Developing a New Major

starts off with applications – might be time to talk about all the places you could use the skills from the game classes even if ya don’t go into the game industry – need some job listings

then talks about platforms and genres – need to combine thinking about market and platforms and genres when designing games

last paragraph gives the reason to read this chapter – use the info in your concept documents for a new game

applications

• entertainment – actively involved tho, not passive (like movies and tv), key is the player is creating part of hte entertainment
• community building – related to hte socialization reason for playing – myspace and facebook  are community building non-games networks can be big like wow or small like socializing iwht family and friends, can have community building by accident
• education – ties back in with user goals of mastery and learning something – could also be learning on purpose like educational games, simulations – mentions an interesting thing – most educational games are for kids and there are lots of adults looking for ways to learn stuff – like going back to college and work training – games are missing out on that market, can have education by accident, puzzle games teach problem solving, not just learning facts – also learning processes and skills and should set hytem up for future learning, also learning relates to learning the game – mastery, get feedback on how well you’re doing
• recruitment & training – govt and military recruitment, think america’s army, games/sims to learn management and leadership skills, skills training for surgeons/doctors, flight sims
• marketing & advertising – advergames, games based on movies, product placement in games to help advertisers get their message to audiences that are moving away from tv and mainstream media – here’s a general intro of lots of ways advertising can be in the game – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHa-it1WPwA&feature=related – here’s a video about google’s adsense for games – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71UyCTS1uGE and here’s a video showing an example of how an ad is placed inside a game – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPAslXR6xCc&feature=channel

discussion of platforms – not sure what’s interesting there – maybe the online and peer to peer but I think they know that, they have just a blurb box on mobile – need more there

time interval – turn based (like board and card games and some videogames, each player takes a turn before anyone takes a 2nd turn, everyone has to just wait till all the turns are taken; real-time (people just act, no waiting for the other guy, act as fast as you can dependent on your computer speed and internet connection strengtth, online games are ususally real time); time-limited (like speed chess)

player modes – single player (could be lots of npc’s but only one human), two-player (head to head competition), local multiplayer – everybody in the same physical space looking at hte same screen so no hidden info, no specific examples, LAN-based multiplayer – play over a network, all inthe same space but looking at their own screen, can hook some portables together to make a LAN or can hook PCs together, co-op two-player and multiplayer – like doing quests and everyone has to work together to achieve the goal, online multiplayer – not in same physical space – use the internet instead of locally connected computers – MMos are example

genres – way to categorize games based on subject matter, setting, screen format, player perspective, strategies, different types of people prefer different genres, certain genres tend to show up more often o some types of platforms than others (because of platform characteristics), genres in games are different than in movies – game genres often based on how the game is played and not so much on setting or theme, it’s a way to describe the game – like shorthand so developers and publishers and players know what to expect but they can restrict your creativity

• action – since the arcade years, simple game play, focus on player reaction time, hand-eye coordination, twitch games, fast paced, real time adrenaline rush
• platformers – subgenre of action – how player moves thru the environment – sideways, has to jump to avoid obstacles
• shooters – another action subgenre – character holds gun and other kinds of weapons, can be first person shooters or third person, FPS gives ya the feeling of being in the world – here’s a video history of FPS – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t34WzclVmMI&feature=related – here’s another video history of FPS – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weCZcNDZr3o , changes your perspective
• racing – can be first or third person perspective, different roads/terrains, different kinds of vehicles, go fast wihtout losing control
• fighting – mostly 2 person games, usually viewed from the side, relatively short bouts, focus is on combining moves

• 

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  adventure – player explores and wanders looking for treasure nad dealing with danger

• action-adventure – quick action, puzzles, story elements, faster paced than straight adventure games
• casino – kinds of games that people might get addicted to, electronic versions of games from actual casinos
• puzzle games – puzzles in lots of genres, but there are straight puzzle games, no story elements, cna be timed or time limited – Lumines is a straight puzzle game for hte PSP, also bejeweled – pop cap games make puzzle games
• RPGs – comes from D&D tradition, strong storylines, themes often revolve around saving the world, killing monsters, player’s character is heroic
• simulations – use real world rules, can be vehicle sims like flight sims or process sims like sim city, sports sims
• strategy – based in chess, manage limited resources you use to build or put together units – includes turn-based strategy and real time strategy, sometimes have to micromanage resources and units, in turn based player can take all the time they want to put together their move
• MMO – part rpg, part strategy, have to deal with people who misbehave and are rude, can be extremely immersive, can be like puzzle pirates and have cooperation and collaboration instead of role play and fanasy – puzzle pirates are really a combo genre mmopg – online puzzle games, could also have mmorts – online real time strategy games
• sandbox games – no goals

market – the kinds of people you’re trying to reach, your target market, combo market with applications, genres, styles, platforms, and generations – new kinds of games come out of combining these in different ways

might be interesting to do #5 from the end of hte chapter – combine genres to create a hybrid genre and say what kinds of unique features such a game would have, related to #4 where they want you to create a brand new genre which would be tough but maybe extra credit?

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