Second Scholarly Post

By Cortney Norton

            Video games have  had an impact on cultures, society, and individuals of their time periods. Just as certain art and art movements have influenced pop culture and individuals in the past. It is easy to get immersed in a video game, Just as it[JA1]  is easy to get lost in a painting, video games can cause emotion just as art can video[JA2]  games can help one increase certain skills, just as creating art can as well. The earliest art forms paved[JA3]  the ways for new ideals and innovation in the advancement of art, just as video games of the late eighties and early nineties have for games today. Between the years 1983-1992 the video game industry was at its[JA4]  own stage of development, just beginning to break away from the overall development of technology as a whole, and thus becoming its[JA5]  own art form.

During a games development stage, an entire creative team is needed. It’s just another form of a creative process. It takes months, and even years to fully develop a game. Why then is it still so difficult for some to consider video games as an art form. “Video Games have there own distinctive features, therefore as a form of art they should be treated on their own terms and not simply seen as derivative forms of preexisting types of art.”¹ Of the many hard-core fandoms of video games were to argue, that of an avid early Nintendo fan would aggressively come forth.

Today, a Nintendo fan is a dime a dozen, even those in the elder generations who to this day continue to follow the franchises. The most iconic franchises were those that had a heavy impact on many people’s childhoods.  Franchises such as: Metroid, The Legend Of Zelda, Final Fantasy, etc. Although these franchises are big now, many Americans would not even know of Nintendo’s existence if it weren’t for one of Nintendo’s most basic games, and the down fall of Atari in 1983.

Nintendo didn’t stand a fighting chance in the U.S. during the late 1970s, due to Atari’s peek in marketing. In fact the first NES was only released in Japan, Nintendo’s home base. Atari had Americans hooked on it’s innovative consoles, and 8-bit graphics.

                    

Video game arcades were as common as convenient stores during the early 1980, [JA6] giving Nintendo the step it needed. Donkey Kong was the game that set the stage for Nintendo’s success in the U.S., as it was the game that allowed Nintendo to break into the American arcades. In 1981 Donkey Kong also introduced the earliest version of Mario where he was featured as a carpenter named“Jumpman”.²(Which may be viewed in the image to the right)

After keeping Nintendo away from the states for so long, Atari by this time was struggling to stay afloat in it’s own industry. Thus after catching word of Nintendo’s long overdue depute in the States, Atari attempted to latch on. Atari’s CEO took it upon himself to partner up with the new celebrity in town. The once fierce competitors were momentarily attempting to join together in partnerships. Many factors led to this obviously not work out, however. The artist’s of Nintendo’s success is all thanks to Donkey Kong, and Atari.²

¹ Grant Tavinor, The Art Of Videogames (Wiley-Blackwell publications, Malden, MA 2009)

² Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History Of Video Games (Three Rivers Press, New York, New York, 2001)

  

Posted by SCAD Gaming Group at 8:41 PM 1 comment:

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 [JA1]it

 [JA2]need stronger punctuation, or you need to start a new sentence; otherwise you have a run-on sentence

 [JA3]path isn’t a verb

 [JA4]its

 [JA5]its [change this elsewhere where needed;

 [JA6]comma

Evolution of Gaming Graphics

Evolution of Gaming Graphics

Since the first video game was invented in 1958, graphics have evolved tremendously¹. The simplest of graphics used to keep us happy and occupied. The graphics were not the greatest even as time went on. As long as there was a decent story line, we were happy to play along. Story lines and graphics started to get better and video games became a growing industry. Graphics only steadily grew over time in the beginning. Over the past ten years it is remarkable the amount detail that has been put into video games.

As consumers we expect more from the games we buy. In fact, it seems at times that more time is put into graphics than into the story lines. We complain about the tiniest of flaws in a games graphics. In past games, before graphics were really advanced we thought that the graphics at the current time were amazing. Now as we look back, we try and figure out how we ever thought that we considered older games' graphics good. Graphics now are becoming more and more realistic. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was deemed one of the most realistic war games ever ².

As graphics have become more realistic, parents are starting to become concerned. Parents are scared that their children, no matter their age, will try to copy what they are seeing in the video games. One father, a veteran of the Iraq War, stated that he would not let his children play games like this, because it could desensitize them “to the idea of taking a human life”³. Parents do have somewhat of a point. While I am not saying children will necessarily go on a shooting spree, they are more inclined to become desensitized to violence. The graphics in video games have evolved, so that players can see blood spurting out or going all over the place. This is not just in war games either, for example in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, a game in which its premise is not centered on war, shows detailed and bloody scenes. Since graphics are so detailed and realistic, children could easily not think twice about seeing blood or seeing someone in the real world be hurt.

