1990's

The history of video games (1990’s)

The 1990’s was considered a decade of innovation in terms of video games, it was the decade that saw the beginnings of 3D graphics being introduced into games. New genres arose from the new 3D element in gameplay, including first person shooters, and MMO. Home consoles become more common than the declining arcade games. The games industry became a mainstream form of entertainment in the 90’s. Other forms of mainstream entertainment started to contribute to the video game industry, e.g. the soundtrack for the game ‘Wipeout’ was chosen specifically for the club-going, music-buying audience, so a lot of dance/electronica artists such as orbital and the chemical brothers were asked to create additional songs to the games soundtrack.

People in the early 90’s was still using the ‘fourth generation consoles’, and the rivalry between saga and Nintendo was still going strong with the console war battling on between the two company’s home systems, the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) released in 1990 and the Sega Megadrive released two years earlier. It was in this decade that introduced a new alternative to the standard game cartridge, one with a lot more capabilities, the CD-ROM.  Sega incorporated the CD-ROM for the Megadrive console by releasing the CD add-on in 1991. This meant it had an edge over the SNES that still used the cartridge, even so it continued to use it for their next console, the Nintendo 64, the only ‘fifth generation console’ to still use cartridges. The fifth generation consoles appeared approximately from 1993, with such consoles as the Atari jaguar, the Sega Saturn in 1995 and the N64. However it was console newcomer Sony that would outsell all its competitors with the release of the Sony Playstation. The Playstation’s success was due to its impressive technology and heavy marketing budget, not to mention the variety of quality games that were playable on the console. It released hit games for all genres, with ‘crash bandicoot’ as its top 3D platforming game, ‘final fantasy’ as its top RPG etc. by the end of the decade and indeed the century, the industry saw the cusp of what was to be the 6^th generation consoles. Sega’s dreamcast in its beginnings was a hit, with its impressive graphics and a good set of launch game titles. However the dreamcasts success was to be short-lived with the arrival of the ps2 in 1999, which overshadowed the dreamcast with its third party support, its high reputation from the previous predecessor, and its ability to play its predecessors games. Taking a look back to the beginning to the eighties you can see the development and evolution of the games industry changed dramatically. From the time when 8 bit games were being programmed by a single person, to games being created by huge developing teams, making intricate costly games, some costing more than films to make. It showed that it was an industry that was constantly growing, and grabbing people’s attention more than ever.  

history of video games 1980's

The 1980’s became the decade where games start to develop rapidly into more complex games. So much so that the games produced started to distinguish themselves into different genres. Terms such as ‘action adventure’ or ‘computer role- playing games’ were being used to describe the variety or games being produced. arcade games became very popular from the late 1970s with the influence of games like space invaders which was a game that became a huge success both in Japan and the west. It inspired other game manufacturers to enter the market, and to become more popular in areas such as shopping centres, shops and restaurants etc. by 1981 in north America the sales of arcade machines went up to $900 million from $50 million in 1978. Games starting appearing in colour, such as the game Pac-man. Pac man was a simple but addictive and visually interesting game which was played by not only men but also women across North America. The game starting attracting a lot more girls into arcades, which greatly boosted Pac-mans popularity. It sold more than 350000 arcade cabinets, which means it took the title of best selling game from previous title holder  ‘asteroids.’ pacman still holds the title as being the highest grossing game of all time to this day. In 1983 there was a huge blow to the video game industry in North America with console sales dropping significantly causing bankruptcy within the gaming companies. It was a Japanese company that redeemed the gaming industry with its release of the Nintendo entertainment system or the NES which included a free super Mario game which clinched its success in America. This was the beginning of japans dominance of home video games over America (the sega master system made its impact on Europe, Oceania and Brazil at the time). Nintendo was part of the emergence of ‘3^rd generation consoles’ along with the Sega master system which both used 8-bit processers like the previous generation, it was this generation that would be the last to be labelled by their ‘bits’. Consoles like the mega drive/genesis were referred to as 16-bit to help differentiate them from the previous generation of console. Nintendo later took on the handheld gaming industry (with poor attempts from other companies thus far) with its first rendition of the game boy in 1989. This paved the way for Nintendo’s dominance over the handheld gaming industry in the future.  One of the game boys more popular games was Tetris. A puzzle game consisting of creating straight rows from falling blocks of various shapes. The creator/programmer of the game was Alexey Pajitnov, hailing from the former Soviet Union (his game being the first to be an export from the USSR to the US). It managed to sell over 33 million copies, not including the sales from the other versions of the game on different consoles. The 80’s produced the first blueprint of the different genres that we know and love today e.g. early shooter games like duck hunt in 1984, or beat ‘em up games like kung fu master in the same year.

