Joe Chung
Monmouth U. Homepage

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
====== Introduction, History of Computer and Video Games ======

===== Background =====

  * Colleges and universities offering game development and theory courses.
    * some majors and minors
      * MIT, University of Southern California, Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Washington, etc.
    * International Game Developers Association has developed an evolving education curriculum guidelines for game development: http://www.igda.org/resource/group/b5ea2361-3c2d-49fe-9a7d-b3e7bbeddfa1/2015_Framework_GDC_Presenta.pptx

  * Developing a game is not just programming.
     * (But the programmers tend to make more money.)
     * Fields of study such as Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Theater, Business, and Film Studies have a major impact on gaming

----

===== Some History =====

  * 1952 - A.S. Douglas of U. Cambridge developed Tic-Tac-Toe for the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC), a British computer.

==== 1960 - ====

  * The first games were hacked on oscilloscopes and university mainframes.
  * 1962 - Spacewar. Developed at MIT on a PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1; Digital Equipment); used vector graphics.
  * 1965 - Periscope. Developed by Sega; popularity prompted Sega to ditch the pinball business and produce more of its own games. See http://www.pinrepair.com/arcade/sperisc.htm

==== 1970 - ====

  * 1971 - Computer Space (a Spacewar clone). Developed by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney; used a regular raster display television set; too ahead of its time.
  * 1972 - Magnavox Odyssey. The first home video game console developed by Ralph Baer. A commercial success ($100 a system, 330,000 sold).
  * **1972 - Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney found Atari.**
  * **1972 - Pong, the arcade machine (by Atari). Home version released in 1975.**
  * 1974 - Tank. Developed by Kee Games. The first arcade game to use ROM chips.
  * 1976 - (Colossal Cave) Adventure. The first text-based interactive fiction game developed by William Crowther and Don Woods on Digital mainframes.
  * 1976 - Breakout. Prototyped by then Atari employee Steve Jobs (with the help of friend Steve Wozniak).  See [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140623034804/http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Articles.Detail&id=395|link.]]
  * **1977 - Atari 2600 (128 bytes of RAM); Apple introduces the Apple II. 2 million Atari 2600s sold by 1980 -- thanks in part to ...**
  * **1978 - ... Space Invaders. Developed by Taito in Japan.**
  * **1979 - Asteroids. Developed by Atari.**

==== 1980 - ====

  * **1980 - Pac-Man. Developed by Namco. $1 billion since its release.**
  * 1980 - Battlezone. Developed by Atari (doing $1 billion in business at the time).
  * **1981 - Donkey Kong, Centipede, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaxian, Tempest.**
  * **1982 - [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts}Electronic Arts (EA)]] is founded.**
  * **Crash:  Game industry > $6 billion in 1981; Atari sales down 50% in 1981; game industry < $800 million by 1984.**
  * **1985 - Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).**
  * **1985 - Tetris. Developed by Alexey Pajitnov (Soviet Union).**
  * 1986 - Sega Master System, Amiga by Commodore (computer), and Atari 7800.
  * **1989 - Sega Genesis (16-bit console), Nintendo GameBoy, SimCity (by Maxis).**

==== 1990 - The Console Wars Begin ====

  * 1990 - Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES)
  * **1991 - Super Nintendo (SNES). 16-bit competitor to the Sega Genesis.**
  * 1991 - S3 introduces first single chip graphics accelerator for PC.
  * 1991 - Street Fighter II (Capcom) and Wolfenstein 3D (id Software)
  * 1992 - Mortal Kombat by Midway.
  * Nintendo has $7 billion in sales worldwide; Sega and Nintendo consoles dominate 80% of the computer/video game market.
  * **1993 - DOOM (id Software; not true 3D) and Myst (Broderbund).**
  * 1993 - 7th Guest. First game with full-motion video.
  * **1995 - Windows 95. Make game development significantly easier (DirectX SDK, plug-and-play).**
  * **1995 - Two 32-bit systems: Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation.**
  * 1996 - Nintendo 64. Cartridge based system aimed for the younger market.
  * **1996 - Quake (id Software). Real 3D engine; multiplayer online game**
  * **1997 - Standardization of 3D acceleration; Pentium II 200 MHz PCs.**
  * **1997 - Ultima Online. First 3D Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).**
  * 1997 - GoldenEye 007 released for N64, developed by a team who had never developed a game before; created a smooth multi-player mode as an afterthought.
  * 1997 - Final Fantasy VII released for PS1.
  * 1998 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time released for N64.
  * **1998 - Dance Dance Revolution (Konami) introduced.  A pioneer in the rhythm and dance video game genre.**
  * 1999 - Sega Dreamcast. 128-bit console.

==== 2000 - ====

  * **2000 - The Sims, developed by Maxis and published by EA. Became one of the the best-selling PC games of all time (>175 million copies sold).**
  * **2000 - Sony PlayStation 2. 128-bit console; 294 MHz processor ("Emotion Engine").**
  * **2001 - Microsoft XBox. 128-bit console; Pentium 4 733 MHz processor; DirectX API.**
    * **Launch title: Halo**
  * **2001 - Nintendo GameCube. 128-bit console; IBM Gekko Processor at 403 MHz.**
  * **2001 - Grand Theft Auto III. Developed by Rockstar Games.**
  * **2004 - Two handheld systems: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)**
  * **2004 - World of Warcraft**
  * **2004 - Flash MX 2004 (ActionScript 2.0); begin the Flash games revolution**
  * 2005 - Microsoft XBox 360. Custom IBM PowerPC and ATI Graphics processors.
  * **2005 - Guitar Hero I**
  * 2006 - Guitar Hero II
  * 2006 - PlayStation 3 (PS3); Blu-ray
  * **2006 - Nintendo Wii.**
  * **2007 - Apple iPhone.**
  * 2007 - Halo 3; >14.5 million copies sold worldwide.
  * 2007 - Rock Band for PS3 and XBox 360 by Harmonix Music Systems.
  * 2009 - Wii Sports becomes the best-selling game of all time. (>82 million copies sold to date)
  * 2009 - 2D games still going strong! (?) New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
  * 2009 - Angry Birds
  * 2010 - Apple iPad
  * 2010 - iPhone 4
  * 2010 - Microsoft Kinect, PlayStation Move
  ...
  * 2012-13 - XBox One, Playstation 4, Wii U, Ouya (attempt at crowd-funded model, Android-based), "Steam Box"
  * 2014-now - VR, League of Legends (professional electronic sports), twitch.tv (live game streaming), people still can't let Pokemon Go

==== Trends ====

  * Quickly changing/advancing technologies (e.g., graphics)
  * Physical motion and tangible interfaces
  * Casual/Simple gaming
  * Mobile gaming
  * Bigger game development budgets
  * Price wars for games and consoles / hardware
  * Online / multiplayer
  * Downloadable content (available on all major game consoles)
  * User-generated content (iPhone and Android app stores)
  * Increased concern with security
  * More support by game developers, more tools available
  * Virtual/Augmented reality

----

===== Discussion =====

  * Favorite video / computer game, and why?

----

===== Expectations and Goals =====

  * Roadmap: Game Design => 2D Game Development Concepts => Game Mechanics Implementation => Game Production
  * Build at least one large-scale game (full development life-cycle)

----