Despite how one feels about the violence in the video games, it can not be disputed how far graphics have come. Polygon count is the term used to describe the details in a video game. Early video games had a polygon count range of 200-500⁴. The games of today can reach a polygon count of 10,000⁵. 1996's Tomb Raider had a polygon count of 230⁶. In 2008, another Tomb Raider was released and it had a polygon count of 32,000⁷. The higher the polygon count however, the harder your system has to work in order to keep up and render the game properly. As game systems evolve, it is possible for developers to increase the polygon count.

Evolution of graphics in the Elder Scrolls from Arena to Skyrim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1fcRYGzBdc

The Evolution of Gran Turismo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBBDK6X5ICk

                                                                                                                            Anel Sisic

1 “Computer and Video Game History,” http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm.

2 “More Realistic Than Ever: War Video Games,” http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/More-realistic-than-

ever-War-video-games/e2SE55bbO0qAjavcEo-fcg.cspx .

3 “More Realistic Than Ever: War Video Games,” http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/More-realistic-than-

ever-War-video-games/e2SE55bbO0qAjavcEo-fcg.cspx .

4“How Many Polygons You Say?,” http://www.efgmagazine.com/eye-for/0/how-many-polygons-you-say.html.

5“How Many Polygons You Say?,” http://www.efgmagazine.com/eye-for/0/how-many-polygons-you-say.html.

6“How Many Polygons You Say?,” http://www.efgmagazine.com/eye-for/0/how-many-polygons-you-say.html.

7“How Many Polygons You Say?,” http://www.efgmagazine.com/eye-for/0/how-many-polygons-you-say.html.

MACHINIMA   

By: Michael Badger

Machinima refers to the application of film making and storytelling techniques to a 3D virtual environment that more often than not is derived from a particular video game. It is basically a convergence of the world’s of film, animation and video game technology, a collaboration that results in a more cost-effective and relatively less time consuming than traditional frame by frame animation and a less logistically taxing mode of storytelling without any need to compromise too much on the extent of creative control.

The earliest traces of Machinima – the word itself comes from a hybrid of the words “machine” and cinema, coined by – can most clearly be seen in 1992 when Disney Interactive Studios’ computer game ‘Stunt Island enabled users to stage, record and playback stunts to create scenarios for purely spectatorial purposes. This gem of an idea was taken to the next level in 1993 with Doom, a first-person shooter game developed by id Software, and it’s in-built ability to record game-play to be replayed later. This was innovative in the sense that it allowed the player to become performer and allowed them further creative input by enabling them to create their own modifications, maps and software for the game. Doom’s 1996 successor, Quake continued to lay the groundwork for Machinima by allowing for further customizations for player’s, thereby giving them more control in shaping their virtual world to their specific tastes. At this time, online multiplayer games were also becoming increasingly popular, “almost a sport” and the videos recorded, then called ‘demos’ were used in the same way football team would view reels of other teams, or as they were called in the Quake universe ‘camps’, as a means to better strategically prepare themselves for an encounter.

The first full-fledged Machinima feature length movie came on the 26^th of October with the short film “Diary of a Camper” (see below) that opted for focusing on storytelling rather than the blood, gore and violence that are prevalent in it, sparking increased interest in the genre and it’s potential, not only among the gaming community but eventually in the mainstream film industry with Stephen Spielberg, for instance using the video game unreal tournament 3 to test special effects whilst working on his 2001 science fiction movie Artificial Intelligence or A.I. Television program 'South Park' also featured World of Warcraft based Machinima in it's Emmy nominated episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft". 

With Machinima, as with any other medium of communication or expression, there are pitfalls that go along with the conveniences that were mentioned previously. The movie maker relies heavily on the software created for the video game being used by the game’s developers. In essence, Machinima could be seen as modern day, technologically enhanced puppetry. This means that there are limitations on the expressive capabilities of the character’s being used to act out the given script, meaning more work needs to be put into the scenery, special effects and other variables in order to create a convincing and affecting storyline.

The legitimacy of Machinima as an art form is something that is often debated. Although film critic Roger Ebert declared out rightly that video games could never be truly be considered an art form as they have “rules, points, objectives and, an outcome”, it must be made clear that Machinima, although it may stem from the same tree, must be considered as a separate entity. Loose parallels can be drawn to Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the ready-made artwork, only in this case the raw material, the original video game, is actually being manipulated with various customizations and hacks to suit the storytelling needs of the creator(s), thus giving it enough justification to be considered an art form.

