Table of Contents
Introduction
In this assignment, I will cover P1, P2, M1 and D1. I will cover Pass marks by explaining social and technological trends of computer games and explaining how current and emerging technologies impact computer games’ design and development. I will cover Merit marks by discussing how current and emerging technologies impact on how games are designed and developed to meet the requirements of the users and the larger computer games industry. I will cover Distinction marks by evaluating the impact of current and emerging technologies on the design and development of computer games to meet the requirements of the users and the computer games industry.
Social Trends
Different Types of Players
People who play games can be sorted into different categorises, depending on how they use games to entertain them, whether it is casually or completely:
- Achiever – Someone who want to collect everything, complete all the challenges and missions, and get the highest scores in the game. These players are competitive and will pay anything to get 100% of the game. Speedrunners can also be classified as Achievers as they spend their time trying to get everything in the smallest amount of time possible.
- Explorer – Someone who want to see as much as the game can offer. These players are the most casual of the types of players as they take their time seeing the sights of the game. However, some can be hardcore players as they will also spend their time grinding* on tasks to unlock a new area or find an Easter egg**.
- Socialiser – Someone who enjoys meeting and chatting with other players online. They will take part in community tasks or help other players in their tasks. These extroverted players will almost always play MMOs*** and will in the end complete the game fast then others.
- Killer – Someone who enjoys being ahead of others in leaderboards, winning as much as they can. Like Achievers, they enjoy gaining points and getting as much as they can, but these players do this by beating others, enjoying seeing others lose. They are by far the most competitive players and will play online games more than others, increasing their level instead of completing the games story.
*grinding – doing something monotonous and repetitive to complete a task
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**Easter egg – something hidden in the game by the developers. It could be an item or a reference to another game or a movie.
***MMO – massively multiplayer online – see Popular Genres for more information.
Popular Genres
Games are also categorised into different groups called “genres”. These genres define what you do in the game, i.e. a fighting games are games where you fight. Examples of the most popular genres are listed below:
- Racing (Forza Horizon, Mario Kart)
- Fighting (Mortal Kombat, Tekken)
- Simulation (The Sims, Cities: Skyline)
- Open World (Red Dead Redemption, Jedi: Fallen Order)
- RPG – Role Playing Game (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls)
- Sports (FIFA, NBA)
- FPS – First Person Shooter (Star Wars Battlefront, Call of Duty)
- Battle Royale (PUBG, Fortnite)
- MMO – Massively Multiplayer Online (World of Warcraft, Knights of the Old Republic)
Game Production
There are many types of game development companies which make and release games in different ways:
- Mainstream publishers – Electronic Arts and Nintendo are some examples. These mainstream publishers are responsible for funding the production of many different game titles at the same time. Small publishers, such as Tell-tale Games or Team 17, will usually specialise in one genre and will often release one game at a time.
- Indie Games – When development of a game is started before it has a publisher, it is known as an indie game. Studios who make indie games fund the development themselves. This means less restraints, and more decision making, leading to innovative and original game designs. As no money is made until the game has been published, studios can struggle to pay bills. Indie games usually get published as digital downloads as there is little financial cost. Good examples of indie games include Minecraft (before being bought by Microsoft), Super Meat Boy and No Man’s Sky.
- Crowdfunding – Indie developers can raise funds directly from players, through websites such as Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, which can be used to strengthen finances of a struggling studio. The Oculus Rift would not exist without crowdfunding. This model differs from traditional development through finances and the inclusion of ‘stretch goals’ (give additional funding – make additional promises)
- Free-to-play – Small studios and publishers release games for free and then include several paid-for-upgrades or features. The idea is that players will get hooked and would be willing to spend money to unlock extra features. These types of games can contain adverts to pay for the cost of development.
Artificial Intelligence
AI (short for Artificial Intelligence) is the name given to the programming that makes bots (or NPCs) control themselves and seem like they are living characters. Most games nowadays have AI characters, with The Sims having itself based entirely around game-controlled characters which “think for themselves”.
Programmers must think about how NPCs should react to where they are or what they are supposed to be doing, for example, a soldier guarding a gate. The soldier may be looking in a certain direction but may have moments where their attention lapses so that the player can sneak past. This behaviour must be coded into the game.
Modern game AI has developed to the point where enemies are able to have realistic reactions to players: such as enemies blocking an attack, or a more strategic behaviour such as: responding to patterns in the player’s choices by avoiding attacks or trying to flank enemies, in multiplayer games. The more sophisticated the AI, the more complicated the programming required to create it.
Security of Integrated Services/Multiplayer Environments
As Gaming Systems become more reliant on digital services and streaming content, there is an increased requirement for users to share personal information with those services. Most platforms require a method of payment to be stored and will often ask to connect to social media. With all this information there is a large security risk, which can lead to identify theft.
How Have Trends Changed Over Time?
