“A game is an opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at (or getting better at) and enjoy. In other words, gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression,” says Jane McGonigal, game designer and author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. “Reality is broken,” she claims. “Game designers can fix it.” In her book, she explains that more than 174 million Americans are gamers and that the reason so many people flock to virtual worlds is because videogames are increasingly able to fulfill human needs. Moreover, McGonigal believes that by applying the principles of video games, we should be able to “use the lessons of game design to fix what is wrong with the real world.”
Here is a video from her TedTalk – “Gaming can make a better world”
Although this is all very fascinating, we probably need to back up and take a look at the history of video games. What are they and where did they come from? According to Gerad Kraus, in his work, “Video games: platforms, programmes, and players” the “video” in “video game” describes a traditional reference to a raster display device.
Raster Display Device >> In computer graphics, a raster graphics image, bitmap or digital image is a data structure, generally a rectangular grid of pixels, which is viewable on a display monitor. These raster images are stored in image files with varying formats.
Although the term “video gaming” typically defined the form of gaming which was built upon rasterized graphics, it now describes all forms of elctronic and digital gaming. Basically, there are video games and then there are traditional card and board games. As Kraus explains, “while the term ‘video game’ is not technically accurate, it is a phrase that we have all come to recognize as part of the landscape of digital culture.”
But, what is a platform?
Platform >> The electronic systems used to support and operate video games. They can be found in the form of PCs, game consoles, DVDs, hand-held devices, mobile phones and arcade machines.
The very first form of video games emerged in 1947, when a “cathode ray tube amusement device” was developed by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. The game they created involved an analog transmitter, which allowed a user to control a dot on a screen in order to simulate a missle being fired at targets. Later, in 1952 a type of virtual Tic-Tac-Toe was constructed on Cambridge University’s EDSAC computer by Doug Alexander. In 1958, William Higgabotham, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, presented Tennis for Two which was played using an oscilloscope (electronic test equipment that enabled signal voltages to be viewed as a two-dimensional graph). In Higgabotham’s game, players would click a button in order to hit a ball and twist a knob to adjust the angle of the hit.
The world's first electronic game of tennis.
However, the true strides in video game advancement emerged through the technological race during the Cold War. Computers were utilized to simulate attack and defense strategies and scenarios and allowed governments on both sides to play war without every engaging in physical conflict. The year of 1972 was when video gaming truly made its mark, with the release of the gaming console, the Magnavox Odyssey. This unique console, invented by Ralph Baer, used consumers’ television sets and transformed them into tools for gaming. The Odyssey launched an entirely new industry and the console itself sold around 100,000 units in the first year. Over the years, video games and their supporting consoles have continued to develop into what we recognize today as the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 and others. We even have the luxury of not only having them available in our homes, but in our hands also, in the form of hand-held and mobile devices.
From their early origins in 1947, video games have developed into a recreational past time and creative outlet for many individuals. Today, they have become an integral part of our every day lives. Although they have undergone notable controversy surrounding their graphic violence and often suggestive content, they have continually asserted themselves to fulfill our social and entertainment needs.On the subject of this impeding controversy, Kraus replies, “I do not want to dwell on such issues… I believe these controversial debates are a diversion which often prevents the wider impact of these games being taken seriously.” He goes on to explain, “some critics, for example, argue that video games are actually a source of enormous educational potential and such sensational debates devalue and obscure the larger social and cultural value that gaming now has to offer. That is not to say that such issues are not relevant, but in order for this area of study to develop into a serious academic discipline in its own right, I believe it needs to move away from this simplistic moral conception of the field to create a more complex and sophisticated understanding of the subject as a whole.”Although, at the back of our minds we might worry that video games are encouraging violence, game designers don’t seem concerned. Scott Ramsoomair, GameCore designer, makes his opinion clear that “psychos will always be psychos; they don’t need video games to help them.”
Espen Aarseth, a prominent figure in the field of video game studies, summed up the role of video games in his statement, “Games are both object and process; they can’t be read as texts or listened to as music, they must be played. Playing is integral, not coincidental like the appreciative reader or listener. The creative involvement is a necessary ingredient in the uses of games.”
Video games don’t just attract those who wish to escape reality, they also draw out anyone wishing for the chance at an alternate life. Within the virtual world, gamers are offered an opportunity to become an entirely new person. The ability to change oneself, create a new world, and accomplish tremendous feats is something that many people desire. A desire, which can be satisfied through virtual gaming. Besides confirming the wants and needs of users, games are able to instill in their operators a sense of fulfillment. In the virtual world, people don’t just control their characters, they become them.
If you are interested in learning more about the structure of video gaming, Kraus recommends Video Game Theory Reader by Wolf and Perron. This work lays out the elements considered to be “at the heart of what makes the video game a unique medium.” Kraus believes that anyone wishing to discuss video games, must understand the key components covered within the text. These include graphics, interface, player activity, algorithm, representation, responses, rules, and randomness.
lnicolegates 