Module 3 Media Perspectives through Computer Games Staffan Björk Module 3 Learning Objectives ■ Describe digital and electronic games using academic game terms ■ Analyze how games are defined by technological affordances and constraints ■ Make use of and combine theoretical concepts of time, space, genre, aesthetics, fiction and gender Focuses for Module 3 ■ Computer Games ■ Affect on gameplay and experience due to the medium used to mediate the game ■ Noticeable things not focused upon ■ Boundaries of games ■ Other uses of games and gameplay ■ Experimental game genres First: schedule change ■ Lecture moved from Monday to Friday ■ Since literature is presented in it Literature ■ Arsenault, Dominic and Audrey Larochelle. From Euclidian Space to Albertian Gaze: Traditions of Visual Representation in Games Beyond the Surface. Proceedings of DiGRA 2013: DeFragging Game Studies. 2014. http://www.digra.org/digital- library/publications/from-euclidean-space-to-albertian-gaze-traditions-of-visual- representation-in-games-beyond-the-surface/ ■ Gazzard, Alison. Unlocking the Gameworld: The Rewards of Space and Time in Videogames. Game Studies, Volume 11 Issue 1 2011. http://gamestudies.org/1101/articles/gazzard_alison ■ Linderoth, J. (2012). The Effort of Being in a Fictional World: Upkeyings and Laminated Frames in MMORPGs. Symbolic Interaction, 35(4), 474-492. ■ MacCallum-Stewart, Esther. “Take That, Bitches!” Refiguring Lara Croft in Feminist Game Narratives. Game Studies, Volume 14 Issue 2 2014. http://gamestudies.org/1402/articles/maccallumstewart ■ Nitsche, M. (2008). Combining Interaction and Narrative, chapter 5 in Video Game Spaces : Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds, MIT Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central. https://chalmers.instructure.com/files/738674 ■ Vella, Daniel. Modelling the Semiotic Structure of Game Characters. Proceedings of DiGRA 2014: <Verb that ends in ‘ing’> the <noun> of Game <plural noun>. 2014. http://www.digra.org/digital-library/publications/modeling-the-semiotic-structure-of- game-characters/ Literature, optional extra material ■ Therrien, Carl. Inspecting Video Game Historiography Through Critical Lens: Etymology of the First Person Shooter Genre. Game Studies, Volume 15 Issue 2 2015. http://gamestudies.org/1502/articles/therrien ■ Netflix documentary series High Score about the history of digital games. https://www.netflix.com/title/81019087 ■ SVT (Swedish National TV) documentary about Swedish tabletop roleplaying games (in Swedish, focus on influence on artists). https://www.svtplay.se/video/27863627/mot-andra-varldar ■ Atari Game Over (2014) Full Movie Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8XrM58qO0M Computer Games History, features, and genres First Computer Game? Spacewar! - 1962 ■ Stephen "Slug" Russell, MIT ■ DEC PDP-1 assembler in 1962 ■ Demonstrate the Type 30 Precision CRT Display ■ “It should demonstrate as many of the computer's resources as possible, and tax those resources to the limit; ■ Within a consistent framework, it should be interesting, which means every run should be different; ■ It should involve the onlooker in a pleasurable and active way -- in short, it should be a game.” Tennis for Two - 1958 ■ William Higinbotham ■ Demonstrate system ■ Analog computer ■ Real-time game A.S. Douglas - 1952 ■ Part of Ph.D. thesis in Human-Computer Interaction ■ Tic-Tac-Toe ■ Play by dialing numbers ■ Computer opponent ■ Emulator ■ http://www.dcs.warwick .ac.uk/~edsac/ Ralph Baer - 1951 ■ Asked to Build the best television set in the world. ■ Built in several prototypes between 1966-1968 ■ Hand controller and light gun ■ Use of sensors ■ Magnavox signed an agreement in 1971 and the first video game system got released in May 1972: Odyssey Claude Shannon (1916-2001) Condon et al, 1940 Babbage’s Tic-Tac-Toe machine A slide about digital and analog ■ The first computer games were “analog” games ■ On digital computers, not analog computers ■ Except Shannon’s Hex playing computer ■ The early computer pioneers seem to have been quite interesting in games also ■ Underlying common features? ■ Separating “analog” and “digital” games is problematic ■ Enforces a media perspective ■ Belittles the early research on games ■ Von Neumann, Nash, etc. ■ Risks missing important threads in the history of game research ■ And other research fields as well Computer Space – 1970 Back to Spacewar ■ Nolan Bushnell decided to commercialize Spacewar ■ Stand-alone machine ■ Circuit board for Single- player version (Breakout) was developed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak… Nolan Bushell - 1972 ■ Atari ■ syzygy ■ Pong ■ Arcade version, 1972 ■ TV-console, 1975 ■ Breakout ■ Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, 1974 ■ Difficulties getting bank loans due to them associating games with pinball machines and the mafia Pong vs. Pong? ■ In 1972, Magnavox sued Atari ■ Patents on