Video Games: The First of Many

Oliver Knabb
Noughts and Crosses
 First Video Game ever created  1952
 Featured digital graphic display (1st to do so)
 Developed by Alexander S. Douglas, which was
used as an illustration for a thesis he was working on(Original game display)
 Displayed through a Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device

 Developed on a EDSAC computer at the University of Cambridge

 Used a rotary telephone controller for game control
 Also known as OXO for the markers used in the game

 Uses the concept of Tic Tac Toe

 Player places either an “X” or an “O” on the board and attempts to
make a diagonal, horizontal, or vertical line with three consecutive
markers to win
 Played against a computer player (CPU)
Video Technology

Christian Parker
Lyndsay Scheidt
How it’s made
 Creating a game can be as complex as making a
Hollywood Blockbuster.
 It involves months of planning, preparation, script writing,
casting, and character development.
 Cutting-edge technology and massive computing power
go into making games.
Production
 Based on forms of entertainment like popular movies
 Artists work together on the storyboards to depict each
scene of the game
 They instruct the computer to move the character
 the motions of a human actor are captured using a special suit
of sensors to represent the control points
The Game World
 The majority of 3-D objects created for computer games
are made up of polygons.
 Most video game consoles and computers contain a
special chip and dedicated memory that store the special
images.
 Most games are written with custom code based on the
code programming language.
Post Production Phase
 This phase includes extensive testing, review, marketing
and finally, distribution.
 The job of the testers is to play the game repeatedly to
find all the mistakes, or "bugs.“
 When a problem is discovered, a detailed report is sent
back to the developers and the error is corrected.
Distribution

Mike K.
Distribution, Financing, and Pricing
 You can get games from: in app purchases, the consoles
your playing on, Amazon, GameStop, and other gaming
websites and stores.
 More examples?
 Other elements of the distribution process?
 Delivery
 Storage
 Displays
Marketing-Information Management

Morgan Stump
Information Management

 Get together all the tasks, schedules, and estimates for

the development team
 Start with an idea
 Designers start by mixing genres
 Proposal Document
 Concept
 Gameplay
 Feature List
 Setting & Story
 Target Audience
 Requirements and Schedules
 Staff & Budget Estimates
Marketing-Information Management

 Video Game Planning

 Preparation
 Create the story
 Story Board
 Script Writing
 Casting
 Character Development
 Create Characters and refine them as much as possible
 Cutting Edge Technology
 Transform characters into controllable 3-D characters
 Takes about 5 days to design one character
 Massive Computer Power
 Use special suit of sensors to represent the control points of the
characters skeleton
 Other codes go into making the game seem more real life
Marketing-Information Management
 Test the Game once Finished
 Debunk “bugs”
 Rating is given for customers
 Marketing
 Promote video
 Designers are sent to trade shows and conventions all over to
promote
 Demos
Pricing/Financing

Mike K.
Financing and Pricing
 The gaming industry is an $18 billion industry
 Many people believe that video games are very overpriced, and
most people would agree that a new game’s price should be at
the most, $40.
 $40 is probably a little low because the company needs to pay
its employees and any marketing they did for the game/games.
 Making a game is a very expensive process, so $60 is a
reasonable price for a new game.
 Many gamers have no problem paying well over $100 for a
limited edition of a game, some people think that’s crazy, and
for others it’s a way of collecting something, kind of like
collecting baseball cards or comic books.
Promotion & Selling

Hunter
Call of Duty & Jeep
 In 2010 Jeep Motor Company struck a
deal with Call of Duty and had them put
their jeep as a transport vehicle for the
US special forces in the game
 The Jeep Wrangler is jet black with Call
of Duty Black Ops graphics on the side of
them
 They started the two door edition at
$30,000 and for the four door it started
at $33,000
 The promotion that they also used were
commercials
 In the commercials the US Special Forces
were in combat and then the jeep drove
up and the narrator started in
More Promotion Examples
 Product placement
 Ex. NASCAR game and flying billboards
 Advergames
 Ex. Hershey solitaire
 Apps
 Beware of spying apps
 Social Media
 Used to promote games
 Fan pages
 Facebook games
Negative Sides of the Industry

