Introduction to Computer

Games
Unit I
 What is a game?
 A game is a form of interactive
entertainment where players
must overcome challenges, by
taking actions that are
governed by rules, in order to
meet a victory condition.
——Rollings &
Adams
 History of Games
 Alquerque (also known
as Qirkat) is
a strategy board game that
is thought to have
originated in the Middle
East. It is considered to be
the parent
of draughts (US: checkers)
and Fanorona.
 History of Games
 Draughts (British English)
or checkers (American
English) is a group
of strategy board games for
two players which involve
diagonal moves of uniform
game pieces and
mandatory captures by
jumping over opponent
pieces.
 Draughts developed from
alquerque.
 The name derives from the
verb to draw or to move.
 History
 A.S. Douglas created the first
video game in 1952 titled
OXO.
 OXO was a graphical version
of tic-tac-toe but was never
introduced to the public.
 The game introduced to the
public was created six years
later in 1958 by William
Higinbotham.
 This game was called Tennis
for Two.
 First “games”
 1952 W. A. Higgenbotham
 Willy Higginbotham on an oscilloscope
connected to analog Donner computer.

• His idea was to use a small analog

computer to graph and display the
trajectory of a moving ball on an
oscilloscope, with which users can
interact
• By this he converted an oscilloscope into a
pinball game –
an abstract simulation of the game of
tennis
 History of Computer Games
 1962: "Spacewar"
(Steven Russell)
 Spacewar! is a space combat
video game developed in 1962 by
Steve Russell at MIT using vector
graphics on PDP-1
 It was also spread to many of the
few dozen, primarily academic,
installations of the PDP-1
computer, making Spacewar the
first known video game to be
played at multiple computer
installations.
 History of Computer Games
 In 1971, Nolan Bushnell and Ted
Dabney created the first arcade
game. It was called "Computer
Space" and was based on Steve
Russell's earlier game of
"Spacewar!“
 A year later, the arcade game
"Pong" was created by Bushnell,
with help from Al Alcorn.
 Bushnell and Dabney would go
on to become the founders
of Atari Computers that same
year.
 History of Computer Games
 In 1972, "The Odyssey"
became the first commercial
home video game console when
it was released by Magnavox.
 The Odyssey consists of a
white, black, and brown box
which connects to a television
set, and two rectangular
controllers attached by wires.
 History of Computer Games
 Donkey Kong is an arcade
game released
by Nintendo in 1981.
 In the
game, Mario (originally
named Mr. Video and then
Jumpman) must rescue
a damsel in
distress named Pauline (o
riginally named Lady),
from a giant ape
named Donkey Kong.
 History of Computer Games
 Tetris is a tile-matching
puzzle video game,
originally designed and
programmed by
Russian game designer
Alexey Pajitnov
 The first playable
version was completed
on June 6, 1984.
 History of Computer Games
 The Game Boy is an 8-bit
handheld game console which
was developed and
manufactured by Nintendo and
first released on April 21, 1989,
in North America
 History of Computer Games
 Solitaire is a computer game
included with Microsoft
Windows, based on a card
game of the same name,
also known as Klondike.
 Microsoft has included the
game as part of its Windows
product line since Windows
3.0, starting from 1990.
 History of Computer Games
 The PlayStation (officially
abbreviated to PS, and
commonly known as the
PS1 or its codename, PSX)
is a home video game
console developed and
marketed by Sony Computer
Entertainment.
 The console was released
on 3 December 1994 in
Japan.
 History of Computer Games
 The Xbox is a home
video game console and
the first installment in the
Xbox series of consoles
manufactured by
Microsoft.
 It was released on
November 15, 2001 in
North America,
 History of Computer Games
 The Wii is a home video
game console released by
Nintendo on November
19, 2006.
 The Wii introduced the Wii
Remote controller, which
can be used as a
handheld pointing device
and which detects
movement in three
dimensions.
History of Computer Games
 Types of Games
 Arcade Games
 Puzzle Games
 Role Playing Games
 Strategy Games
 Adventure Games
 First-Person Shooters
 Third Person Action Performer
 Sports Games
 Racing Games
 Educational Games
 Arcade Games
 An arcade game or coin-op is a
coin-operated entertainment
machine typically installed in
public businesses such as
restaurants, bars and
amusement arcades.
 Most arcade games are video
games, pinball machines,
electro-mechanical games,
redemption games or
merchandisers.
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Puzzle Games
 A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy
that tests a person's ingenuity or
knowledge.
 In a puzzle, the solver is expected to
put pieces together in a logical way,
in order to arrive at the correct or fun
solution of the puzzle.
 There are different genres of
puzzles, such as crossword puzzles,
word-search puzzles, number
puzzles, relational puzzles, or logic
puzzles.
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Role Playing Games
 A role-playing game
(RPG) is a game in
which players assume
the roles of characters in
a fictional setting.
 Players take
responsibility for acting
out these roles within a
narrative, either through
literal acting or through
a process of structured
decision-making of
character development.
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Strategy Games
 A strategy video game is a
video game that focuses on
skillful thinking and planning
to achieve victory.
 It emphasizes strategic,
tactical, and sometimes
logistical challenges.
 Many games also offer
economic challenges and
exploration.
 Examples include Age of
Empires, Warcraft III…
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Adventure Games
 An adventure game is a
video game in which the
player assumes the role of a
protagonist in an interactive
story driven by exploration
and puzzle-solving.
 The genre's focus on story
allows it to draw heavily
from other narrative-based
media, literature and film,
encompassing a wide
variety of literary genres.
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 First-Person Shooters
 First-person shooter (FPS)
is a video game
genre centered around gun
and other weapon-based
combat in a first-person
perspective; that is, the
player experiences the
action through the eyes of
the protagonist.
 Many examples: Doom,
Quake, …
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Third-Person Action/Platformer
 Third-person shooter (TPS) is a
subgenre of 3D shooter
games in which the player
character is visible on-screen
during gaming, and
the gameplay consists primarily
of shooting.

