Computer Gaming

The history of computer gaming is so vast that I could probably start a whole new blog on it, reason why I never really got down to doing it. Still with all this information, I’ll try to incorporate all the important details you, the readers will be interested in!

Computers have been around for longer then you probably think, dating back to the late 1950’s. Generally first used for solving math equations and work of that sort, developers finally came to realization, that computers can be used for entertainment purposes also! There comes computer gaming, as computers started moving into universities and colleges, students were first too try to make their imaginations into realities by converting them into games. Computer gaming has definitely grown from there and now there are numerous ways people can play and new genres.

Computer gaming began with a bit of a shaky ground as computers weren’t as reliable and were just flat out huge. But great arcade games like Space Invader and such really propelled the potential in the 60’s. From then leaps have been made, as there are now very reliable computers, and not only that but also very graphically capable computers. As computers evolved, so did the gaming industry involved. Since the invention of the computer game, there have been many steps taken to further improve too.

This new invention was definitively great, but what’s playing a game without someone to play with? Here comes the multiplayer. Multiplayer was built in to the first ever games made for computer, but online multiplayer was really what was going too set it even higher. Online multiplayer really changed the way one could look at gaming, as it gives a whole new element to play with. No longer will one get bored playing story mode all alone as they can reach out and play with other. This really thrived in the MMORG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games), as gamers are given the chance to really become whoever they want and do as they feel in these big internet games such as World of Warcraft!

Users have been addicted since the evolution has begun and really I don’t think there’s any stopping it now. Gaming has been done; many people love it, as some hate it, but it all started with a big fat computer taking up half of a room. Without these computers and these games, I think the world would be a better place… Who am I kidding? Keep it coming developers! J

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer_game
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

3D Gaming

As technology keeps growing, here’s another example of how far we really are here. Video games have always been around now, but 3D gaming? This is revolutionary, you could now feel as if you’re actually in your player’s shoes, as everything is crystal clear and life like with these 3D graphics. Throw your PS3 or Xbox 360 on your new 3D TV that have been around now, and there you go, right in the middle of whatever game you intend on playing.

Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 were first consoles to really come out with this fully, as it has been done in the past with lower name Japanese consoles but never really anything this big. They have developed very smoothly and works great, all you need now is a 3D TV and you’re set! I’ve never really played any of these consoles 3D yet but I’m really looking forward to it, maybe even own my own 3D TV! Thing is they are so expensive that I can’t see this feature in consoles really evolve until later when 3D TV’s become the norm and not so expensive as they are now. Think of it though, imagine playing Kinect, an add-on that’s completely hands free, with the 3D effects, because after all the developers have been trying to make it seem like you’re really in the game ever since the first console, now this is where it really comes to life! It’s like having you own arcade center at home, or better yet your own little warfare. I believe 3D gaming will go a long way as will everything that’s 3D but really there won’t be a major impact until the prices of 3D TV’s drop significantly. That is really what it relies on at this point in time!

I’d love to see 3D gaming grow, and wouldn’t mind having a 3D TV neither, so I’ll definitely have both in the future, but for now with the prices extremely high on the 3D TV’s I don’t believe this feature in gaming will go that far. Not yet at least…

Wrapping up my blogs guys thanks a lot for following and supporting! Means a lot, keep up the commenting guys and have a good one! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_3DS

Mobile Gaming

Mobile gaming really hasn’t been around for that long, but with many cell phones acting as pretty much gaming devices (as Apple advertises it’s iPhone) it seems to be a big deal. Many app stores carry a load of games and you could find many people’s phones flooded with games.

The first mobile games weren’t created until around 2003, where the cell phone had just released a camera with it, making it fast enough and have the right software too add games. Games that released at first weren’t the best, as anyone could imagine, but had Playstation like graphics! Tetris, games like that are what you could expect from the early portion of cell phone gaming.

There are many different platforms for cell phone gaming, as Apple iOS and the Android seem to be atop. These two really revolutionized the way playing games on a phone has been and as mentioned above, the iPhone is really being marketed as a handheld gaming device now with its recent upgrade graphically! It really goes to show how far technology has evolved when you could do things like play full games of Grand Theft Auto on your iPhone and others. There’s even online for games on cell phones, as people can connect through wifi or bluetooth too play favourite games against each other.

As the gaming industry as gotten farther and farther, this really comes to show that there is no limit when it comes to this development. It is a work of art, and with the success developers have had I’m sure it’ll be around for a while. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_games

Motion Controller / Hands Free (Kinect)

As technology seems too evolve at great speeds, the gaming industry keeps getting changed up. Before, gaming meant sitting down, tapping some computer keys or hitting a couple buttons on your controller, with the stereotype of all gamers being lazy and fat people! Nowadays, people really can’t say much about the “laziness” as there have been many varieties of  motion consoles that have released or just add-ons.

The first and seems like only motion based console to have released is the Nintendo Wii. It features controllers, shaped not like normal, more like a remote control for your TV type of thing that has a accelerometer inside to be used primarily for detecting motion, there for controlling your console from there. This console is great and quite revolutionizing, as it’s the first to really implement this style of play. Comes with some ups and downs as expected, the good would definitely be the motion obviously and the great classic Mario games and such. But the bad are pretty big in this case too! They’re many instances where we’ve witness people throwing their controllers into TV, literally shattering them while playing tennis or a game of such sort. There was a made strap for your wrist to prevent so, but obviously people wouldn’t listen and there goes your brand new flat screen. Other consoles that have an add-on for this type of game play would be the PS3 with the Eye.

