History of Video Games

Antonio Gramsci

italian writer - cultural hegemony

1920s

opponent of mussolini → prison

GamerGate

2014-2015

hashtag used to spread misinformation about game studies and discredit game scholars

emphasized the need to take the study of game culture seriously

mainly attacked women - began as a harassment campaign against Zoe Quinn

Night Trap

early 1990s - digital pictures - full motion video - CD-ROM

important because of level of realism made policy makers uncomfortable and played a role in the establishment of contemporary regulatory practices

will wright

created the Sims in 2000, which was the best PC game of its time

popularized the life simulation genre

Kinect

2010

Xbox 360 (2005) feature that allowed for a controller free experience

best selling peripheral - pushed toward more inclusive casual gaming

ESRB

entertainment software rating board - 2003

industry standard for enforcing video game ratings, advertising guidelines, and privacy principles

result of 1993 congressional hearings

Barbie Fashion Designer

led games for girls movement

late 90s (96) - mattel media - Jessica Durchin

top selling CD-ROM of the year once advertized for

printable fabric

Myst

1993

artistic puzzle adventure game

popularized CD-ROM as a game form

Electronic Arts

founded by Trip Hawkins who was an ex apple employee

early 1980s

focused on artists and the first to license professional athletes

super meat boy

indie game - 2D platformer

2010

Edmund McMillan and Tommy Refenes

released for Xbox - very successful

goal: make game for 13 year old selves

Media Mix

how hutchinson decribes modern japanese transmedia

conglomeration of manga, anime, film, literature, poetry, pop music, light novels, videogames and other narrative forms

shigeru miyamoto

nintendo and video game industry legend

created culutre defining games like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, and legend of Zelda (80s)

helped design nintendo consoles like the Wii

match 3

genre of game popularized by King’s Candy Crush saga

early 2010s

touchscreen

key feature for mobile gaming

Nintendo’s DS touchscreen (2004) and Wii motion controllers lead casual game revival by making it easier to play

iphone also popularized it in 2007

freemium

offering a game that’s free to play only to charge players for certain features or functionality to progress after investing a rasonable amount of time into the game

popularized in the 2000s allows for game companies to make money through microtransactions

tomb raider

1996

major PC title

revolutionized third person 3D exploration

laura croft

midway

Created mortal combat in the early 90s to compete with street fighter

excessive violence and unique finishing moves

played a role in congressional hearings

hegemony

dominant order

from british history - transcends schisms and is dominant

antonio gomsci - 1920s

Xbox Live Marketplace

xbox game store - digital distribution platform

2000s

popularized the use of digital distribution

Virtual Boy

Gunpei Yokoi - nintendo - mid 90s

commerical failure

a portable 32 bit tabletop console capable of displaying monochrome 3D graphics using LED technology

Jonathan Blow

created Braid - one the highest rated games of all time - rewind mechanic - 2000s

notorious for responding and arguing with blogs

single creator behind the games - showed how successful that can be

Konami

company that popularized dance games on global scale with dance dance revolution in the late 90s

CD-ROM

had more memory made it possible to create full motion video games in the 90s

popularized with myst

for a while had lots of money flowing into using it as a medium

command economy

what czechoslovakia had in the 70s and 80s while communist

means the government controls the production of goods

led to unique games being made

demo disc

a disc that contains samples of several games

CD-ROMs were cheap so it was a popular medium for advertising esp with the playstation

Steam

valve

early 2000s

digital distribution platform

important for PC gaming

made it easier for indie game developers to distribute their games bc it didn’t require a publisher

America’s army

1999/early 2000s

colonel casey wardynski

US army financed and developed with unreal engine for recruitment

easy to get - on steam

Nintendo Wii

2006 - nintendo

first nintendo home console released in the US

its accessibility set it apart + being bundled with Wii sports

had the largest market share

Chop Suey

CD-ROM of the year in 96

mid 90s

from POV of little girl - popular

Theresa Duncan and Monica Gesue

Hideo Kojima

created Metal Gear Solid series - popular sandbox title

second one was only available on PS2

late 90s / early 2000s

softporn adventure

1981 - online systems - charles benton

one of the first titles known for its stong sexual content

siege of bodenburg

1967

one of the first war games in medevial setting

famously fierst played at gencon in 68

grand theft auto series

rockstar games

became sandbox in 2001

infamous hot coffee mini game - GTA san andreas (2004) also highest selling PS2 game

Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA)

2005 - hillary clinton

federal mandate to enforce ESRB rating system for video games

dragons lair

1983 - cinematronics

popularized the interactive movie format

virtua racing

1992 - sega

pioneered 3D genre

3DO interactive multiplayer

1993 - amiga computer + trip hawkins

first major system of 5th gen of consoles

product of the year

planned to profit by licensing hardware to other manufacturers (panasonic) - failure

daisy chain controller feature

Atari jaguar

1993 - Martin Brennan and John Mathieson

difficult to program for - not much third party support

Sega Saturn

1994 - Hideki Sato

followed Sega 32X

extremely successful in Japan - messed up the West w/ surpise release

crunch time

the name of the overtime phase that can happen during any milestones when development is behind schedule

electronic entertainment expo

1995

first video game industry only convention

Penny arcade expo

2004

largest public video game convention in north america

dreamcast

1998 - sega

tatsuo yamamoto (US version)

hideki Sato (JP version)

included a built in modem for connecting to the internet for online play - SegaNet(2000)

PlayStation 2

2000 - Sony - Ken Kutaragi

ability to play DVDs while costing the same/less as a DVD player

best selling game console of all time

success bc of high profile exclusive titles - sandbox games

nintendo gamecube

2001 - kenichiro ashida

most affordable new console

first nintendo console to use optical media

could connect to game boy

Xbox

2001 - Microsoft first home console

first american console made by an american company since the ataru jaguar

halo was the system seller

Civilization

1991 - sid meier

one of the most influential turn based strategy games

quake

late 90s - id software

pioneered online FPS multiplayer

xbox 360

2005 - Microsoft

first console of seventh gen

red ring of death

kinect

konigsspiel (the kings game)

1664 - christopher Weikmann

one of the oldest games used for war prep

kriegsspiel

1811 - baron Georg Leopold von Reiswitz

introduced the concept of a starting scenario with a stated military objective

US defense advanced research projects agency (DARPA)

DARWARS

began 2003 as an aid in the advancement and usage of military training systems

DARWARS ambush - 2004

saturo iwata

former nintendo prez

leaf the casual games revival with the nintendo’s DS touchscreen and wii’s motion control games

snake

1997 - taneli armanto

for nokia 6110

first big hit game for the mobile market