Week Four Task

Looking at the standard of current games is a scary thing to do. In three years time my work is going to have to be up to that quality or better, very scary...
As gaming moved into the late 1990's to 2000 the methods of funding and developing changed. Originally developers would fund there own projects and when the game was complete they would look for publishers to fund things like distribution. It was not hard to find investors. The costs of producing a game now means that developers have to find investors early on in the production of a game. There is an obvious trend in the increase of the cost of games development and production, which suggests a continuing increase in the future.
When the first games started to be released, they were more like hobby's for enthusiasts, people did not bother to copyright there work because the potential of the industry was not obvious at this point. Now new technologies are protected by the most powerful copyright laws. The Gaming industry is now a very serious one, and the maximisation of profit is an essential element. Though the industry has become serious, I do not think the fun has gone out of it. I would like to think that games developers still enjoy what they do, there is a great amount of pressure involved with there jobs, but they are the ones who can remain original, while the investors concern themselves with the profits.
There are so many elements that go into the production of a game now, and there isn't really room for mistakes. The amount of people on a team has increased greatly, which means communication is an important part of production, also producing an accurate specification is essential, not just for ensuring smooth development, but for obtaining investment as well.
The gaming industry is an oligopoly, so it is important to be up to date with the latest technologies and stick to deadlines. The market is extremely competitive, advertising has become increasingly important, and now there are many methods of doing this. Release dates are also important, to ensure a maximum number of sales. It is also essential to be aware of what your competitors are doing. Games are becoming more realistic, one way in which this realism is achieved is to stimulate the senses. At the moment games are limited to sight, sound and feeling (rumble packs), but research and development is taking place to enhance the gaming experience to bring smell into games by a company known as Digiscents. Digiscents have produced a device called iSmell which plugs into a USB port and releases appropriate vapors. In the future the best games will take advantage of all the senses to enhance the gaming experience. The developments that are taking place are causing the games industry to expand, resulting in an increase in jobs available, and an increase in specialist areas. Another increasing popular element of gaming are Modifiers, add-ons and the ability to customize your games. This also will potentially increase the revenue gained from the game.

"When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened."
- John M. Richardson, Jr.

Thought i would let you all check out my Battle scar from Megazone, and say thanks to the girl who helped me out when it happened! But despite almost knocking myself out i was ranked 6th in the next game, i think the experiance made me stronger!!!

Week Three Task

This is the third time I've had to write this post because Blogger decided that it would screw me over a few times, so sorry its a bit late. It may be a bit blunt because I was getting quite frustrated third time round, but i will read over and add stuff when i have the time.

In 1972 the first video game that could be played in the home was released. This was The Odyssey from Magnavox, it came ready programmed with twelve games. The Odyssey was not a huge success, arcade gaming was still more popular at this time. In 1975 Atari released Pong which began a steady rise in the popularity of console gaming. Fairchild released the Fairchild Entertainment System(Channel F) in 1976. The Gaming industry really took of in the late 1970's and the 1980's. The first games to be registered under copyright laws were 'asteroids' and 'Lunar Lander' both for the Atari, this took place in 1980. Gaming on computers became more popular compared with consoles. In 1984 the Commodore 64, the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum were released. Handheld games were not popular at this time, and didn't take off until Gameboy was released in 1989. The most popular games consoles were the NES in northern America and the Sega in Europe.
In the late 1980's some of the most important and popular games were released. Squaresoft were on the verge of bankruptcy when they released Final Fantasy, which saved there company and went on to become one of the most popular games of our time. NES released legend of Zelda at the same time (1987) which was just as successfully.
Gaming genres were established in the 1980's, low barriers to entry of the market meant there was a wide variety of games available. In the early 1990's the manufacture of games, consoles and computers became more expensive with higher risks. Manufacturers had to focus on maximizing profits, as a result of this there was a decrease in the variety of games , so companies had a lower risk of failure. This time was extremely significant because it caused a knock-out situation, revealing the important players in the gaming market.

My early gaming history...

I'm not definitely sure of the first game I played, but two of the earliest games that I remember are Golden Axe and Premier Manager. I played Golden Axe on the Sega and was always the Bearded dwarf guy (shown left avec skeleton warrior) known as Gilius Thunderhead(I looked that up). I used to play this with my brother, who I owe a lot to really. If it wasn't for him then we probably would never have had a sega.

