Tuesday 21 October 2008

80's - Now, and a bit extra!

Ok, so... Again I fail to keep on top of the tasks I’m set.
80’s – 00’s in the history of video games!
Some of the first “out of arcade” consoles were the Commodore 64, Apple II and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, which were released in the early 80’s.
Other changes in the 80’s were the increase in companies aimed at developing games, though not many survived for long, Electronic Arts being one of the few still surviving to this day!
Arcade games reached a high in the 80’s with “technically innovative” and genre defining games for the time in the first few years. Game genres such as a “scrolling shooter” were established with games like Defender in 1980, this was, apparently, also the first game to have events outside the players view taking place! Also in 1980, Battlezone used wireframe vector graphics to create the first “true” 3D game world.
3D Monster Maze, released in 1981 was the first 3D game for home computers.
Skipping ahead to a console we should have all heard of! The Sega Mega Drive! Released in 1989, proved its worth after its debut, and had Nintendo counter release a console, the Super NES in 1991.
After those, consoles such as the Atari Jaguar in 1993 and the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1994-1995 were released. 1996 saw the release of the Nintendo 64, the major title at its release being Super Mario 64, which became a defining title for 3D platform games.
In the new decade Sony started with the release of the PlayStation 2, this games console was a huge success and went on to becoming a top selling console, according to Wikipedia, THE top selling console to date.
Before the end of 2001 Microsoft had released the Xbox. But sold at a loss.
Games such as The Sims were big hits in the early 00’s and puzzle games with short game play.
In 2004, Nintendo released a new handheld console, the Nintendo DS, and Sony released their PlayStation Portable within a month of each other, the PlayStation was superior in graphics and power, but the DS had its two screens, which proved popular in the games marked. Allowing Nintendo to continue dominating the handheld market from the release of their Game Boy back in 1989!
The release of the “next gen” platforms started in 2005, with Microsoft releasing the Xbox 360, shortly followed in 2006 with the PlayStation 3, both boasting high definition graphics and the capability to play online. Microsoft had the edge pricewise, selling a lot cheaper than the PlayStation 3, which is reportedly one of the most expensive platform on the console market.
Released shortly after the PlayStation 3, Nintendo came back with the Wii. Despite the graphic being substantially lower than that of the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii proved popular thanks to its new way of controlling, motion sensitive control and infra-red pointing system. The console reportedly sold out during the Christmas season of 2006 and remained that way for 18 months after. Being the fastest selling game console of all time in most of the world’s gaming market!

For the future in the gaming industry, I'd like to see more games without all the super graphics, and the realism in the characters! I would love to be able to go into a shop and see all the retro games that I love available for buying!

I would love to play Sonic The Hedgehog again! On the megadrive...

I only did this in August, but it's such a good game! There should be more focus on the unconventional main characters in games! Like Sonic, and Crash Bandicoot!

A new Unreal would be awesome, with extra "ew" affect, yes?

Tuesday 14 October 2008

History of Games

So I suppose I should have posted this ages ago, but I dropped behind on t'other stuff! Anyways, on with the history...
Doesn't have to be essay style right?
A.S. Douglas obviously got completely bored of the whole using these awesome machines to work off; and therefore decided to use them for entertainment!! Creating the "first" game of graphics, Tic-Tac-Toe, 'cause that is so much fun! Mr. Douglas aparently had previously written a PHD degree at Cambridge University on Human/computer interactions; which I think is relevant as you need to have an interest in computers and interacting with computers to want to create something from or for them, right?
...Moving along. I think I’ll go to the first publicly released game, Tennis for Two in 1958. Imaginative name really! It was a game that involved you, quite simply, hitting a ball between two players. Not even that, just moving your rectangle to knock the ball back.
Anyway, I find it hard to imagine people being amused for hours on end by two rectangles and a circle... Anything less than the pixilated style of Sonic is impossible to play!
Back to the point: Space War was next in line on the early games, released in 1961! This was slightly more technological, as they were able to move in more directions, not just up and down...
Then onto Pong! Released in 1972! Looks like colour!! Though, isn’t that a tad early for colour?
I’ve also noticed that there’s a big difference in the time it takes for creating games back then, compared to now! Three years and even more.
Now onto the personal part;
My gaming history!
I think the first game that I played, was Sonic the Hedgehog on my Megadrive; along with a random motorbike racing game that I always owned my sister on (she isn’t too good at computer things).
When we advanced in technology onto the PlayStation, I’d spend my days playing Spyro the Dragon, Time Crisis and Tekken 4! Which doesn’t work anymore, sad times! Then we got the PlayStation 2!
I don’t really have a huge list of games that I’ve played to be honest. I’m just a light gamer, interested more in the pretty designs than the actual game play. Unless you count Medal of Honour and Call of Duty, which I would spend hours on when my dad bought the new ones!
The most recent games I’ve played on are Kingdom Hearts and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 which is my favourite!

^I want those headphones^

I’ve always been quite intrigued by technology, and I guess that my interest kept me playing video games, and growing with the technology!
I now want a PS3 and have my eyes on the Final Fantasy XIII Versus!


Ok, so aparently for the next few years, I'm gonna be writing here! Yey... So I'm Kaylie! The quiet one that you'll find lurking in the corners! Is it obvious I want a job drawing? Ah well, I'm not feeling so comfortable writing a blog, I don't like to bother with this sort of thing. It's like you'd be sat there expecting something interesting...
Good enough for an introduction?


Baibai!
*waves*