Video Game Platforms and GenresIn the late 1950’s-early 1960’s a group of students created the world’s first accessible video game Space Wars! , this was revolutionary as it distributed

throughout the entire world so people can play this game and it was credited as the world’s first influential video game. In the 60’s a computer engineer known as Ralph Baer wanted to make a prototype of what would be a video game platform

using a video game he made with Bill Harrison, Chase. When they made the prototype, he showed it off to Sander’s R&D department, they were impressed with what they saw and they showed this innovative machine to manufacturers the world’s first computer game platform, this would then become Baer’s own

creation: The Magnavox Odyssey.

In the video gaming world, there are a multitude of genres, they are: Action games: This is when the

player has to think very quickly in order to reach goals.

In an action game, the games vary with the presentation used, for Super Mario Brothers, the graphics are bright and

colourful and the music used is cheerful and happy, however, games like Assassins

Creed are normally have realistic appearance with the graphics and the music is very vigilante and stylish so it

suits what the game is going for. An action game is very different from

genres because it sets you on a linear path, but

some games in this genre will add an open world mechanic so you are free to roam the world, the games target mostly for the family so these games are set on making everybody play these games. They are mostly unrealistic compared to games like SimCity and The Sims. These games have a lot of variety and can be

associated with a lot of themes so developers have an endless choice on what to base their game on. However, developers don’t focus on psychological design

choices so they normally don’t engage the player but games like Dishonoured and Grand Theft Auto have engaging stories and interesting characters and gameplay

so they keep the player interested in the gameplay a lot more while the other games in this genre have simplistic stories and characters that are uninteresting

and are one dimensional.

RPGs or Role-playing games let you develop a character’s abilities as well as playing through a story. These games have a similar presentation

and the theme normally used in this genre is fantasy. They normally have very immersive gameplay

experiences with their stories and characters. They normally have a

fighting mechanism which automatically chooses whether

you’re in a fight or not which can frustrate players if it keeps

happening in one spot. However, the developers focus on psychological factors like the use of an immersive gameplay experience to make players believe that the world they are playing on is real, however, this can cause

players to play for a very long time and eventually have illnesses which can make them go to hospital. They would also have trouble sleeping because they have played

too much of the game for a long time. However, MMORPGs can make players play

together online so it builds up friendships and even relationships.

Adventure

games: These games involve you in combat and different problems in

which you have to solve puzzles for the player to progress. Subgenres: -

Point and click, interactive movies etc. These games normally involve action

and puzzle elements combine to make the player psychologically believe that

the game they are playing is a real adventure; they feel intensity run down their body. Most graphics in the genre are very close to real life, basing their locations at areas which are based on history and real life locations such as

Egypt and the Amazon, designers choose these areas because they want to make the player explore these areas and find rewards for discovering these

areas so they get satisfaction from playing the game and so they would

have more play time. These games are different from other games such as

Super Mario Brothers because it involves think and are normally based in realistic worlds and so the adventure games act realistically to a situation, adventure games can also be cartoony and act like gymnasts, comparing a game in this genre

Uncharted 3 and Super Mario Brothers, they function differently and they also look different to each other., Super Mario Brothers sets you on a linear

path while Uncharted 3 lets you explore a level and will reward for doing that. Another game in this genre, The Legend of Zelda makes you explore

the world you are in and the dungeons you are in act like a level. Like RPGs, these games have interesting stories and your character is very

interesting (for the most part).

Strategy games: These games rely on players thinking about what to do and making decisions for progress. These games are designed to make the

player think, from its isometric camera to the interface given to players. These design choices let

players see what they are doing and what their objective is. Tower Defence

games like Plants vs. Zombies are designed as a 2D game and is placed in a

linear battlefield instead of an

open 3D world. These games provide players a chance to play m=online as well as single players, this is so that players can use their thinking against other players worldwide. An advantage of this genre is that they provide

players with thinking skills which they can use in school and in sports games as well. These games are also a great chance to make players play in teams so they can share tactics and brings friendship into play as well. However, these games suffer a disadvantage that after a while it can get

boring and tedious to play so it is recommended to play these games in 1-2 hours a day as the gameplay can get slow and tired. However, it will be hard to do that as the games in this genre can be very addictive. These

games are different from other genres because they use a different camera (Bird’s eye view and isometric) and they have different gameplay mechanics but turn based strategy games are familiar to RPGs as in RPGs like Final Fantasy, you choose who you want to attack with, what you want to attack and your choice of move, this is the same in turn based strategy

games like Fire Emblem by Nintendo.