Around the same time, we got given an Amiga, on which we played Premier Manager. It was either number 1 or 2, before they introduced the proper game graphics. There was a box about an inch square that flashed up random pixelated football scenes, but the rest was imagination really. My team was Dagenham FC.

We also had the first two monkey island games for the Amiga. Which I must have completed at least four times each. >>>Here is a pic of Guybrush talking to the cannibals. I always thought that the Get Ahead in Navigation bit was really clever when I was just a youth. What I love about this game is the way it makes you laugh out loud, I also love little pixel Guybrush, and have never managed to bring myself to play the third Monkey Island on principal!. Though I have completed the fourth one...
I'm also a big fan of puzzle adventure games, and I think Monkey Island is the reason why.

Some of my best memories are of sitting with my brother playing these games, I think that is one of the main reasons why I have kept gaming. Its not just a thing of the past, still I will walk into the lounge and find the playstation rigged up, and end up sitting in there for hours while we work through a game together, or I will just watch and give my creative imput. My brother was also the one who introduced me to some of the best games I know, like Final Fantasy and Zelda, though I was the one who brought home Kingdom Hearts. The last game I purchased was Broken Sword Shadow of the Templars, which I am playing at the moment.

One of the reasons I love computer games so much is the story lines. I am a huge fan of reading and of films. Playing a well written game is amazing, because you are the character and a part of the story. Its like being able to put yourself into a different life for a while, and at the time, it seems more important than you own. The time when I know i'm gaming a bit too much is when you carry on gaming in your dreams. The worst was lemmings... Or it might have been where I was aimlessly trekking around a final fantasy landscape...

"I see the Monkey Island cannibals. They are helping you...Or eating you...I cannot tell...The vision isn't coming in clear anymore." - Voodoo Lady

"He ain't heavy, he's my brother, baby" - Austin Powers

I woke up this morning with my shirt stuck to my back, i asked a lass in my flat if she could peel it off for me, but she was fairly reluctant. So i had to shower it before i could take it off! As a result of sleeping on my back, i ended up with an imprint of a reverse g on my shirt, made out of my own dead skin! nice huh?

Week Two Task

One of the first computers was EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator). It's first calculations took place on 6th May 1949 which was calculating a table of squares and a list of prime numbers. Three years later OXO was created by A S Douglas, to run on EDSAC. OXO (noughts and crosses) is the first known game to run on a computer. Though it was a single player game, as it was created for Douglas' Ph.D thesis on human computer interaction, you played against the computer. EDSAC was designed and built at Cambridge University, it was unique. As a result of the game was not very widespread. Six years later William Higginbotham created 'Tennis for Two'. It was designed as entertainment for visitors day at Brookhaven National Laboratory. It remained on exhibition for two years. This was a two-player game, where you had a choice of tennis on the moon with low gravity, or tennis on Jupiter with high gravity.

Its difficult to find information on the background of Douglas and Higginbotham, but its clear that they were both well educated men. I find it strange how Douglas was writing a thesis on human computer interaction when he decided to make OXO. Surely his thesis would be on practices that already exist and take place, but he created a new kind of interaction as a result of his study, for amusement. I would assume he thought about the way in which humans interact with other humans, and compared it with that of computers. Playing a game is a simple form of human correspondence, so it is a logical outcome. Higginbotham's 'Tennis for Two' does not really seem like a form of Human-Computer interaction, it is a way of conducting Human-Human interaction with the use of a computer. I think this is important because the multi-player aspect is a significant element of modern gaming, but the steps between single player and two-player took six years. The History of Douglas and Higginbotham would have been important to bring them to the circumstances of creating the first games. I consider the objectives of the idividuals to be one of the most important things. The Brookhaven National Laboratory was actually a Nuclear research lab. I think Higginbotham's objective in creating the game was to make the public more accepting to what they were doing there. Douglas' objective was to write his thesis, and in doing so he came across a brilliant idea.

Ten years after OXO, 'Spacewar!' was created by Steve Russell with the help of Wayne Witanen and J Martin Graetz. Steve Russell was only 25 at this point. Nine years after this, the first arcade game was made based on 'Spacewar!', this was done by Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell was 19 when he first came across 'Spacewar!' and believed that it could be a commercial success, and he spent the next nine years of his life trying to achieve that. What is exciting about this game is the level of control is increased, and you have the added element of limited fuel supply. The game was also more graphically advanced, making it more interesting and playable than OXO or 'Tennis for Two'. 'Spacewar!'s' advantage over the other games was that Computing community had grown in that ten year time gap, so more people could have access to the game, thus it became more popular. Bushnell went on to make the Atari, One of the first games consoles. Coming across 'Spacewar!' in his youth directed the rest of his life towards making games accessible to the rest of us.

