

VCS/26001977
The Early Years

First multi-game cartridgeconsole.
First system to feature 3rd party games.

The Birth of Arcade
Space Invaders 1979
Taito
Caused a coin shortage in Japan.
Pac-Man1980
Namco
Caused “Pac Man Fever”.

The Birth of Arcade
Battlezone1980
Atari
Maybe used for training US Army gunners (first serious game?)
Donkey Kong1981
Nintendo
First appearance of Mario.

The Birth of Arcade
Pole Position 1982
Atari
Advertising in similar style to kids toys.

Early Handhelds
Game & 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
Circa 1982
> Sinclair ZX Spectrum
> Commodore 64
> Apple Macintosh
> IBM PC
> Amiga (Later)

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 Revival
1985
NINTENDO
ENTERTAINMENT
SYSTEM (N.E.S.)
Known as the Famicom (family computer) in Japan.
Set the standard for control pads.

Home Consoles
Two series were born...
SUPER MARIO BROS.
1985
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
1987

Home Consoles
Sega
1986
Master System

Mainly successful in Europe

1990
Mega Drive

Known as Genesis in U.S.

Sega unleashed their new mascot in 1991...

Home Consoles
Super Nintendo(SNES)
1991
Bundled with the excellent Super Mario World.

Handhelds
1990
GAMEBOY

Bundled with Tetris

Sega
1991
GAME GEAR

PC Gaming
id Softwaredevelop first person shooter (FPS) PC games:
- Wolfenstein 3D
- Doom
Controversial - Played by one of the
Columbine shooters.
- Quake
All games rated M/16/18.
1992
1993
1996

PC Gaming
Not all shooters!
- Sim City 2000
City creation game - One of the first games of the Sims series.
- Myst
Multimedia adventure game – one of the best selling PC games of all time.
- Secret of Monkey Island
Humourous point & click adventure.
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 Revolution
Sony 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

The 3D Revolution
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 128-bit Generation
Sega Dreamcast 1998
Failed to become a hit.
Had several landmark titles:

Rez
Jet Set Radio
Shenmue

Nintendo Gamecube1999
Hindered by reputation as a kid’s console.
Games:

Metroid Prime
Resident Evil 4
Another best game of all time.

The 128-bit Generation
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.

Meanwhile, in Computer Gaming...
World of Warcraft2004
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’sBejeweled.
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.

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.

Nintendo Wii2006
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 iPhone2008
App Store appeared in 2008, opening the doors for indie and commercial game developers.
Low price-point for games.
Allows for instant purchase anddownload 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/andhttp://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24859

Video Game Players
The 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/andhttp://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24859

2008 Video Games Market
UK 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
andhttp://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!