history of video games

History of video games 1950’s-1970’s

It is believed that the first concept of a computerised game originated in 1952 with A.S Douglas, who designed a version of tic-tac-toe which was playable on the EDSAC vacuum-tube computer. However it was ‘Spacewar’, a game made in 1962 by the MIT which is generally considered the first fully evolved computer game. The game consisted of two rockets (one for each player) and the aim was to eliminate the players rocket before he eliminated yours. This was played only by university students who operated the room sized computers that this game ran on. Upon seeing the potential of space war, Nolan Bushnell created a game in 1971 similar to space war intended for the general public. It was called computer space and while it was a well designed game it wasn’t well received by the public. The problem was that the game had a set of complex controls, and a lot of the 1500 machines produced were installed in bars meaning that it was very difficult to play if someone was drunk. And so in 1972 with Al Acorn, Nolan created a much simpler game based on a sport that people recognised and easily understood, that game was called pong (not ping pong due to copyright). Atari went on to create a whole selection of popular games through the 70’s, and later re-released pong as a pong video game in 1975.  

Introduction to me

Hi I’m will Barry, originally from a town called Evesham in the county of Worcestershire and game art design is my chosen course. The reason why I decided to apply for this course was that I have always been fascinated with the artwork within games. It has been a huge influence to my artwork over the past 8 years. Coming from A level art, followed by a foundation art course, I was originally intending to go on to an illustration course, applying to two universities. however feeling that illustration didn't point me in the right direction of what I wanted to be doing career wise, I decided to apply for a third 'wild card' option of game art design at de Montfort, to which then I of course accepted. This course would definitely take me forward into a more desirable career. I have always aspired to one day become a concept artist for a major gaming company. I enjoy creating concepts for characters, settings etc and looking at the storytelling side to the artwork and thinking about the cinematography. A company I much admire is the Bethesda games studios, from footage of interviews from the developers in the company they discuss the process it takes to create a good quality game in terms of artwork and creativity, so you can tell how much care they take in their craft. My ideal job would be to work for a company similar to Bethesda as a concept artist. the requirement Bethesda look for in a concept artist is someone who has 'excellent traditional artistic skills with a strong grasp of composition, anatomy, colour  theory, perspective, lighting, environment, architectural, creature/character, costume and graphic design', something which I very much try to fulfil in all work that I produce. I learnt a lot of these ideas from my time in a level art which has helped me get to grasp with things such as lighting perspective etc. The job also requires good storytelling and writing skills, which is something I take into consideration when I am deciding what to draw/paint. A way in which I could improve this aspect of my work would be to spend time researching, whether it’s through watching films, reading books, basically just ways of gaining extended knowledge of good story telling through different media. Beyond video games my interests include films, history (particularly British history), and music (all music, any music, as long as it’s good music), these interests contribute to my work in a big way, I find myself producing  a whole cluster of new ideas and creations just from being inspired by a film or a piece of music. What I want to get from this course is first of all knowledge, better knowledge of the industry and games in general will certainly be a huge bonus when applying for jobs. Also improving my 3d work, as I haven’t had any experience working with programs like 3d max I want to make sure I am able to use it at least at a semi-professional level.