Ryan Lessig
Negatives of the Video Game Industry
• More aggressive
• More confrontational
• Fights with peers

• Violent acts repeated in games

• Reinforces illegal acts
Psychological Aspect of Video
Games
By Oyeshi Ahmed
 Fantasy Vs. Reality
• Many common video games include horrific violence graphics
such as blood, stabbing, murdering, killing, and shooting.

• During the play of video games, many have an “everything will

turn out okay” attitude.

• Teenagers are not realizing the negative aspects of violence in

real life.

• “Shooting aliens” and “driving tanks” are only possible in realm

of video games
 Video Game Addiction
• Growing problem among young men and boys

• Helps players escape from their “realistic lives”

• The lure of a fantasy world is more appealing than real

life

• Gamers often get “depressed”, “angry”, “sad”, and

“emotional” if their videos games get taken away from
them.
Gamer Demographics

Emily Larson
Gamers
 72% of American households play video or computer
games
 The average game player age is 37
 29% of gamers were over age 50
 58% male gamers and 42% female gamers
 55% of gamers play games on their phones
 45% of parents play video games with their child weekly
 $25.1 billion spent on video games
 1 CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS
 2 MADDEN NFL 11
 3 HALO: REACH
 4 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS
 5 RED DEAD REDEMPTION
 6 WII FIT PLUS
 7 JUST DANCE 2
 8 CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2
 9 ASSASSIN'S CREED: BROTHERHOOD 360
 10 NBA 2K11
 11 BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2
 12 SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2
 13 POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION
 14 MARIO KART W/WHEEL
 15 JUST DANCE
 16 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS
 17 DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS
 18 WII SPORTS RESORT
 19 FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS
 20 FINAL FANTASY XIII
Gamer Psychographics

By: Rob Schaub

Gamer Population
 72% of American households affirmed that they do some
sort of gaming whether it is on a phone, tablet, console,
or computer.
 People who are 50+ are also included in the above
statistic, composing 29% of the gamer population
 37% percent of the gamer population are girls who are
18+ as compared to guys who are 17 or under; they
make up 13%.
More Gamer Stats
 52% of gamers are guys
 48% of gamers are girls
 A third of all gamers say gaming is their favorite hobby to
do.
 19% of gamers are willing to pay for online gaming
opportunities.
 55% of gamers game on their phones (casual gaming)
What about parents?
 98% of parents believe in the ESRB ratings
 80% of parents put some kind of time restraint for gaming
 45% of parents actually play video games
 9 out of 10 parents care about the games their kids play
The Most Popular
 The best selling type of games were sports, shooter, and action
games.
 Most popular game type for online play are puzzle games
 In order, the most popular game ratings are E, M, T, and E10+.
 Consoles games like COD: Black Ops, Madden 11, and Halo:
Reach were the 3 best sellers in 2011.
 The computer games Starcraft II, World of Warcraft
(Cataclysm), and The Sims raked in the most for pc in 2011.
 People are so attached to gaming, the industry made over $25
billion in sales alone in just the year 2010.
Video Games Rating System

Morgan Wilson
Rating Origins
 Controversy about offensive content (ex. Mortal Combat,
Night Trap)
 Government threat forced several systems to be started
 Sega - Videogame Rating Council (VRC) – General
Audiences, MA-13, MA-17 (Failed)
 3DO – E, 12, 17, AO (Failed)
 RSAC – categories rather than age (successful)
 ESRB – age and categories (most successful)
Where
 North America
 Europe
 Australia
 New Zealand
 South Korea
 Brazil
 Japan
 Iran
Categories
 Violence
 Language
 Nudity
 Sex

 Click here for more details