electronic games & electronic ping- pong ■ Settled out of court ■ $700,000 paid-up license ■ Later, other companies had to pay royalties Coin-eaters ■ 1974 to 1975 ■ 57 games are released. ■ 1976 ■ 53 videogames by 15 companies ■ “First” controversy ■ Death Race 2000 Vector Graphics ■ Space Wars, 1977 ■ Cinematronics ■ pong clone maker ■ Speed Freak, 1977 ■ 3D Graphics Coin shortage ■ Taito, known for pachinko games ■ Space Invaders, 1978 ■ Levels? ■ Access Reward? Improvements & Variants ■ Atari Football, Atari, 1978 ■ Screen down ■ Asteroids, Atari, 1978 ■ Initials and High Score ■ Social Rewards ■ Galaxian, Namco, 1979 ■ 8-bit color ■ Stratovox, Taito, 1980 ■ Speech sound Platform Games ■ Pac-Man, Namco, 1981 ■ Moru Iwatani ■ Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981 ■ Shigeru Miyamoto ■ Introduced Mario & Donkey Kong ■ Mario’s nose is 1 pixel large… Game Brains & Cartridges ■ Fairchild ■ Fairchild VES, 1976 ■ Atari VCS ■ Simple Hardware ■ No screen buffer ■ Third Party Developers ■ Activision, 1979 ■ Sued by Atari Home Computers ■ Commodore ■ Commodore PET, 1977 ■ VIC 20, 1980 ■ Commodore 64, 1982 ■ Commodore Amiga, 1985 ■ Amiga 500, 1987 ■ Amiga 2000, 1987 ■ Sinclair ■ ZX80, 1980 ■ ZX81, 1981 ■ ZX Spectrum, 1982 ■ Etc., etc., etc. Crash of Arcade Games ■ Transition Cycles ■ 6-8 years ■ Atari Hubris ■ Oversupply ■ 50+ companies ■ Home Consoles ■ Lack of Faith ■ Video games fad ■ Exception exist ■ Paperboy, Atari, 1984 ■ Gauntlet, 1985 ■ First Co-Op Console Game? Online home consoles ■ Xbox, 2001 (Xbox Live 2002) ■ PlayStation, 1994 (Online functionality for PS2 in 2001) ■ Media centers ■ Achievements ■ Illusionary Rewards (Social Rewards) Contemporary computer and video game genres (Apologies for lack of content re. RTS) Sport Games ■ Annual version ■ FIFA 200X, Electronic Arts, 200X-1 ■ Madden NFL 200X, EA Sports, 200X- 1 ■ Tiger Woods PGA Tour, 200X-1 ■ Tightly tied to real-world statistics ■ Volunteers collect ■ Knowledge of real world domain important aspect of game Racing ■ Grand Theft Auto 3, Rockstar Games, 2001 ■ Midtown Madness 3, Digital Illusions, 2003 ■ Navigation essential gameplay part ■ Sustenance Rewards used to be important Platform Games ■ Bandicoot series ■ Sonic series ■ Mario series ■ (Metroid series) ■ Usually given as examples of good learnability (through Levels) ■ Navigation essential gameplay part Shigeru Miyamoto ■ Donkey Kong, 1981 ■ Super Mario Bros., 1985 ■ Super Mario 64, 1996 ■ The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, 1998 ■ The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, 2000 ■ Pikmin, 2001 ■ Super Mario Sunshine, 2002 33/58 Strategy Games ■ Sprung from board games ■ Traditional Strategy ■ Civilization, 1990 ■ Civilization IV, 2006 ■ Grand Strategy Games ■ Europa Universalis ■ Heart of Irons ■ Real-time Strategy ■ Dune 2, 1992 ■ Age of Empires, 1997 ■ Resource management essential gameplay part Sid Meier ■ Solo Fight, 1984 ■ Sid Meier’s Pirates!, 1987 ■ Railroad Tycoon, 1990 ■ Civilization, 1991 ■ Colonization, 1994 ■ Sid Meier’s Gettyburg!, 1997 ■ Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, 1999 ■ Civilization IV, 2005 35/58 Computer RPGs ■ Grew out of RPGs ■ Dungeon, 1975 ■ Ultima series, 1981- ■ Elder Scrolls series, 1994- ■ Fallout series, 1997- ■ Baldur’s Gate series, 1998- ■ Dragon Age series, 2009- ■ Roguelikes… ■ Narratives, Controlling Groups Game Designer: Richard Garriott ■ Akalabeth, 1979 ■ Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, 1981 ■ Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, 1982 ■ Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar, 1985 ■ Autoduel, 1985 ■ Ogre, 1986 ■ Ultima VIII: Pagan, 1994 ■ Ultima Online, 1997 ■ City of Heroes, 2004 ■ City of Villians, 2005 ■ Tabula Rasa, 2007 ■ Suggested Reading ■ King, B. & Borland, J. Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic 37/58 Game Designer: Warren Spector ■ Toon, 1984 ■ Car Wars, Ogre, Illuminati ■ AD&D, DM’s guide, 2nd ed., 1989 ■ GURPs, 3rd ed. 1992 ■ Send in the Clones (Paranoia), 1985 ■ Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, 1991 ■ Ultima VII, Part 2, Serpent Isle, 1993 ■ System Shock, 1994 ■ Thief: The Dark Project, 1999 ■ Deus Ex, 2000 ■ Epic Mickey, 2010 38/58 Game Designer: Ken Rolston ■ Paranoia, 1984 ■ The Lost Island of Castanamir (D&D), 1984 ■ River of Cradles (Runequest), 1992 ■ Paranoia, 5th ed., 1995 ■ Something Rotten in Kislev (WFRP), 1999 ■ Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, 2002 ■ Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, 2006 39/58 Adventure Games ■ Can be seen as simplified RPGs ■ Single-player games with one PCs ■ Emphasis on Puzzle Solving ■ Emphasis on Storytelling ■ Using and combining Items in Inventories ■ First examples text-based ■ Zork series, The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, etc. – all developed by Infocom ■ Illocutionary Interfaces Roberta Williams ■ Graphical adventure genre