The first computer games go back to the 50s when a nought and crosses game was created using an EDSAC computer. An effort at MIT ten years later led to a the multiplayer Spacewar game developed in a PDP-1. Even though these games were primitive, a game industry was born with the first games available in special locations – arcades. Today’s games are produced with modest Hollywood budgets and some are selling more than box-office hits. In this lecture we look at computer games and the gaming market. Also we cover the impact of gaming and the trends.

1. LECTURE L21
GAMES AND GAMIFICATION

2. Disclaimer

4. Games are the
one of the
most powerful
force in the
world

5. Computer Game History

6. Early Games
Cathode ray tube amusement device, 1947
Analog game, purely electromechanical
Controlled by control knobs which influences the
trajectory of the CRT's light beam
Player controls a reticle and aligns it to an airplane to shoot down

7. Noughts And Crosses, 1952
A Tic-Tac-Toe game
Ran on EDSAC
Used the tank display CRT as
35 x 16 pixel screen for
displaying his game
Game did not get well known
Early Games

8. Q1
In early 1960, there was no “video game industry” -
Two cultures contributed to the idea that
computers should be things we interact with and
play with. What are they?

9. Early Games
Early 1960s - Two cultures contributed to the idea that
computers should be things we interact with and play with
Hackers - “the hands on imperative”
Rebel entrepreneurs - eager to break into the amusement
industry
Walter Isaacson: The Innovators

10. Spacewar!
1961
Early Games

11. Programmed on PDP-1 in MIT in
1960 by Steve Russel
One of the first time-sharing
computers
Space game where two players try
to shoot each others without being
drawn to the sun in the center
Spacewar!
1961
Early Games

12. Q2
What was the impact of early games like
Spacewar!?

13. Impact:
1. Collaboration - Liquid network
effect
2. Free - Open Source
3. Strengthened the view that
Computers should be Personal and
Interactive in real-time
Early Games
Spacewar!
1961

14. Q3
Early machines where too expensive for personal
use. What was the solution?

15. Arcades
Special purpose machines
Most popular game was PONG
Arcades became popular amongst
young in 1971-1974
2-D boards and movement
of objects
Special controls and buttons

17. Pong 1974
Atari VCS 2600 1977
Game Consoles
In 1974 game consoles start to appear
Computer games market emerges
Atari became the industry leader —Nolan Bushnell
VCS – Video Computer System 1974 – 1984
Discontinued in 1991

19. The Video Game Crash
In 1983 the computer game market crashed
Throughout the 1984 and 1985, the home video game industry was
nearly dead
Too much supply of similar games
Low quality
The public lost interest
Atari did not credit developers

20. Game Consoles Come Back
Nintendo Entertainment System, 1986
Started the second computer console revolution
Changed the way games were marketed
Strict control of what games were produced and sold
Instituted quality standards
Instituted content standards

21. Enter the Personal Computer
In the 80s Personal computers become more wide spread
Games slowly appear in the PCs

23. Interactive fiction
In the 80s Interactive fiction games became popular
Role-playing game in which the player moves around in imaginative
adventure world and solves mysteries
Early games where text games with simple commands
Slowly graphics was added

24. Enter CD-ROM
With CD-ROM new types of games
became possible
More graphic
The 7th guest from 1992
Myst from 1993 became an
unexpected huge success

26. Multiplayer and 3-D Games
Early games were multiplayer games
Pong and Spacewar! were multiplayer
Most games after that were single player games where
player plays against the computer or players take turn
In the late 80s and early 90s networks start to appear
Ethernet LANs, then the Internet

28. DOOM introduced 3-D graphics and multiplayer capabilities in 1993
3D game where the player moves around in a 3-D world
Breakthrough graphics
Multiplayer capability on a LAN
Multiplayer and 3-D Games

29. Impact of Computer Games

30. “Games offer immediate feedback, you can see your progress,
you can try something and be frustrated but later learn more…
that’s why game play is so engaging to us.”
—Barbara Chamberlin, project director at
the New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab

31. Q4
Many consider video games harmful to people.
What are the main concerns?

32. Addiction
Some games are highly addictive
Role playing games, MUD (Multiple User
Dialog)
Example: EverQuest
Games with progression, construction and
commands
Examples: WarCraft, CounterStrike, Sims
Impact of Computer Games

34. Violence
Some games are violent, made for mature
adult audience
Most games are not violent
Impact of Computer Games

36. The Gaming Market
“In twenty years, games will have taken over
the world and everything will be virtual
reality.”
-- Ray Kurzwiel

37. 35
Source: ESA Essential facts, US data
The average age of a gamer?

38. Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

39. Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

40. 1990
$10 bn
2000 2010
$20 bn
$50 bn
Games
$100 bn
2017

41. Game Consoles

43. Products: PlayStation, PlayStation2, 3 and 4
PlayStation Portable
Have the broadest market
Has most of the games
PlayStation3 came with IBM’s Cell
Movie and TV show downloads
PlayStation4 released late 2013
Sony

45. Products: XBox, XBox 360, XBox One
Appeal to hard-core games
Most powerful console
Xbox Live – online game service
Kinect
Microsoft is promoting
xbox as entertainment
device
XBox

47. Products: GameCube, GameBoy
Wii, Wii U, DS
Appeal to families
Apply strict standards
Wii got a very good start with
Wii Remote
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo

48. The Market
PlayStation 2 is still on top
What is the most popular
game console of all time?

49. Q5
Can video games have positive impact on people?

50. Games for Everyone

51. Tetris
What is the most popular
game of all time?
The Market

52. Games are universal

53. Games are
played by anyone

54. Games are part of
growing up

55. Millennials People wants
entertainment and play
in their work, education
and social life

56. Starts early

57. Why should we stop
playing when we
grow up?

58. Simple and easy games, last for short time (50+ hours)
Addictive with low barriers
Pictures from
PopCap
Source: IGDA 2008-2009 Casual Games White Paper
Casual Games

59. Social Games
Multiplayer games that are played with others
Synchronous or Asynchronous

60. Source: The online computer and video game industry (OECD Report)
The MMORPG Top List
Thousands of players
Roles and responsibility
Continuity and progress
MMORPG

61. Monetizing games

62. Monetizing games
To make successful games, you have to be a really
good game designer
Art style, tone, uniqueness, game design and
balancing have to work
Monetization strategy depends heavily on the type of
game

63. Ad supported - free, low barrier, large audience
Free 2 Play - optional in-play purchase, time, skills, virtual stuff
Download - Pay for downloads for PC, console and mobile games
Subscription - Pay for access, monthly
Money gaming - Play for money and take rake or percentage
Monetizing games

64. Give player access to play significant portion of the game
without paying
Then charge for extras, VIP access, more choices, virtual
stuff, advancement
Based on the Freemium concept
Free to Play - F2P

65. VIRTUAL STUFF
Tom Chatfield
7 ways video games engage the brain
(2010)
TED Talk

67. The 90-9-1 Rule
In social communities, 90% of the
users don’t contribute
In gaming 90% play for free but
are needed so the community
works
90% Play for free
9% Pay for added value
1% Pay for anything

68. Can games improve the world?

69. Jane McGonigal:
Gaming can make a better world (2010)

71. Can we use games to solve (boring, untasteful…) problems?

73. Gamification

74. Gamification is the process of
using game thinking and
game mechanics to engage
audiences and solve problems

75. game me•chan•ics
Techniques used by game
designers to make games
fun and addictive

76. The Gamification Loop

77. leaderboard

78. progression

79. Influence and status

80. Games are the most
powerful motivation to
influence behaviour

83. How can we use
game mechanics to
change the
real world?

87. Each week we spend
3 billion hours playing computer
games

88. At the age of 21 people have spent
10.000
hours
playing
computer games

89. Compulsory
school is
10.000
hours

90. The time people have spent playing
World of Warcraft is
5,93 million years

91. Evolution of
man took
5,93 million years

92. Fluid intelligence is the capacity to think logically and solve
problems in novel situations, independent of acquired
knowledge
Crystallized intelligence is the ability to use skills, knowledge,
and experience
Evolution of Man gave us Intelligence

93. Q6
Highlight the talk (parts shown in class) by Gabe
Zicherman: How games make kids smarter (2010).
What are his main points?

94. Gabe Zichermann:
How games make kids smarter (2010)

96. Real life can be so
boooooring

98. Why should we take games seriously?
Clearly people are wasting time

100. But we need scientific evidence

101. Daphne Bavelier:
Your brain on video games (2012)

103. “ ... people who play
action games far
outperform the
people who don’t”
- Green and Bavelier’s
experiment

104. Better in problem
solving

105. Better in unknown
situations

106. Better in exploring
new options

107. Track more objects

108. Better in
monitoring
cluttered world

109. Better at processing
visual stream of
information

110. And when you are hiring a person to do a job
for you, what is your first interview question?

111. Do you play video games?

113. Play games
with your kids

115. Augmented and virtual reality
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