Xbox also has this type of games, only completely hands free! Now this is truly revolutionizing as their console brings the first ever completely hands free gaming. This is also an add-on for a lot of extra money but man is it fun, until you get tired that is! It’s a pretty long camera with a motion sensor on it that scans the area and then pretty much knows where you are. The Kinect really runs great and smooth and games can be a load of fun if you feel like getting up and actually getting a bit of a work out from it. The only thing is it gets really tiring after a while since most of the games require a lot of movement, and for lazy people like me you wouldn’t want to play this every single day!

Finally motion controllers and hands free Kinect really changed the way people look at gaming now, since before it was just for lazy people. That argument has been scratched and more and more people will now give video games a chance, as sales prove so too! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sensor_(gaming)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Eye
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii

Handheld Gaming

Handheld gaming has become a new thing these days. Everyone wants to still play, while mom is yelling informing them that they’ll miss their appointment at the doctors in a bit, so take it with you? The handheld consoles have really evolved as of late too become quite remarkable. From the 70’s to present, there have been many changes, and I’ll be speaking of those starting from the beginning.

The first handheld gaming consoles were made back in the 70’s for those of you who don’t know, as I had no clue! They were big, bulky, and only played one game but hey at the time they were probably the greatest thing ever, right? As these non-TV video games started evolving, Nintendo, as we know now if you’ve been following my blogs from the start, are definitively the trend setters. Once again Nintendo did it, with their first big hit the original “Game boy”; the public’s interest grew, resulting in a large amount of sales worldwide. Released in 1988 it had reached 25 million sold by 1992. As the graphics obviously weren’t too impressive, who didn’t want to play Mario on the go?

The list of new handheld consoles keeps on growing, a number that have really made an impact are: Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP (Playstation Portable). Recently released were the Nintendo 3DS with actually 3D capabilities! Lastly the PlayStation Vita launched not too long ago either. All types of games really worked on these handheld gaming devices as obviously Mario and such were the selling point and still are for Nintendo.

Handheld gaming devices are still growing rapidly; as we’ve seen the first 3D one hit the market last year! Honestly, I’m not big on handheld gaming, all though I wouldn’t mind having one to play some classic Nintendo games, but probably won’t get one until they’re extremely thin, light and pocket size until then none for me! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handheld_game_console

Online Gaming

Ever gotten bored playing single player all by yourself? These days it seems like people only buy games for the online game play, I won’t lie; it’s the only reason why I still play. With the release of online gaming, the whole gaming industry was in for a huge change for the better. Before gaming seemed more a locally social thing only, if you didn’t have friends with you, chances are you would have got really bored. This time around, games have become more and more social. With the originators PC implementing it, Sony soon caught on and so did Microsoft, the online gaming heavyweights.

Online gaming was first created in the late 1960’s but then grew and became running over Ethernet in the late 1970’s. It obviously began on the computer, as the first console to really have online gaming was the PS2. Online gaming really became a hit, because people just got bored of playing alone, or if once in a while friends came over, and it is probably the best thing to have happened for the gaming industry. Millions of players log on too Xbox live or Playstation Network and their computers to play tons of different types of online games. Genres that really benefited from online multiplayer are first-person shooters like the famous Call of Duty series, and the creation of MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) like World of Warcraft as we all already know!

All types of games really strive with this feature, it seems to be a must have feature for most people to want to buy it now a days. Big online games would be Halo, COD, World of Warcraft and the list goes on and on. Even sport games and all other types of games have really benefited with this, as players can now have their game updated so if a certain player is doing really good in the NBA your NBA 2K12 will automatically update the game and have that players overall attribute higher.

Finally, without online gaming, I really don’t know where the gaming industry would be to date. As of late, these big name developers have been really banking on the online aspect and pretty much relying on it to do what it’s always done, sell! Without online gaming, I don’t believe I’d own any console to be honest! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_online_games


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_game

Xbox 360

Sony PS3’s big rival, the Xbox 360, released in 2005 a year earlier then the PS3 as Microsoft was the first too come out with this next gen gaming console! This console made a big splash, as it was sold in 36 countries in the first year, more than any other console, and completely sold out across the world, except for Japan. At the time, no console compared, it came with a load of new features never seen before, but it was flooded with problems also!

The 360 released with too many new features. A completely redesigned graphic chip card,  the ATI Xenos running at 500 MHz still great all though a bit lower of PS3’s 550MHz graphics card. The console performed amazingly, giving visuals never seen before on video games. Unlike the precedent Xbox, it came with a detachable hard drive (20GB). The software designed for this console was beautiful also; the new Xbox experience really did well. Other then the hardware upgrades in this console, what really thrived was the online game play and design by Microsoft, which really caught the eye of many video gamers across the world. All though there’s a subscription fee needed to play, online really is the selling point for Xbox, as it really is one of the smoothest, simplest, the most fun, and easiest to play. There’s no real hassle, everything is very straight forward, and connecting to friends is the best part. With in-game chats, and private chats, everything seemed and still seems to be good for Microsoft’s Xbox console. The online also brought new features like marketplace. The big name game on this console being evident to almost anyone that has played a video game ever is Halo 3 with 14.5 million copies sold, keep in mind that Halo is an exclusive!

There were a lot of positives that came with the Xbox 360, but many negatives presented themselves soon after. The most common problem, nicknamed the “Red Ring of Death” was eating away at many Xbox’s at the time. The problem was so common that Microsoft later extended the warranty from one year to three, to try to solve the issue with these red ringed Xbox’s.

 

Overall Xbox 360 was and still is a revolutionary gaming console. First to release out of the Xbox 360 vs. PS3 debate, besides the problems, Microsoft did good by releasing a year early, as they had a head start and have established their console perfectly. With millions of subscribed, and many more subscribing and buying the console every day, exclusives that can’t be challenged by PS3, and overall a bunch of new features, the Xbox 360 won’t fall out of its power any time soon! 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360