Arcade:•Stand alone game systems found in public venues

• Arcades, bowling alleys, amusement parks, pizza places• A vast majority of games are played standing up and not sitting down

•Two-person table games were introduced in the mid-1980’s and became popular• Diners and hotel lobbies

•Other games use types of controllers• Pedals and steering wheels• Foot pads (Dance Dance Revolution

•Games are usually coin operated• Businesses need to get players to deposit as many coins as possible into the game• Developers focus on creating fast-moving, time limited and not highly developed story lines• With time limits, action is one of the main elements of this platform

•Arcade games paved the way for action genre (focus still on speed and skill (eye-hand coordination, etc..)Three main entities1.Hardware manufacturer

1. Owns the rights to the hardware and has control over what content is played on it2.Game developer

1. Often develops games for the manufacturer, but is sometimes the same company3.Venue operator

1. Licenses or purchases the game from the manufacturer and collects revenue from players•Hardware manufacturer owns and controls the content

• it is involved in the planning, development, and test process

Mach 3

Crystal Castles

Console:•Usually played in the home, hooked up to a television set•Console platform is proprietary

• Means that hardware manufacturers such as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have control over what software is developed for their respective platforms

•Advantage of developing for a proprietary console is that the game will not vary from player to player•Traditionally been special-purpose devices created specifically for playing games•Are moving away from special purpose roots as most are used for playing DVD’s, MP3’s streaming movies, and television content (plus Internet)

Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Wii

Wii U:•Prototype during E3 2011

• Some confusion as to whether Wii U is a new console, controller, or portable system• It is all of the above

•Resembles a portable system, but it interacts with a new console base•6 inch touchscreen, built in microphone, speakers, gyroscope, accelerometer, rumble, and a camera that supports video chat. Also zoom in on websites, etc.. Displayed on TV•Players can use old and new controllers for cooperative play experience•If players solely use Wii U controller’s screen and television screen, respectively, their experiences are completely different.•Looks like stand alone portable system, but relies on console base for processing•Controller’s touchscreen either supplements or replicates the gameplay displayed on the TV screen

• Allows a player to continue a game session by displaying the game even when the television is turned off

•Outputs in HD (upgrade from Wii) and is fully backward compatible with the Wii and peripherals.

PlatformComputer

iStock Photo

PlatformOnline

Xbox Live Marketplace

PlayStation Store

Computer:•This is not proprietary

• Frees developer from having to answer to the manufacturer• There is so much variation in hardware setups between players that it is next to impossible to predict average

speed, hardware space, and memory players will need to allocate•In planning stages, developers will create prospective technical specifications for the game and try to work around these requirements

• Minimum and recommended specs for usersOnline:•Can be played on a computer or through a console system•Players need the Internet to play and information might be stored on a server•MMO’s (Massively Multiplayer online games) might entertain thousands of players simultaneously

• Due to 24/7 of the Internet, MMO’s are also ongoing persistent worlds• Posting some unique development and maintenance problems

•Monthly subsription based model that intially was associated with MMO’s has progressed• Micropayments, virtual sales, in game ecoomics, and premium services

•Connection speed can be a technical issue to online games (bandwidth and latency)• Bandwidth (how many bytes per second the connection can average)• Latency (time it takes for packets to be transferred to you , plus delays from your own computer)

•Live 24 hour support is essential for subscription based MMO’s.

PlatformHandheld

3DS PS VitaNintendo Sony Computer Entertainment America

Handheld•Small size makes it convenient for them to be taken almost anywhere•Nintendo’s Game Boy series initially focused on kids, but with the release of the Game Boy Advance SP, it has become more popular with adults•Nintendo DS (dual screen portable) presents another innovative expansion of the handheld experienceNintendo 3DS

• 2011 Nintendo release the 3ds (auto stereoscopic handheld)• Can project stereoscopic 3d images without requiring additional accessories (goggles, etc..)• Stereoscopy is a technique for creating a 3d images by presenting two offset images separately to the left and

right eye of the viewer (brain perceives this at 3d depth)• Contains a slider that adjusts the intensity of the 3d effect, an accelerometer, and gyroscope.• Two cameras that are capable of taking 3d photos and one for 2d as well

Sony VITA• Also released in 2011 successor to the PSP• Includes two analog sticks, five inch OLED multi-touch screen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 3g support (in 3g version)• Games are distributed on a proprietary flash card format known as NVG Cards rather than on the Universal

Media Discs used by original PSP.