Simulation games: These games simulate real life situations and activities in virtual worlds that players can interact with. They are aimed to make the game as real to life as possible. These games are designed to make

whatever you want, whether it is building a city to making a theme

park, it is your choice to make whatever you want. Also, like with

business, players are given situations and they have to make

a decision based on what they see. This is seen in games like SimCity,

where you have to make a decision that will either benefit your city or make people feel

uncomfortable on what you are doing. However, some simulation

games have players that have made custom content for the game so it has a much better way of playing the game, for example, RCT3 has over 300+ user made custom content for

the game this is so that players can make good looking theme parks and rides. The

massive advantage for these games is that they have a massive community so they can

talk about the game and possibly become friends, even people have mode forums

specifically about these games, they also make you a creative person in your own

because with games like RCT3, they make you feel creative in what you build and what you want to do. However, these games can make you feel

bored after 3 hours of playing the game, but this can be resolved with players building all sorts of custom content for people to explore. These

games are different from other games because they have an objective to make you do so it feels like you are playing an open world game but you

are creating the world you are in, like in Minecraft. Also, they are different because they use hundreds of NPCs that are designed to be their own and

they can react to what the player does to them and the environment around them. However, they can be used to educate children about

programming and designing electrical circuits (Minecraft).

Sports games: These games allow players to control sports teams

and/or individual players which realistically simulates

a game. They are mainly aimed to be as realistic as possible in

most cases and factually correct e.g. team names, player names etc. These

games can be either designed to be unrealistic or realistic, if it’s an unrealistic sports game like Mutant Football League, then the developers can design the game so they ignore the rules and do whatever

they want (in Mutant Football League, players can kill opponents from the other team.). They may also do realistic sports games like FIFA 13. These games normally stick to the rule of the sports game and penalise players

for breaking the rules. These games may also have strategy involved because you can choose the formation, the players you want on and who

you want to buy when there is a transfer season. These games are normally critiqued about how realistic they are, but when they decide to

make the game unrealistic, it is normally very unique and is praised for its creative ideas. Also, they are too realistic that people would turn the game off and decide to play the same game outside, but they are normally fun

and intense.

Combat games: These games allow players to fight against AI and other players around the world using

weapons. These games are splt

between using a gun and shooting and /or fighting. These games are normally intended

for people over the PEGI rating of 12, these games have normally graphic and gory violence which can be controversial like Mortal Kombat. These games have

controls which normally make combinations and special moves. This is

so that the player can improve their skills with the controller. These games are either unrealistic with their character doing surrealistic actions (like

kicking a person multiple times in an insane speed) and/or realistic where the character you are playing as can do what humans do. The games with a large amount of bloody violence are banned in countries like Australia because their government feel that these games have too much bloody violence and also their people would psychologically insane very easily if

they play the game too much. Also, there are games like Call of Duty where you are in a first person and normally you would wield a gun, these games are very successful because they chose the prefect target audience (men who love guns). However, these games have an audience that only like to play the multiplayer. This ruins the chance for the game to give its story towards its target audience. Also, the games are normally similar

which is really repetitive so it brings boredom to players. They are different

from different genres because these games mainly focus on the violence and they are normally mature and adult-like games.

Educational games: These games teach you how to do something and/or improve your skills. These games

are mainly aimed at children at school who want to be smart. They are normally colourful and cartoony so

that kids can have fun while learning, developers may also use a source material that is familiar to children

(Sesame Street for example) and use that so that children can have fun with their favourite characters. However, there are some games in this genre like Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training that are aimed at adults so that they can improve their brain so that they can

improve their brain to fight Alzheimer’s disease, these games look

professional so adults feel like they are in a hospital or an

office, this makes adults focus on the game instead of looking at other

things in front of them. They also will be given activities on a daily basis so

that the brain can fully function towards the activities you do on the

schedule set by the game. An advantage to these games is that they help the player of the game to engage

in the activities given which can help your brain develop and so they can improve in school and also, in their daily job, using their brain to improve their intellect. These games can help children to have fun while they are

learning so they don’t feel bored while playing these games, instead, developers decide to use

Source material that is popular to children and they combine it with bright and colourful graphics so the children can have fun. However, they can get very

tedious and boring after a while and they also get repetitive and the only purpose for these games is to improve your intellect and just improve your school skills. They also have a very niche audience and many developers miss this audience

because it is a very small audience. They are different from other games as they are normally focus on the education, not on combat or sports, they also will give

you mini-games for the player to have fun with.

An environment for the player is important in video games so that the player uses the game’s space to its advantage. They also provide you with the interface and

how you play in the game. There are multiple environments for the player to explore in, they are:

Single player- this is when the player plays through a campaign/story or a challenge mode on their own. The main advantage of this mode is that with no body to help you in the game, it will add challenge to the game, also you have the screen fully to yourself but however there are some

disadvantages: Firstly, with some games, they require you to go online in order to play single player (SimCity is an example of this). Also, there are fixed rules that the player has to follow. This mode also makes you feel

really lonely so it can make you unsociable. But players have been designing mods so that they enhance the single player mode.