Gaming trends have changed significantly over time due to better graphics, new ways to play, and new popular game genres. Graphics have changed the trends of games, with people wanting to see the sights of the game of playing the story or killing other players. You also get people like BattlefrontCaptures who use the games graphics to make HD screenshots you YouTubers to use on their videos or to just post on their social media accounts. New way to play consist of technological trends and new hardware capabilities such as VR, AR, and second screens. This has changed the trends in gaming, as the most popular game on VR systems is a music-based game called “Beat Saber”, instead of shooter games which were more popular before. Finally, new popular genres have changed gaming trends as people have moved to them, leaving the old genres behind. One example of a new genre is Battle Royale, a game inspired by the Hunger Games where 100 players enter a shrinking map with the last man standing winning.
Technological Trends
Emerging Technologies
Emerging Technologies are new technologies that soon to rise or have risen to improve the experience of games. Examples of these include:
- VR (Virtual Reality) – Screens, Accelerometers (Measure the direction you are looking) Gyroscopes (Measure head movement) Positional tracker (follows head position in space, so you can move forward and backwards). All of these can be combined with motion controllers and other equipment to create total movement in a virtual world.
- AR (Augmented Reality) – Microsoft haven taken a different approach to the new headset phenomenon and have focussed on AR instead of VR. AR uses cameras to capture the real world and layers virtual game assets over the top, so they appear to exist in the real world. AR already existed on various mobile apps and in game forms (Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita) but Microsoft’s HoloLens seeks to create engaging experiences with virtual characteristics in the real world. This has failed before, however, with GoogleGlass being seen as “purposeless” due to it being ahead of its time.
- Streaming – Streaming is the next big way to play games which Google, Xbox and PlayStation have capitalised off. This works by the device streaming the game from the company’s servers which already have the game installed, which mean that the player doesn’t have to download it themselves or have powerful hardware to run them. PlayStation Now was the first of the three which allows a user to play a library of games on their PS4 without install on a monthly subscription. Xbox Game Streaming is similar however you can play these games on your mobile device as well, and the same with Google Stadia, which only requires a Google Controller and a device with a screen to play.
Existing Technologies Being Used Alongside New Ones
With emerging technologies blowing up, they are also being used alongside existing technologies to improve the gaming experiences we have today. One example of this is Motion control with VR. Motion control has been a big thing since the Wii in 2007, but when they introduced VR with controllers, it added a new layer of immersion. Seeing your hands in game, and now with the newer systems which let you move your fingers, allowed VR to have games such as shooters and fighting games, a massive step to the immersive experiences we had before.
Another existing technology being used alongside new ones are second screens. The Wii U showed this off by having a large touchscreen in the centre of your controller, where you can use your inventory without bring a UI on your main screen. The PS4 also partially had this feature in “The Playroom”, where you can add AR elements into your room using the PS Camera and your phone.
Impact on Games Design and Development to Meet User Requirements and the Larger Community
Current and Emerging Technologies are changing the way people buy games as many people expect there to be an online mode in it. This means the games development companies may have to pay extra to have servers for people to play on. Some people who have VR may also want to get games that support VR so if a company release a VR extension to the game, like No Man’s Sky did last year, they may have increased sales. Sony is an example of a company which investing in VR to boost sales, with the release of the PSVR and the eventual second VR system coming with the PS5. Sony have also published a few VR games: the 2 free Spiderman games and Blood and Truth are some examples. Microsoft is another company looking at emerging technologies but instead are looking at AR. An example of this is the HoloLens 2 with Minecraft support. Although the HoloLens is largely above many people’s budget ($3,500), and is mainly made for businesses, it is a good example of what the future of gaming brings.
Evaluation
People are playing games differently due to the genres that have been introduced throughout the years. Genres like Battle Royale have introduced many players into shooter games, whereas games like Beat Saber familiarised players to rhythm games. Another reason people are playing games differently is due to the improvement of graphics: many players rather explore the games world than fight enemies, which was almost unheard of a couple decades ago.
There are many technological trends which have failed in the past. These include the Nintendo Virtual Boy, a VR headset made in the 90’s which failed due to its high price, monochrome display, and poor 3D graphics, The Google Glass, an AR headset made as an on-the-go heads-up display, which failed due to its unfinished state and because it was seen as “useless”, and the new Google Stadia, which arrived with latency issues due to the technology being ready for it yet.
However, there are some current and emerging technologies which become success and have/will change gaming as we know it. When the Oculus Rift become available, VR become much more affordable and more immersive than ever before. The Rift became a massive success, and now with Oculus being owned by Facebook, it is still at the top of the VR industry. AR has had some massive successes too, with almost all the new phones having ARCore which can perform AR with the camera. This means players can play games like Pokémon Go and Minecraft Earth, two successful AR games, on the go.
Conclusion
To conclude, I have covered P1, P2, M1 and D1. I have covered Pass marks by explaining social and technological trends of computer games and explaining how current and emerging technologies impact computer games’ design and development. I have covered Merit marks by discussing how current and emerging technologies impact on how games are designed and developed to meet the requirements of the users and the larger computer games industry. I have covered Distinction marks by evaluating the impact of current and emerging technologies on the design and development of computer games to meet the requirements of the users and the computer games industry.
