Video Game



Background

Video games are played at the arcade, at home on a television or personal computer, and as a handheld portable game. They are packaged in large consoles, game paks that can only be played on the same manufacturer's hardware (i.e. Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and Sony Playstation), and as CD-ROMs. Made up of a program that instructs the computer to display specific visual and audio effects, video games utilize cutting-edge technology in order to provide fast paced entertainment. Recent statistics show that 70% of all children in the United States have home video game systems. Over four billion dollars is spent on arcade video games annually.

History

A precursor to the video game, pinball machines were introduced during the 1930s and remained popular through the 1970s. In 1971, a video arcade game was produced called Computer Space. Invented by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Computer Space was the first real coin-operated video game, but for various reasons, it never became popular. It did however, lay the groundwork for the next video game that Bushnell and Dabney introduced: the phenomenally successful arcade game Pong. Modeled after the game of ping pong, it was an electronic game in which players tried to hit a flashing dot passed their opponent's video paddle. With the success of Pong, Bushnell and Dabney started the Atari Company, and in 1975, they introduced a home version of Pong. In 1976, Warner Communication purchased Atari for $28 million and expanded its home line of video game cartridges.

At the same time Bushnell and Dabney were developing Pong, Ralph Baer, who was working for Sanders Associates, was designing a home video game system called The Odyssey. Developed in 1969, Baer's system was finally manufactured and distributed by Magnavox in 1972. The Odyssey was a package of 12 different plug-in games that were housed on circuit cards. Each game came with plastic overlays that, when placed over the television screen, simulated the appropriate background. For example, a plastic overlay of a hockey rink was included with the hockey game. The Odyssey also offered an electronic shooting gallery with four additional games and an electronic rifle. Eighty-five thousand systems were sold.

Rapid advances in electronics technology during the 1970s led to the development of more complicated games, such as Space Invaders and Pac-Man. Introduced in 1983 as a joint venture between the Namco Company of Japan and Midway of the United States, Pac-Man has sold hundreds of thousands of games and remains one of the most popular video games.

When personal computers became available, computer games were created. Many of these games were adaptations of arcade or home video game systems, however unique games were also developed. The computer game industry grew swiftly during the 1980s powered by various companies, especially the Nintendo Corporation. In the late 1980s, the CD-ROM was introduced. These disks could hold more information on them, and allowed the development of more sophisticated, interactive games. In 1995, digital video disks (DVDs) were first produced for home computers. Since they have a storage capacity over twenty times greater than CD-ROMs, they promise to revolutionize computer games.

Design

Design is the key aspect of making all video games. It is typically done by a team of skilled computer programmers, writers, artists, and other game designers. During this phase of development, they generate the game's specifications, which includes game type, objective, and graphics.

While creating a video game is rarely a step by step process, there are a variety of tasks that must be accomplished during the development phase. In the beginning, the type and objective of the game is determined. In general, games fall within six categories, or genres, including fighting, shooting, strategy, simulations, adventure, and run, jump and avoid (RJA). Fighting games require the players to battle with each other or the computer. Presently, they are the most popular and encompass such titles as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. Shooting games involve battles in which the player tries to destroy enemy tanks, ships, or planes. Strategy games include such classics as chess, bridge or checkers. Simulations are games, which reproduce real life situations such as flying or driving. Adventure games are computerized versions of role-playing fantasy games. The RJA games are those like the Super Mario games in which a character tries to reach a goal while being impeded by various obstacles.

The action of the game is dependent upon its intended venue. An arcade game must have immediate action. A home version usually includes various skill levels in order to keep the player interested over a longer period of time. A handheld version of a video game is simplified to be played in miniature.

Raw Materials

Although the most important raw material in creating a video game is imagination, a number of supplies are necessary to bring that imagination to life. Once the story has been created, characters and background are drawn on storyboards, then transferred to electronic format directly by an artist or via digitization. Lifelike action is captured on film and sound is recorded on digital audio tape (DAT).

