Week 3 assignment

The development of games throughout the 80's and 90's shows to me why gaming has become as popular as it is today. Whereas in the beginning gaming was more simple with games that incorporated little graphics and were quite repeatative. However the strong point about these earlier games is that they wasn't necessarily attempting to imitate real situations as at this time the majority of popular games where situated around spacecraft or missles apart from the exception of pong. I can see how development of games at this period was slow at first because there is plenty of other interactive activities that may have been more challenging and exciting, all that this industry needed was for companies to realize the potential for gaming.

However gaming eventually developed to the point of creating characters in game which still at this point used basic graphics, but still these designers had created a player-character relationship rather than just being an object. This development then went further especially during the 90's as this saw the rise of iconic characters like Mario and Sonic, which i feel helped to promote console games during this era.

Throughout this period of the gaming industry saw other new creations like the introduction of different varieties of games that hadn't been seen before. Gamimg was getting more complex and saw the existance of RPG, RTS as well as shoot em up games. Which now meant that there are games that suites the players tastes, as not everyone enjoys the same type of game.

Games like RPG were then developed further to create MMORPGs, which then opened a new window of oppertunity for gamers as now they could socialise within games bringing a whole new aspect to gaming. Online gaming was a huge incentive for me when i swapped from console to PC gaming as i could regular play with friends and opponents that weren't stupid like making gameplay more challenging. Online gaming was also another method of meeting new people, for instance i now have friends in different parts of the world like Sweden and Germany!

Another reason as to why games are so successful to date is because the industry created games on various different platforms. Whereas in the past games were produced on computers, in the 80's and 90's games saw the transfer onto television sets via consoles and eventually onto handheld game consoles. This meant that gaming was now easily accessable as you could even take games with you where ever you travel, Which helps explain the reason for the decrease of arcades.

With these reasons in mind as well as the increase of graphics and realism in games shows just how gaming has expanded to this stage, as even though the principles may be similar in the past as it is now like for example achieving a goal. i think that gaming had evolved alot as gaming is now a more competitive and social interaction. Especially when considering co-op and online gaming.

Week 2 assignment

The birth of graphical gaming is a subject that I haven't truely thought about in the past, though i do remember when i was younger seeing the old atari 2600 consoles as I have an uncle that has one to this day. But because the visual graphics for console in comparison to the current consoles of that time could not compete i didn't appreciate the origin of games as I would do now.

what interests me about early computer games is how they were designed by people that possessed degrees or worked in laboratories and saw the potential of the gaming experience. As this form of entertainment interaction was a niche market, though there was plenty of other interactive entertainment like pinball, this sector of the market was unexplored. Also the designer of one of the first games A.S.Douglas acquired a degree in human computer interaction, which shows that the man had a great understanding of the experience that gamers should recieve from a game. I feel that without people like Douglas or Willy Higginbotham the gaming industry wouldn't have progressed as much as it has today, as they introduced the idea of games and worked hard to develop them, and ultimately i think that because they were passionate about their games they succeeded.

I remember being dedicated to games when i was very young, my first console was the sega mega drive and the first gamei played was Sonic the Hedgehog. I still love Sonic though they don't bring out games like they use to. The Mega Drive is my most memorable Console as there were plenty of classic games i use to play like streets of rage or Golden axe. There have been other consoles to though like the playstation and the N64, but i feel that i got more into gaming when i discovered PC gaming.

I remember one time arguing with a next door neighbour as i was defending consoles, whilst he was promoting pc games. however a few years later i encountered the game Counter strike which changed my gaming lifestyle, because not only could i play games now, but i could collaborate with friends online and kill the enemy (or just kill my friends). i think that it is online experience of gaming that has encouraged me to keep playing games, as i would participate in clans and matches for various different games, though i haven't been in clan of any game for a while now. im happy to add that my most recent game is portal, which is a very addictive but enjoyable game that i purchased which i shall play now i've finished this blog!

Week One Assignment

Blogging is not really a regular way of communicating with other people over the net for me. If I'm honest I'm use to Writing via Msn messenger with friends, as i've always liked how the program is an instant messaging service. there have been other programs used like Msn that I used alot like for instance ICQ, but in the end it was Messenger that till this present day is my constant connection to the web.( i use this program more than looking at E-mails.) So therefore Blogging is more of an objective rather than a personal thing as it's something I'm unfamiliar with. I would also say that I'm not much of a writer, meaning that i only write when i have to. Like i mentioned before i use instant messaging programs over E-mail, so the only times that i've done any writing recently is on essays for my previous course! This then means that i do find it a little strange starting a blog as this now means that anyone can read what i have written (though they might not necessarily be interested), however i do feel that blogging is alot easier than essays as they are a less formal way of writing. i would also like to add that at least with blogging you don't have to worry about printing on to paper and wasting ink, which will save the environment and the money in my pocket!