PlatformMobile

iPhone 4 Galaxy Tab 10.1Galaxy S2 iPad2Apple

AppleSamsung Samsung

Mobile•Nokia made the first effort to combine a cell phone with a handheld platform with the release of its N-Gage in 2003

• Initially not very successful, but successor QD was an improvement• Inspired other manufacturers to consider the possibility of the mobile gaming market

•Rapid changes since 2007 • when developers and publishers began to recognize that the “always on/always connected” nature

of the mobile platform • help widen the player market and make room for new playing experience• Mobile platform is dominated by IPhone series and lots of android devices, such as Samsung’s

Galaxy S2• This threatens the single purpose handhelds

•Tablets are presenting an interesting hybrid between smartphones and net books• Ipad and Galaxy• Ipad size allows for local multiplayer capabilities and other uses such as e-book reader, etc..

Tabletop•Refers to the traditional analog (not digital) game platform

• Board, card, dice, tile, block and even pen and paper games such as Dungeons and Dragons• Game pieces literally consists of pen, paper, and pencils in D&D• Miniatures and battle maps (written on with erasable markers) are common as well

•Important use of tabletop games is as prototypes for future electronic games• Many developers create preliminary versions of their games in tabletop form to ensure that the

gameplay is functioning properly

PlatformTabletop

Risk

Time Interval •Time dependent elements that affect the pacing of the game

• Depends on whether a game is played reflexively or reflectively• Would you develop a game that allows players to spend unlimited time to challenges• One that encourages them to react quickly to them• Three basic time intervals used in games: turn based, real-time, and time-limited

Turn Based• Traditional board and card games players take a turn• Time is unlimited (unless opponent gets tired of waiting)• Allows for reflective, deliberate thought

Time IntervalTurn-Based

Po

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Real Time• There is no time interval between turns, no turns at all• Winning requires having quick physical reflexes as opposed to reflective thought• Difficult to play online due to performance related technology issues

• Speed of player’s connection ,server, and traffic• However they are very popular due to ability to talk onlineTime Interval

Real-Time

Soccer

Time-Limited•Compromise between turn-based and real-time games•Limit the time each player has for their turn•In some cases like a single player puzzle game, time limit is placed on game itself•In timed games with multiple players

• Each player takes turns (chess) or at the same time (some online)• Each player has experience of taking turn, but game itself is happening in real time because neither

player waits while the other player is taking a complete turn• Deciding on an interval for your game is first step in considering how the game will be played

Player Mode•Range from single-player to massively multiplayer (including thousands)•Your choice of player mode as well as content impact on how your game is played•What platforms might work better in certain modes?•Can you combine a real time interval with a single player mode?Single Player•Only one player can play a single player game•Any additional players (usually opponents) are known as artificial intelligence or non-player characters•Limited screen space on handheld platforms make these ideal for single player games

Two Player•Only one player can play a single player game•Early in history games were CPU controlled because there wasn’t enough power to drive the artificial intelligence.•First two player arcade consoles contained two start buttons—for each player

• Only difference was that the game kept track of both player’s scores and compared the two to determine the winner

• Didn’t compete against each other onscreen, but they both knew the game would declare a winner•Early games were turn based•Not until double dragon that a two-player arcade had a real-time interval

• Finally players in double dragon played sided by side at the same time as they fought cooperatively

Player ModeTwo-Player

Streets of Rage 2

Player ModeLAN-Based Multiplayer

Fragapalooza

Fragapalooza

Local Multiplayer•All players sit in the same space and play the game on the same machine

• Sharing same screen using separate input device (controllers)• Common on console systems, which allow for local play up to four players• Since all players share the same screen, each player can see what the others are doing

•Players cannot hide information from each other• This poses a problem when creating games that require players to made secret moves and

decisions• With network capability, this local play might change or disappear

•Players can also engage in local play on a personal computer• Involves sharing a screen, but input devices (keyboard and mouse) as well• Real-time interval almost impossible for this case• Rampage was an early game developed for local play

• Requiring each player to use different area of the keyboardLan-Based Multiplayer•Allows players to share the game on a local area network (lan) without sharing the screen or input device•A simple lan can be created by linking 2-4 game boy advance handheld systems together through game link cables•Unlike home consoles based local play, players can hide information from each other because they are not sharing the same screen•At a LAN part, players might bring own PC to one location, plug them into the LAN and play as one group

Player ModeOnline Multiplayer

Rift

Trion Worlds

Online Multiplayer•Online games represent a form of networked play

• Network is the global Internet for online multiplayerWhen do online games become massively multiplayer?•This is associated with games that persist 24 hours per day and maintain a subscription-based revenue model in which players pay a monthly fee to continue playing•Sometimes these games encourage team-based play

• Players form groups and cooperatively defeat opponents or solve problems together