Once design is complete, a variety of raw materials are used to produce video games. This includes the materials that go into making the storage medium, the accessories, and the packaging. The most common storage mediums are floppy disks and CDs. These are made with hard plastics such as polycarbonates. CDs have a thin layer of aluminum or silver coating. Additionally, they are coated with a protective, clear acrylic coating. Floppy disks are made with a thin plastic that is coated with a magnetic material. Plastics are also used to make the accessory pieces that some computer games require. In each of the plastics used, a variety of fillers and colorants are incorporated to modify its characteristics. Typically, computer games are packaged in highly decorated cardboard boxes.

The Manufacturing
Process

Creating a video game is a long, multifaceted process that can take up to one year to complete one game.

Creating the story

Capturing action with art

After the type of game and story are outlined, the game's format can be determined. The format refers to what the player sees when playing the game. A variety of formats exist including platform, top-down, scrolling, isometric, three dimension (3D),

Creating a video game is a long, multifaceted process. A team of designers, artists, and programmers work together to create the final product. After the type of game and story are outlined, the game's format can be determined. The format refers to what the player sees when playing the game and a game may utilize one or more of these formats. The artist adds drawings to storyboards, including character descriptions and arrows showing how the characters will move. Sound and life-like action is recorded.
Creating a video game is a long, multifaceted process. A team of designers, artists, and programmers work together to create the final product. After the type of game and story are outlined, the game's format can be determined. The format refers to what the player sees when playing the game and a game may utilize one or more of these formats. The artist adds drawings to storyboards, including character descriptions and arrows showing how the characters will move. Sound and life-like action is recorded.
and text. Platform games are those that feature a side view of the player's character. Top-down games give a bird's eye view of the player's character. They are often used for war games. The isometric format is a top-down game, which uses perspective tricks to give the illusion of 3D. True 3D games are just now becoming a reality with the introduction of CDs and DVDs. These represent the future of computer game formats. Text game formats have limited graphics and are only used for interactive fiction. In general, all games may use one or more of these formats.

Recording dialogue and sound
effects

Writing the program

Testing

Burning the disks

Packaging the game

Quality Control

The process of transferring the computer game program to a compact disk, or DVD, must be done in a clean, dust-free environment. This is because dust particles are much larger than the pits carved in a disk, and a single particle can ruin a disk. Therefore, strict quality control measures are taken to control the environment around the disk-making process. Other visual inspections are done at various points during the disk manufacture. Random samples of finished disks are also tested to make sure the program is working properly. Beyond the checks involved in disk manufacture, the other components of the game are also checked to ensure they meet the required specifications. At the end of the manufacturing process, random samples of the finished product are checked to make sure it includes all of the necessary components.

The Future

Computer game programming continues to become more sophisticated as the available hardware improves. The most important recent advancement that promises to revolutionize gaming is the development of DVD technology. This will allow a much greater amount of information to be included in the game's program. This should improve many aspects of the game such as the artificial intelligence routines, the graphics, and the special effects. Things such as video clips will be included to make the games more interactive.

Where To Learn More

Books

Gruber, Diana. Action Arcade Adventure Set. Coriolis Group, 1994.

Katz, Arnie and Laurie Yates. Inside Electronic Game Design. Prima Publications, 1997.

Sawyer, Ben. The Ultimate Game Developers Sourcebook. Coriolis Group, 1997.

Periodicals

Bunn, Austin. "Joystick City." The Village Voice (December 30, 1997).

Wright, Maury. "DVD: Breathtaking Sight and Sound, Significant Challenges." EDN (August 15, 1997).

Perry Romanowski



Also read article about Video Game from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

1
Ben the Insane McShane
This is an amazing article that helped me ,but you should include the extremely vast amount of diverse fields of information needed to create a great amount of the most successful games of all time. I predict that in the near future creating a simple game will no longer be simple (by the current standards) because by that time it will stretch to every field of knowledge known to man.



signed
Ben McShane
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