1.
LECTURE L21
GAMES AND GAMIFICATION

2.
Disclaimer

3.
Games are the
one of the
most powerful
force in the
world

4.
Computer Game History

5.
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

6.
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

7.
Early Games
Early 1960s - Two cultures contributed to the idea that
computers should be things we interact with and play with:
Walter Isaacson: The Innovators
Hackers - “the hands on imperative”
Rebel entrepreneurs - eager to break into the amusement
industry

8.
Spacewar! 1961
Early Games

9.
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

10.
Impact:
1. Collaboration - Liquid network effect
2. Free - Open Source
3. Strengthened the view that
Computers should be Personal and
Interactive in real-time
Spacewar! 1961
Early Games

11.
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

12.
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

13.
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 want to credit developers

14.
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

15.
Enter the Personal Computer
In the 80s Personal computers become more wide spread
Games slowly appear in the PCs

16.
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

17.
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

18.
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

19.
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

20.
Impact of Computer Games

21.
“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

22.
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

23.
Really simple game, but highly addictive
Released on May 24, 2013,
discontinued Feb 8, 2014

24.
Violence
Some games are violent, made for mature
adult audience
Most games are not violent
Impact of Computer Games

25.
The Gaming Market
“In twenty years, games will have taken over the world and everything will
be virtual reality.”
-- Ray Kurzwiel

26.
Average Game Player Age
35
Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

27.
Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

28.
Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

29.
Source: ESA Essential facts, US data

30.
1990
$10 bn
2000 2010
$20 bn
$50 bn
Games
$100 bn
2017

31.
Game Consoles

32.
Sony
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

33.
XBox
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

34.
Nintendo
Products: GameCube, GameBoy
Wii, Wii U, DS
Appeal to families
Apply strict standards
Wii got a very good start with
Wii Remote
Nintendo Switch

35.
The Market
PlayStation 2 is still on top
What is the most popular
game console of all time?

36.
Games for Everyone

37.
The Market
Tetris
What is the most popular
game of all time?

38.
Games are universal

39.
Games are
played by anyone

40.
Games are part of
growing up

41.
Millennials wants
entertainment and play
in their work, education
and social life

42.
Starts early

43.
Why should we stop
playing when we
grow up?

44.
Casual Games
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

45.
Social Games
Multiplayer games that are played with others
Synchronous or Asynchronous

46.
Source: The online computer and video game industry (OECD Report)
The MMORPG Top List
Thousands of players
Roles and responsibility
Continuity and progress
MMORPG

47.
Monetizing games

48.
Monetizing games
Monetization strategy depends heavily on the type of game
To make successful games, you have to be a really
good game designer
Art style, tone, uniqueness, game design and balancing have to
work

49.
Monetizing games
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

50.
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

51.
VIRTUAL STUFF
Tom Chatfield
7 ways video games engage the brain
(2010)
TED Talk

52.
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

53.
Can games improve the world?

54.
Jane McGonigal:
Gaming can make a better world (2010)

55.
Can we use games to solve (boring, untasteful…) problems?

56.
Gamification

57.
Gamification is the process of
using game thinking and
game mechanics to engage
audiences and solve problems

58.
game me•chan•ics
Techniques used by game
designers to make games
fun and addictive

59.
The Gamification Loop

60.
leaderboard

61.
progression

62.
Influence and status

63.
Games are the most
powerful motivation to
influence behaviour

64.
How can we use
game mechanics to
change the
real world?

65.
Each week we spend
3 billion hours playing computer
games

66.
At the age of 21 people have spent
10.000
hours
playing
computer games

67.
Compulsory
school is
10.000
hours

68.
The time people have spent playing
World of Warcraft is
5,93 million years

69.
Evolution of
man took
5,93 million years

70.
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

71.
Gabe Zichermann:
How games make kids smarter (2010)

72.
Real life can be so
boooooring

73.
Why should we take games seriously?
Clearly people are wasting time

74.
But we need scientific evidence

75.
Daphne Bavelier:
Your brain on video games (2012)

76.
“ ... people who play
action games far
outperform the
people who don’t”
- Green and Bavelier’s experiment

77.
Better in problem
solving

78.
Better in unknown
situations

79.
Better in exploring
new options

80.
Track more objects

81.
Better in monitoring
cluttered world

82.
Better at processing
visual stream of
information

83.
And when you are hiring a person to do a job
for you, what is your first interview question?

84.
Do you play video games?

85.
Play games with
your kids