Split screen multiplayer- this is when two or more players play on the same screen at the same time. An advantage to this environment is that players don’t need to buy separate gaming platforms for themselves. Instead they can play on the same screen on one console. Also, they don’t need to have Wi-Fi connection to play with each other. However, if you are playing with three other people, it can be difficult to see what you are doing and it will be difficult to play the game if you can’t see what you are doing. Also, it

can become confusing as you don’t know which side of the screen you are playing on. The advantages and disadvantages are the same for online

split screen multiplayer but however, with online multiplayer there can be some possible lag.

Network multiplayer- where two or more players use local connection to play against each other on different devices. An advantage of this is that

this was a revolutionary way of playing against other people who have the same connection as you do so

you can play against other people who are in different locations for the first time. Also, if you have a strong connection, you can find other people easily

and quickly. However, you need to have a good connection and other people have to have the same game and the same device to play it on in order to

play with them. There will also be some lag Online multiplayer- where you can play with 100’s of

people from anywhere in the same game to the internet. An advantage of this is that you can play with an unlimited amount of players at the same

time with a broadband connection. Also, you can do whatever you want on servers and at any time (this is especially found in Minecraft, WOW etc.) but there are disadvantages of using this: Firstly you need to

have excellent connection in order to play multiplayer smoothly (especially with 100’s of

players). Also online gaming can lead to addiction which get you hooked for the day. You also have to have the same gaming platform as other

people in order to play network multiplayer with them.

A gaming platform is a physical hardware/software device that will allow people to play games on it. Developers must understand that in order for

the game to work on platforms, they have to follow the platform’s specifications for the game to work properly. In today’s society, there are many platforms to choose from. There are video game consoles that are

the most popular, they are: the Nintendo Wii U, the Xbox 360 and the

PlayStation 3. These consoles have similar games, however, it is the PS3

that has the better processor to play games like Grand Theft Auto 5 and The Last of Us, thus it has exclusives that neither console has because

they need more space and the processors to play them. The Wii U is the most innovative of the other consoles because of the way the gameplay works, players use a separate Gamepad to control the game using the screen on the gamepad and also, like the DS, it has haptic technology (touch screen) to make players use their fingers to control the way the game plays. In both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, there are mostly games that will have genres that will mostly appeal to older audiences so these are more mature consoles compared to the Wii U which has games that are colourful and bright and has also got genres that will appeal to most

audiences so it is more a family oriented console. In both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, they both have similarly shaped controllers and also similarly placed buttons so they control their games similarly and also they both

have peripherals that are based on the Wii’s concept: motion control. They both released the Kinect and the PlayStation Move and these are failures

because they don’t function properly compared to the Wii’s motion controls.

But people are starting to play computer games on handheld devices, mostly on smartphones and also handheld consoles. The most popular of

these are the Nintendo DS/3DS, Sony PS Vita, the iPhone and the Android phones. All of these use haptic technology and they can

be used when going out, but however, the PS Vita and the iPhone seem to be the most

powerful handheld platforms as they produce excellent quality games while the DS’s graphics

seem to

look unpolished (characters with obvious polygons

etc.) and the Android phones only seem to produce 2D graphics so it has a lesser

processer. However, it is the Android phones that are more popular because of its

compatibility, a lot of the games you can get on the App Store you can get on Google Play,

there are also more phones on the market that have Android.

But the most popular gaming platform is the PC because everyone has one at home and it is the most accessible platform on the market, they are very customisable, but a lot of gamers like to make PCs that have an|z

excellent processor and hard drive and these seem to be the most popular way to get a PC, the platform has excellent quality built into them

(excellent graphics, diverse peripherals etc.) and they normally dominate sales of the consoles.

In conclusion from my research of these games, I would recommend starting with actions as these games are wide open to anything and also

start on the PC because it is more accessible platform than any other platform and it has a better quality and has excellent compatibility than

any other platform in the market, but some PCs may not have the required RAM to run the games. Also, there are some consoles about to be launched

into retail so I would recommend getting a license to create games on

those consoles, thus you will gain more sales because of these new consoles. If you get popular with your games, you should then go onto

console development along with PC development and try a range of genres, but the most popular at the moment is the combat games with the FPS mechanics inside of them but these are regarded as ‘overrated’ (when

the games have a large audience liking them too much). Otherwise, I would recommend using your time and effort with the PC games at first

and then go into the consoles developing a range of genres.