From Pac Man to Grand Theft Auto - Research Paper Example

From Pac man to Grand Theft Auto: understanding the innovations in gaming technology: Introduction: video games are one of the most popular forms of entertainment for children and adults alike. Millions of youngsters worldwide are addicted to video games. The variety of games and the related technological advancements have made the field of gaming technology a very competitive one, the benefactor being the consumer. Companies try to outdo each other in providing the ultimate gaming experience. This competition leads to more research and development in the field of gaming which leads to wonderful innovations. This essay shall try to understand the technological developments and innovations in the field of gaming from the days of Pac man to Grand Theft Auto. The interactive gaming industry that consists of computer games and video games now compete with the film industry in terms of revenue and in the way they influence the populace. The effect of video games on the ‘consumer was comparable to that generated by the golden age of Hollywood in the 1930s, 40s and 50s’ (Kline, Nick and DePeuter). Even though the income generated by the film industry is far more than what is earned by the video game industry, it must also be taken into consideration that the development of the video game industry has happened in a time span of four decades. The growth of the game industry is at a much higher rate. It is growing at a rate of billions of dollars every year. Designing video games which was not considered so lucrative is now even considered to be a very good career option. Prestigious colleges and universities offer courses in programming and designing video games. Movies are being made that are based upon the main characters in some popular games. Hitman, Tomb Raider, Mortal Kombat are examples. ‘Hit titles like Doom, Mortal Kombat, Tomb Raider, though less expensive to produce than block buster movies reap profits on an even larger scale, potentially generating revenues in the hundreds of millions’ (Kline, Nick and DePeuter) it is important to understand the factors behind the success of the gaming industry. The main factors behind the success of the gaming industry have been the kind of innovations the companies have come up with. These innovations have been in the form of technology, content and marketing. The technological developments in the past five or six decades have been instrumental in changing the way people live the world over. The video game industry has also greatly benefitted by it. Even before Pac man there were games that captured the imagination of people, the first of them was called ‘tennis for two’ and was created in 1958 and could be played only on oscilloscopes. The first game intended for being played on a computer was ‘Space war’ and was created by Ralph Baer. In 1962 Steve Russell created the game that could be played on a PDP-1, an interactive minicomputer; the positive aspect was that two players could play the game against each other. Space war is still popular and some version of it can be found on almost every computer in the world. (Bellis) The first game that could be played on a television was ‘chase’ and this paved way for an independent console that could be used to play computer and video games. Companies like Atari, Nintendo, Mattel and Coleco made appearances and brought in new ideas. The late 70s and early 80s were good for the video games industry but the slump in the IT industry in early 80s affected the gaming industry. Famous games like battle zone, defender and Pac man were invented during the 80s. Later Nintendo introduced its’ Gameboy’ which was a hand held device for playing games in 1987. It was a path breaking invention. Newer games like ‘Tetris’ increased sales of the device by millions of units. (Kline, Nick and DePeuter) Super Mario bros and Luigis became famous characters. According to a survey conducted in 1991 children were able to identify Mario more than Mickey Mouse. (Rampur) Video game consoles were also sold along with these games because they had improved graphics, but when the demand for home computers increased, the sale of these consoles decreased. (Kline, Nick and DePeuter) The boom in the personal computer market also gave impetus to the computer game industry. Computers apart from being used for gaming could also be used for other applications. Both industries flourished side by side because consoles were also getting popular as they were easy to carry around and were used only for gaming purposes. The Sony playstation brought gaming to another dimension with its improved graphics, sound effects giving the player a totally different experience. The playstation even had a DVD player which was very expensive during that period. Playstations now come with a blu ray disc player. But the Game boy from Nintendo remains the greatest innovation as it changed the gaming industry and grabbed the attention of many youngsters. After its launch in 1989 in Japan it was introduced into the US market in 1990 and sold 32 million units. (Liyanage, Wink and m) Other innovations that improved the gaming experience are the rumble pack from Nintendo that vibrated according to the nature of the game and the online playing that facilitates players in different corners of the world to meet online and play together. ‘The social component becomes especially important in games where the players have a persistent identity and the ability to affect the game state together as in massively multiplayer games’. (Vorderer and Bryant) There are also 3D games with surround sound and realistic graphics. The playstation portable which is a very recent addition to the gaming experience also offers a different experience. Apart from being able to play movies it can also access Wireless internet for online gaming purposes. Apart from these other innovations include Speech recognition software in games like ‘Echelon for commodore 64’; dance mats in ‘Dance dance revolution’. The mats were also used for workout purposes as well. The workout mode can monitor the calories burnt and adds fitness goals. In Sega’s ‘samba de amigo’ players use maracas to play the game. Sony’s Eyetoy is a motion sensing camera that is used with many games; Sony playstation has a guitar controller for the game ‘Guitar hero’. The MTV game ‘Rock band’ which can be played on the