Game Theory and Computer Games - Article Example

It was not until 1958 that the first video game was designed by William Higinbotham. “Tennis for Two” as the name suggests was set on an amplified tennis court for two players who had to return the ball to one another. In 1962, came the ‘Space war’, the first computer game where the designer Steve Russell and his team used an MIT PDP-1 mainframe to design his game. “Space wars” marked the beginning of an era of computer games. The two-player game comprised spaceships and firing photon torpedoes. During the mid-sixties when computers had not yet found their niche and were restricted to research centers, the game was found in every research computer in the country and enjoys popularity to this day. However, Russell did not benefit from the invention since MIT, the institute, which had appointed him, was disappointed that the computer was not used to develop scientific programs.

Computers soon became a rage in the 1970s and began finding their way into homes. With it arose the need for games and soon people began designing their games for home computer use. Online games were fast gaining popularity with role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons becoming a hit. This was a game where players got the chance to assume the role of a character and carry out missions. However, online games still were an expensive option since the use of the Internet was charged by the minute.
During this period, games were usually played by typing commands on the keyboard. But in the 1980s, graphics began taking precedence and games with basic textual commands and graphics, such as “Pool of radiance” and “Bard’s Tale” were designed.

In 1983, the video game industry came crashing down due to poor quality games and popular games like E.T. and Pacman failing miserably. This boosted the popularity of computers and soon enough low-cost computers began replacing video games.
There were also many high-quality graphical interfaces, which could be utilized with the help of the computer mouse. With the popularity of Commodore Amiga computers in 1985, sales saw an upward trend and attempts were made to work on improving its features. Other technological innovations that came about were sound cards, which added to the audio-visual experience of a computer game. In the 90s, came trend-setting games like “Wolfenstein 3D” which popularised the first-person shooter game genre as so did “Doom” which set the trend for 3D graphics in games.

The 90s can be termed as the boom time for computer games since the Real Time Strategy (RTS) genre games made an entry with Dune II. The genre was further popularised by Warcraft: Orc and Humans in 1994 and games like Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness in 1995 gave rise to multiplayer capabilities in the RTS genre.

With broadband connections becoming cheaper in the 1990s, online gaming became very popular. A player usually used a modem or LAN to play RTS games, where the player gets the top-down perspective of the battle zone complete with3-DD animation. The player can manipulate the game by clicking and dragging the mouse without waiting for his chance, unlike a turn-based game. With the Internet becoming more accessible than ever, these games now had their native support and soon enough players around the globe began interacting with each other. Games like StarCraft soon caught on and went on to become one of the best-selling games of all time.

In 1997, Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) made an entry with role-playing games like Ultima Online. These MMOG games comprise many genres like role-playing, flight combat simulation, real-time strategy, and also science fiction.

One of the more popular western titles is Blizzard’s The World of Warcraft, Lineage, Lineage II, and Runescape. There are many games, which have found their way from the entertainment industry into the virtual world as well. EA titles such as the James Bond series and the more recent Harry Potter series have captured the imagination of gamers just like its acclaimed books and movie adaptations.

Computer games thus share their history with video games and also with the advancement in computers. With each era, as computers became superior and grew in capacity, they gave rise to new features, designing a holistic experience of thrill and adventure of computer games. However, gaming is today mired in controversy,y especially since addiction and aggressive behavior among minors are side effects of unrestrained indulgence. However, this does not deter millions of subscribers, mostly youngsters, from enjoying the bliss of virtual reality. Read More