 

Works Cited

Hubatch, Michael A. "Machinima: The legitimization and obstacles of becoming an art form." Arts Technology Program, Illinois State University, Normal, 2010.

Machinima.com. The Machinima Part 1: History, Information and Examples. 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mtThYSLxY (accessed October 17, 2012).

—. The Machinima Part 2: History, Information and Examples. 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MekmH6EqXdk (accessed October 17, 2012).

Machinima.org. What is Machinima? May 3, 2008.

http://www.machinima.org/machinima-faq.html (accessed October 17, 2012).

Video Games Through Technology 1983-92

By: Cortney Norton

The gaming industry has further advanced right along side technologies of the time. The constant advancing in technology sets the standard for what is to be expected in the video gaming industries as far as graphics and interactions throughout each time period. Between the years 1983-1992 the video game industry was at it’s own stage of development, just beginning to break away from the overall development of technology as a whole.

Video games currently progress, as their own form of technology; a technology that has become its own art form. As new advances in programing and rendering have been made available to create these works of art. The same method of evolution that occurred through out the history of technology, as well as art history is reoccurring through the evolution of the gaming industry. When humans create/discover a new media, generally, after all of the practical uses have been discovered, the devolvement of a new form of art and entertainment follows. “The real motive force behind the advance of the world has always been provided by ideas.”¹ Throughout many influences came our technology, as did the video game industry. For example: “Our modern world is largely an intellectual product of the Renaissance and a physical product of the industrial revolution.” ¹ From of which video games are possible, yet they are also a product influenced by many cultural and technological influences.

Video game consoles were being introduced left and right at this time. Before the major video game manufactures we know today became mainstream, many other companies were joining the race in game development, some lesser known developers helped set the stage for companies as we know them no.  In 1983 the first video game to use laser-disc technology was established by Rick Dyer. Namco’s PV-1000 was introduced in Japan in 1983 with only 15 games to choose, Dig-Dug being the most notorious of which.² Dig-Doug remains a classic even to this day. A lesser-known Nintendo also released the NES in Japan, yet due to Atari’s current domination of the American video game industries it was not released in the U.S. until 1985. Other popular console released during this time include: The Colecovision, Intellvision, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and the Super Nintendo.

The games being released for these consoles ranged from four different game types including: Target, Adventure, Action, and Tactics.² In games that were target based, the players main objective was to hit a direct sometimes moving target. These games were mainly point-shoot games where the player was the armsman. In the adventure based games the player took on the roll of a specific character, and had many tasks and quests to accomplish to complete each goal. The more tasks the player completed the higher the difficulty advanced moving on to the next one. The player had accomplish many achievements and defeat many obstacles and bosses in order to win the over all game. Tactics games were strategy based games where the player usually versed a computer mode, and the players decisions throughout the game affect the overall outcome. Nintendo was the main produser of these games between 1986 and 1988.² These years were some of the strongest years for Nintendo. Some of the most notorious action and adventure games were introduced by Nintendo for the NES. The games that strongly influenced the current industry and some franchises that Nintendo continues to build on to this day. A few of these games were: Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man 2, and Metroid.

¹ Anon. “JSTOR: Leonardo, Vol. 17, No. 4 (1984), Pp. 277-287.” www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/1575105?&Search=yes&searchText=game&searchText=evolution&searchText=video&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dvideo%2Bgame%2Bevolution%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=24&ttl=2768&returnArticleService=showFullText.

² Chris Melissinos, Patrick O’Rourke, Mike Mika, Elizabeth Broun. The Art Of Video Games: From Pac Man to Mass Effect.(New York: Welcom Books 2012)

Are video games art? That's what we find out in this lecture by Kellee Santiago.
-Kahlani Hall

Evolution of two iconic game characters.

By Jon Bayens

Tennis for Two Video

A video of Tennis for Two. One of the first video games ever made.

--Gaylen Malone

An in-depth look into the company known for the Guild Wars series and their thoughts on the gaming industry - Kahlani Hall

Scholarly Post - Kahlani Hall

Video games have come a long way since their beginnings. From 2-dimensional sprites to full 3D graphics, the development of video games has advanced along with technology.  The video gaming industry has mostly been concerned with innovation and the immersion of audiences into new experiences. Although advancing technologies allow developers to experiment with new techniques for creating games, the games of decades past are what paved the way. The years between the 1970s and 1980s have been a remarkable point of innovation for the video gaming industry. With the very first home gaming console release, and the release of the very first 3-dimensional game, audiences were able to experience gaming through different media that were brand new to that time period. 