Microsoft Xbox, Sony playstation and Nintendo Wii, features a guitar, a drum and a microphone. (Loguidice and Barton) Needless to say the developments in technology with regards to memory capacity, screen clarity and other inventions like Bluetooth and infra red connectivity has helped gaming to a great extent These innovations have changed the gaming experience in a big way. The content of games has also changed. ‘Real time strategy games such as Age of the Empires and Starcraft present the player with a lush visual and aural landscape onto which is built a series of short and long term cognition’ (Vorderer and Bryant) There are adventure games, games with shooting and fighting, platform games, role playing games, simulations, driving and racing games, strategy and puzzles. Every game has its own plot, themes and characters. Some games can be hybrids or a mix of some of the above mentioned genres. For example, Grand theft Auto is a game where a player assumes the role of a criminal who has to complete tasks given by mafia bosses. These tasks range from shooting to stealing cars. Similar games are Doom, and Hitman. These kinds of games evoke an emotional response from the players and make them addicted to these games. The players live in a fantasy world when they play these games ‘Fantasy is a feature of digital games that allows its players to engage in activities that are separate from daily life’ (Schifferstein and Hekkert) The characterization in these games also has undergone a lot of change. ‘An avatar is the virtual-world, or character, representation of the player in an online game’ (Vorderer and Bryant) The older games did not have an avatar. They showed only cars, rockets or spaceships. The first avatar based game was probably Pac man or Mario. These games give the player the feeling that he is in the midst of all the action. Together with the angle of vision and the 3D effects with surround sound in some cases keep the player more involved in the situation. The way the companies marketed these products has also made a great impact on the popularity of these games. Hollywood movies like Hitman, Tomb raider, resident evil, Krull etc were adapted from the video games. There have even been television programs that are based on the characters in certain games. Mini figurines have also been sold for promotion and hyped as collector’s items. These attempts have definitely given more popularity to these games. There are a few games which are also adapted from the movies like ‘The Mummy’. Conclusion: The task of trying to keep children engaged has been an unenviable part of parenting. Video games are the most popular means by which children avoid boredom. A majority of children in the world have played a video game in some form or the other, be it on hand held devices or on computers. The last century has seen technological developments that have revolutionized the world of gaming. . Attempts to redefine the concept of entertainment are still going on with video game manufacturers trying to making the experience more realistic. The popularity of this form of entertainment is phenomenal. Newer and more attractive technology was responsible for this trend. And there have been many innovations from the various companies that have been responsible for the growth of the gaming industry. These innovations were not only technological, the companies were also innovative in creating characters, creating plots and more importantly by keeping the video game enthusiast in mind they gave the gamer what he wanted. Outline: Video games are one of the most popular forms of entertainment for children and adults alike. Millions of youngsters worldwide are addicted to video games. The variety of games and the related technological advancements have made the field of gaming technology a very competitive one, the benefactor being the consumer. The interactive gaming industry that consists of computer games and video games now compete with the film industry in terms of revenue and in the way they influence the populace. The main factors behind the success of the gaming industry have been the kind of innovations the companies have come up with. These innovations have been in the form of technology, content and marketing. The first game that could be played on a television was ‘chase’ and this paved way for an independent console that could be used to play computer and video games. Companies like Atari, Nintendo, Mattel and Coleco made appearances and brought in new ideas. There are also 3D games with surround sound and realistic graphics. The playstation portable which is a very recent addition to the gaming experience also offers a different experience. Apart from being able to play movies it can also access Wireless internet for online gaming purposes. These innovations have changed the gaming experience in a big way. The content of games has also changed. The characterization in these games also has undergone a lot of change. The main character is considered to be an extension of the player himself. These games give the player the feeling that he is in the midst of all the action. The way the companies marketed these products has also made a great impact on the popularity of these games. Hollywood movies like Hitman, Tomb raider, resident evil, Krull etc were adapted from the video games. These innovations were not only technological, the companies were also innovative in creating characters, creating plots and more importantly by keeping the video game enthusiast in mind they gave the gamer what he wanted. References Bellis, Mary. Inventors of modern computer. 4 May 2010 . Kline, Stephen, Dyer-Witheford Nick and Grieg DePeuter. Digital Play: the interaction of technology, culture and play. Quebec: McGill-Queen's University press, 2003. Liyanage, Shanta, Rudiger Wink and Nordberg m. Managing Path breaking innovations:CERN- ATLAS, Airbus and stem cell research. Praeger Publishers, 2007. Loguidice, Bill and Matt Barton. Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand theft auto, super mario and the most influenial games of all time. Oxford: Elsevier Inc, 2009. Rampur, Stephen. Evolution of video games. 2009. 5 May 2010 . Schifferstein, Hendrck and Paul Hekkert. Product Experience. CaliforniaElsevier Ltd, 2008. Vorderer, Peter and Bryant. Playing video games. New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Assoiates, 2006. Read More