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Chapter 9

Video Games

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A Short History of Computer and Video Games

• 1931: Baffle Ball, the first mass produced arcade game

• 1933: Contact, the first electric pinball game

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Today’s Games Emerge

1961: Spacewar, the first interactive computer game

1975: Atari marketed Home Pong through Sears

1977: Mattel Toys’ titles such as Missile Attack, Auto Race, and Football played on handheld calculator-sized LED and LCD screens

A Short History of Computer and Video Games

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Pac-Man in 1980 and Donkey Kong in 1981 became instant classics and all-time best sellers

• 1987 release of NEC’s hybrid PC/Console in Japan

• Early 1990s saw advent of CD-ROM-based computer games

• Doom (1993) could be played over LANs and was the first first-person perspective shooting game

A Short History of Computer and Video Games

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Short History of Computer and Video Games

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Short History of Computer and Video Games

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Games and Their Players

• 68% of American homes play video games

• Video game: when the action of the game takes place place interactively on-screen

An online text-based game such as a MUD, multi-user dimension, is a videogame, but the home version of Trivial Pursuit is not

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Games and Their Players

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Games and Their Players

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Scope and Nature of Video Game Industry

• The U.S. accounted for 45% of the $32 billion worldwide console, PC, and handheld game industry market (2008)

• Half of this total spent on software; which does not include online or mobile gaming revenues

• Concentration and globalization are the rule in gaming

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Trends and Convergence in the Video Game Industry

• Newer consoles:

play DVDs burn music CDs Internet access with music and video

streaming

• Home computer users use MMORPGs such as Ultima Online, World of Warcraft, EverQuest and Second Life

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• Games can be played:

on cable television on dedicated console on handheld gamer online through an ISP

Trends and Convergence in the Video Game Industry

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Games can be played:

on cable television on dedicated console on handheld gamer online through an ISP online from game developer’s Website online through game console online through PDA or cell phone online through personal computer

Trends and Convergence in the Video Game Industry

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• The distinction between games and personal computers disappeared

• Hypercommercialism The segmented demographics of video

gamers have made videogames appealing

vehicles for commercial and persuasive campaigns

Trends and Convergence in the Video Game Industry

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Trends and Convergence in the Video Game Industry

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Advertisers attracted to online games

• Cross-promotion

• Advergames

• Advocacy games encourage users to interact with policies and other issues

Trends and Convergence in the Video Game Industry

© 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

• 1994: Industry established Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating system

EC Early childhood (ages 3 and up) E Everyone (ages 6 and up) E10+ (ages 10 and up) T Teen (ages 13 and up) M Mature (ages 17 and up) AO Adults only (ages 18 and up)

Developing Media Literacy Skills