 Player directly controls a game

character (avatar) through a
hostile world
 Tomb Raider, Prince of
Persia, Onimusha
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Sports Games
 A sports game is a
video game genre that
simulates the practice
of sports.
 Most sports have been
recreated with a game,
including team sports,
track and field, extreme
sports and combat
sports.
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Racing Games
 The racing video game genre
is the genre of video games,
either in the first-person or
third-person perspective, in
which the player partakes in a
racing competition with any
type of land, water, air or space
vehicles.
 They may be based on
anything from real-world racing
leagues to entirely fantastical
settings.
 Formula 1 or Grand Tourismo
Midtown Madness or Ridge
Based on notes from Mark Overmars
 Educational Games
 Educational games are
games that are designed
to help people to learn
about certain subjects,
expand concepts,
reinforce development,
understand a historical
event or culture, or assist
them in learning a skill as
they play.
 Genres
 Genre is the French word for type.
 It is categorization or classification of games
into different types.
 It can be done by:
 Gameplay Theme
 Graphical Theme
 Game Structure
 Game Mechanics
 According to Wikipedia, video games are
categorized into genres that are based on many
factors, such as method of game play, types of
goals and many others.
 Common Genres:
 Action  Simulation
 Adventure  Sports
 Casual  Strategy game
 Fighting  Shooters
 Platform  Multiplayer
 Puzzle  Online
 Racing  Role-playing
 Mechanics
 Game mechanics is one of the more
significant contributors to defining the
genre.
 The mechanics define the types of
challenges in a game.
 The mechanics also determine how the
player interacts and controls the
challenges.
Game Rules
Game Balancing
 Development
 Video games are  The team consists of:
made by developers, - designers
which require a team - graphic designers
which is managed by
a producer. - artists
- programmers
- sound designers
- musicians
- technicians
 Development continued…
 Video games are developing in all areas.
 The problem is cost and how developers
intend to keep cost low to attract publisher
investment.
 The average team size and average
development time of a game have grown
with the size of the industry and the
technology involved in creating games.
 Game Modifications
 Games running on a PC are made with
end-user modifications in mind.
 This allows modern computer games to be
modified by gamers without difficulty.
 Sales
 Three largest markets
for games:
 U.S. (largest)
 Japan
 United Kingdom

(This is also the same

order for the top three
largest producers of
video games.)
 Sales continued…
 Other significant markets:
 Australia, Canada, Spain, Germany, South
Korea, Mexico, France and Italy.

 India and China are emerging markets in the

industry.
 Benefits
 Multimedia
Entertainment
 Simulated story
worlds
 Emergent narrative
 Many are educational
and not to mention,
fun to play.
 Controversy
 Video games fallen victim to censorship.
 This is due to violence, sexual themes,
advertising within the games such as
drugs and alcohol and profanity.
 Critics of these games include:
 parents, politicians, organized religion groups,
special interest groups, ect.
Controversy continued…
 Some of the attempts
at censorship in the
U.S. were turned
down due to a
violation of First
Amendment rights.
 Present
 Currently, video games are not only aimed
toward young males.
 The age range in males has expanded to
25-40 age group.
 Females are more frequently playing video
games. Most commonly the online multi-
user.
 Sources
 www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/vi
deo/hov/p10_01.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games
 http://www.gamespot.com/