The transition between 2-D graphic games and games with 3-D graphics extends from the beginning on the 1970s until the 1980s. It all started with the Odyssey, created by Magnavox in 1972, prior to Atari’s Pong.  Designed by Ralph Baer, the Odyssey was a device that featured a cartridge slot, and plastic overlays that were placed onto a television screen to simulate graphics the device itself was unable to draw, as mentioned by David Winter [1]. These overlays depicted several concepts, including a roulette for the game Roulette, several sports fields (Soccer, Tennis, Football, even Hockey and Skiing) for their corresponding games, and a series of repeating images that must be hit with a rifle accessory for Shooting Gallery.  Although it was believed that the games would only work with Magnavox televisions which hindered sales, Magnavox’s Odyssey still had a reception of over 330,000 consoles sold, and remains one of the most successful gaming consoles of all time.

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

Game Overlays for Magnavox Odyssey

By the end of the decade, the world had seen the release of several games and consoles, each providing different experiences. Some became instant classics, such as Midway’s Space Invaders in 1978, and Namco’s Pacman in the early 1980s. Most attempted to compete with Atari, the powerhouse of that time. After Pong’s release, audiences saw many variants of the games by other companies. These games were still limited by 2-dimensional graphics, however. Mike Snider states that the artwork used in cover art were what helped the audience understand what it was they were seeing in the small graphics. [2] It wasn’t until the late 1980s that the world would finally see video games beyond their pixelated images; the arrival of the first 3D game.

Released by Atari in 1980, Battlezone was the very first video game to feature 3-dimensional graphics. Like the name implies, Battlezone is a first-person combat arcade game that is set in a virtual battlefield. The screen is black while words and images appeared in red and green overlays. The main goal was to outmaneuver enemy tanks and missiles controlled by a computer and set high scores. The game itself was so advanced, the US Government began using enhanced versions of the game to use for training.

Battlezone (1980)

 In relation to game art, Battlezone’s 3D graphics created a world close to that of our own, giving players a chance to experience what it was like to be on a battlefield. Video game art is there to help audiences explore that which is unfamiliar. Elements such as visuals, audio, interactivity and story-telling are combined into video game art to present that experience.

The Beginning of Video Games

By: Gaylen Malone

       It hard to really pin point the period in history where video games became an art form. It's safe to say that throughout the beginning history of video games, form followed function. However, with more recent games, form is actually limited by function. This progression in game art leads users to ask-- when exactly it was that video games became more than a program and more of an experience.

               

     It is commonly stated that Pong was the first video game to be made. However, Pong actually had a predecessor called Tennis for Two. This extremely simple video game was set up to a analog computer, which was connected to an oscilloscope[1]. The graphics for Tennis for Two were simple. There was a side view of a tennis court displayed and one ball that bounced back and forth, which was affected by gravity. While this may have been one of the first formal video games, it will still take years for the idea of video game art to be introduced to the field.

           

     In 1972, Atari released Pong. Much like Tennis for Two, Pong was a tennis game that also featured extremely simplified 2-D graphics. Although it was not the first arcade game, it is the first arcade game that achieved mainstream popularity[2]. Pong was also financially successfully which lead the beginning of the video game industry and sparked the beginning of several game development companies.

       

     The first major stepping stone in video game graphics was made by Gun Fight. The game was debuted in Japan and made by Tomohiro Nishika[3]. The idea of the game is that two cowboys are facing off in a duel and whoever shots the other first, wins.  There were many aspects of Gun Fight that were ground breaking. First of all, it was the first game to depict human-to-human combat, which is the main theme of many video games today. More importantly, it featured many obstacles in the game such as wagons, rocks and cacti which were represented by more than just a black block on the viewing screen, instead the shapes were actually made to visually represent the object they were meant to be depicting. Furthermore, it was the first game to feature a cartoon-like human characters. This was a significant advancement in video games. In earlier games, everything would be represented by abstract blocks and it would be left up to the user to figure out what everything was.

         

     Gun Fight actually sparked the idea of game art in the game development industry because it changed the users mindset from "make this block hit this block" to "I am this character and I need to hit this other character". The change in mind set led to a more immersible game play experience, which is what game art is all about. Game art the means by way which companies immerse their players into the games they create. A game may have great fighting engine, but without the game art reflecting the program beautifully, the game would become dull and disengaging.

Tennis for Two

Pong

GunFight

1. John Anderson. "Who Really Invented The Video Game?". Atari Magazines. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
2. Kent, Steven (2001). "The King and Court". Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. pp.     53–54. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.

3.Chris Kohler (2005). Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life. BradyGames. p. 18. ISBN 0-7440-0424-. Retrieved October 8, 2012.