'Business is a good game - lots of competition and a minimum of rules. You keep score with money.' -Nolan Bushnell, founder of the Atari

Check it!!!!!!!!!

Hurt tonnes! i nearly threw up while it was being done, but it was worth it.

This is a potential spoiler so dont read it unless you've got up to episode 50-ish of Bleach.

Rukongai is a pretty confusing place. When people die in 'our world' there souls go to Rukongai, and they stay there...they dont grow up. That assumption is based on Shibata's(Canary Boy) friend who was a kid, but ridiculously old. But!!.....what happens when people in Rukongai die? Three of Rukia and Renji's friends died before they decided to become Shinigami's, where did they go? and how comes Rukia and others can grow up? when some stay the same as they were when they died? Are there different beings in Rukongai? some who were born there and some who went there when they died in 'our world'???
and... Rukia had a sister! and its sopposed to be impossible to find your 'our world' family in Rukongai! so how did they kno each other!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe we find out in later episodes, maybe i just missed something, or maybe it just doesnt make any sense....

Week One Task

This is the link for the Blog i decided to use for our first task....

http://grumpygamer.com

Ron Gilbert is the Creator and Desinger of 'The Secret of Monkey Island' and 'LeChucks Revenge'. After reading a few of his entry's i found that he described his Blog best as 'Ron Gilbert's often incoherent and bitter ramblings about the Game Industry'.

My first impressions of Blogging were that people like to know that someone is listening to what they are saying, so by posting there opinions and thoughts online, it feels like someone is paying attention. I also thought that no one really cares, and that even though it may feel like people are reading your views, they arn't, its all a wonderfull illusion.
Then thinking about it a bit more, some of the things that people write about are worth the read. If you want to find people with similar interests, opinions and veiws, then its a good place to start. I was surprised by the number of comments attatched to the Blog's written by Gilbert, i now realise there is no reason why there shouldn't be. I would explain blogs like a spiders web, where one person can be linked to another by a chain of ideas. I definately believe Blog's to be subjective. As they are a meens to put across ones personal beliefs.
Personally i would want to use my Blog, not just for the requirements asked by the course, but maybe to explain the way i think and feel about certain things, that i usually wouldnt get to say because 1. not alot of people would agree with me and 2. i dont like to argue.
In my opinion, a good blog should be spontanious. I think the whole point is it should be writtain in the order and way that you think it. Writing the way you would talk. This way people are reading it the way you think it, not the way your English teacher does. I wouldnt really consider good grammer to be an important aspect.
An unusual element of Blogging, is that you cant see peoples reactions to your words. They can comment, but thats about it. I like this because it allows me to be more consistant with what i am trying to put across, without an expression of agreement or maybe dislike influancing what i say next. This makes me feel more confident with typing than with talking.
There is deffinately a danger of talking about things that no one wants to hear, so if you want people to read your Blog, you need to know where to draw the line.
I will finish on a favorate quote from Ron Gilbert's Blog...

'Being the on-time nut that I am, I was there promptly at 10:30 ready to see some hippies get their heads bashed in by the cops. '

Aloha! and welcome to my first Blog

Here are my first impressions/experiences of/at DMU

Everyone in my flat is amazing, surely Bede is the best Hall of residence ever! I havent really found many good places to venture out yet though, any suggestions???
I had a good night out with the 'Beard Society' on tuesday, with guests such as Jesus, Santa and Satan. More people should join!!!!!!
Unfortunatly im goin home for the weekend, to collect some forgotten items, but I really dont want to go! Plus its costing me nealy £40 to get there!
I also got one of the '2oothpaste' memberships, stupidly not trying it out first, its feckin boiling in there! and they really need some more staff.
One of the best things that happened so far occoured on a very boring evening, where everyonein my flat was in bed by 9.30, so i went out on an adventure! I ended up playing poker with a guy called Ben, and totally wooped him. I won 7 x bags of various flavoured walkers crisps 2 x half pint glasses and 1 x large bag of pasta, and all i lost was my pack of cards. All good practice for the 'Beard Society' poker tournement.
I also got lent the most amazing book 'Battle Royale' by koushun Takami, i would recomend it to everyone! cheers Matt.
I think i definatly made the right choice, and am really looking forward to the next three years.

oh and thanks for finding my braclet!!!!!