Introductory Lecture & Game History

During today's lecture Mikki explained our assignment, gaming theory and the history of games.
She explained that we needed to consider the: Narrative, Space and Causation when creating a game.

Game History
Mikki then went over different consoles, games and technologies throughout game history.
Alot of games' functionality was limited due to the technology at the time, we learnt that RPGs sacrifice graphics due to limitations in the machine and many games face these same problems.

• The Nimrod computer was custom-made for what is thought to be the first video game named Tennis For Two which used an oscilloscope allowing two people to play tennis electronically.

• Atari 2600 - Many games did not include a narrative and were very basic. Mario Bros was created.

• NES - Where many of the flagship characters for Nintendo were first created. Super Mario Bros was created which didn't include text and used actions as part of the tutorial during the gameplay (You learn how to play using actions).

• Super Nintendo & Mega Drive - Games created begin to include more narrative and cut-scenes. No dialogue is used and therefore the story is implied through actions. For example, Super Metroid (1994) was released on the Super Nintendo and told it's story through visuals in game. This has been achieved through the changes in the environment or if a character has died this was implied through semiotics using a pile of bones in the scene. This game was the only exception on the Super Nintendo regarding dialogue as it included one line at the start of the game which said, "The last metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace...".

• PlayStation and N64 - The playstation had the functionality of dialogue and games were able to include stories. 3D games were able to be made and an example of this is Super Mario 64. Other games included: Final Fantasy 7 and Metal Gear.

• PlayStation 2, GameCube and XBox - Games such as Kingdom Hearts were created and this is where creators were getting used to telling stories in games.

• PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 - Textures were included to make games more realistic which also aided storytelling as you were able to tell serious stories in a more realistic way. For example Batman Arkham Asylum has a darker narrative and therefore added these textures made it easier make games in these genres.

• PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One - Games began to look even more realistic due to the graphics which caused stories to feel more real. The gamer was able to make their own choices during gameplay instead of following a specific story. For example, Marvel's Spiderman is an open world game that allows you to make your own choices as you do not have to follow the main story. 

• VR - The technology for playing Virtual Reality games is continously developing. The HTC Vive is a headset that allows you to play VR and can be made wireless by using an adapter. This allows you to be fully absorbed into the gameplay as you feel as though you are a character within the game. Moreover it allows games to have a story and dialouge. Games include: Rick and Morty and Superhot.

• AR - Augmented Reality games such as Pokemon Go, allow you to project a game through the real world. This is another way allowing people to put themselves into the game as the game is happening in their own reality.

• ARG - Alternate Reality Games draw you into a story that you never knew existed and makes you feel as though there is another reality happening beside yours. For Example, I love Bees was an Alternate Reality Game, that gamified marketing by creating an alternate reality. This was actually a marketing campaign for Halo 3.

Evolution
Therefore games that were involved in the same franchaise have improved since their earlier versions of gameplay due to the technology now available.

For example:
Super Mario Brothers - read the manual, learn through actions
Super Mario Sunshine - basic story, good graphics, limited dialogue
Super Mario Odessey - Story, lots of things to do, can makes choices




Zork was a Multiple User Dungeon that was a text adventure game. Therefore although it didn't include any visual graphics, these could be imagined by the gamer. The game itself text-based and was based on caves with added fantasy, so that you could travel through the game which was achieved by typing to the computer that was coded to recognise specific inputs.

Games have now evolved so that they can be included in films. For example in Black Mirror's Bandersnatch game meets film as the choices you make influence the rest of the movie.

Bibliography
NINTENDO (2019). Super Mario Bros. [Online - Image] Available at: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/NES/Super-Mario-Bros--803853.html [Accessed: 31 January 2019]
PLAYER ATTACK (2016). ZORK-SCREENSHOT. [Online - Image] Available at: https://www.playerattack.com/zork-screenshot/ [Accessed: 31 January 2019]
MEDIUM (2017). Beat Atari with Deep Reinforcement Learning! (Part 0: Intro to RL). [Online - Image] Available at: https://becominghuman.ai/lets-build-an-atari-ai-part-0-intro-to-rl-9b2c5336e0ec [Accessed: 31 January 2019]
KORSGAARD'S COMMENTARY (2017). The Short History of the Nintendo Playstation. [Online - Image] Available at: http://www.korsgaardscommentary.com/2017/01/the-short-history-of-the-nintendo-playstation.html [Accessed: 31 January 2019]