week four, game design
TRANSCRIPT
And now for a little break from theory!
MontanaTech
VIDEOGAME GENRES & Auteurs
What is GenreGenre is a set of criteria for a category of
composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and cinema, but is also used for videogames.
Genres are formed by sets of conventions, and many works cross into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions.
A video game genre is defined by a set of gameplay challenges. For example, an action game is still an action game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or outer space.
In Cinema StudiesIncludes:Action Adult Adventure
Biography Children's Comedy Crime Disaster Documentary Drama Foreign Espionage Family Fantasy Gay & Lesbian Horror Musical Mystery Period Piece Romance Sci-Fi Short Sport Suspense Teen Thriller War Western
In Videogame StudiesWe will look at these and their various
subgenres:1. Action game | 2. Shooter game3. Action-Adventure game |4. Adventure5. Construction Simulation game | 6. Life
Sim7. RPG Game | 8. Strategy game9. Vehicle Simulation 10 Others (Fitness, Music, Sports, Casual,
Social)
Action GamesRequires players to overcome obstacles
by using quick reflexes and timing. Subgenres include Fighting Games
(eg Street Fighter II - IV)Maze Games (eg Pac Man) thx Remi
Gaillard.Pinball Games (Pipeline Pinball)Platform Games (eg Donkey Kong)
Shooter GamesFocuses on combat involving
weaponry.Subgenres include First Person Shooters (FPS)
(eg Halo 3) and Doom.
MMOFPS (eg Unreal Tournament)Shmup Arcade Shooter
(eg Space Invaders)
Action-AdventureTend to focus on exploration and
involve some item gathering, puzzle solving and combat.
An example is the world’s best selling videogame and that would be …..
This game? The Legend of ZeldaBy the great videogame auteur
Shigeru Miyamoto
Shig Miyamotohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja5GNzmUhho
Donkey Kong (1981) Mario Bros. (1983) Super Mario Bros. (1985) Super Mario Bros. 2 (1986) The Legend of Zelda (1987) Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the
Past (1991) Super Mario Kart (1992) Super Mario 64 (1996) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
(1998) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
(2000)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) Super Mario Sunshine (2002) Metroid Prime (2002) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002) Super Mario Galaxy (2007) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009) Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
Auteur
AdventureUnlike adventure films, adventure
games are not defined by story, but rather by manner of gameplay. Is considered a “purist” genre.
An example is the world’s best selling PC game and that would be …..
MYST.
Robyn and Rand Millerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiOqdfCBv40
Robyn and Rand Miller developed the games Myst and Riven through Cyan Worlds, a Spokane, Washington-based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in 1991 and released it for the Macintosh computer on September 24, 1993
Remakes and ports of the game have been released for Microsoft Windows, Windows Mobile, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Jaguar CD, AmigaOS, CD-i, 3DO, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and the iPhone OS by publishers Midway Games, Sunsoft, and Mean Hamster Software.
Auteurs
Construction SimulationIn these games one builds or manages
communities and projects with a set of resources:
Subgenres include:City building games
(eg Sim City Classic)God Games (Spore)Both these games were designed by
Will Wright.
Life SimulationLife simulation games can be about
individuals or allow one to experiment with ecosystem sims.
Subgenres include:Biological Simulations (
Jurassic Park: Op Genesis)Pet-raising Simulations (Tamagotchi)Social Simulations (
Will Wright’s The Sims)
Will Wright
Cofounder of Maxis, now part of Electronic Arts. In 2009 he formed the "Stupid Fun Club", an entertainment think tank.
SimCity brought him to prominence and he built on the theme of computer simulation with SimEarth and SimAnt.
Wright's greatest success is The Sims which, as of 2009, is the best-selling PC game in history. His latest work, Spore, was released in 2008 and features gameplay based loosely upon the model of evolution and scientific advancement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH5ALcdxNag
Auteur
Role-Playing GamePlayers get to play characters
through a story narrative.Subgenres include:Original Game
Dungeons and Dragons.MMORGs: WOW and Second Life.A Thriller-a-thonTactical RPGs :
Final Fantasy Tactics
Strategy GamePlayers use skill and careful thinking to
achieve a victory condition.Subgenres include:4X – Xplore, Xpand, Xploit, Xterminate. (eg Civilization) auteur Sid Meir.Realtime Tactics (eg Empire Total War)
machinimaTurn-based Strategy Games (
Battle For Wesmoth) for iPhone!.
Sid Meir
Canadian Programmer/Designer of Strategy Games (Firaxis):
* Spitfire Ace (1982) * HellCat Ace (1982)* Floyd of the Jungle (1982)* NATO Commander (1984)* Solo Flight (1984)* Kennedy Approach (1985)* F-15 Strike Eagle (1985)
Auteur
Sid Meir, Videogame Auteur
* Silent Service (1985)* Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987) * F-19 Stealth Fighter (1988) * F-15 Strike Eagle II (1989) * Covert Action (1990) * Railroad Tycoon (1990) * Civilization (1991) * Pirates! Gold (1993) * Colonization (1994) * Civilization II (1996)
Continued
Sid Meir, Videogame Auteur
* Magic: The Gathering (1997) * Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (1997) * Sid Meier's Antietam! (1998) * Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999) * Civilization III (2001)* Sid Meier's SimGolf (2002) * Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004)* Civilization IV, Designed by Soren Johnson
2005. * Sid Meier's Railroads!, released October 17,
200608
Continued Further!
Sid Meir, Videogame Auteur
* Civilization Revolution, announced on June 28, 2007 and released on June 13, 2008. A seventh generation console edition of Civilization.
* Sid Meier's Civilization IV: War of Two Cities, 2008
* Sid Meier's Pirates! Mobile 2008 * Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon Mobile, 2008
mobile version * Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, is a
2008.
ACK EVEN MORE
WHOA!! What a body of work!
Vehicle SimulationProvide the player with realistic
interpretations of operating vehicles.
Subgenres include:Racing Games
(eg Simpsons Hit and Run) Booze Cruise
Flight Simulators (Flight Simulator X)
Other Notable GenresCorporeal Games (Wii Sports)Music Games (Guitar Hero)Sports Games (NHL)Casual Games (Puzzle Games –
Tetris) performance creator Guillaume Reymond
Social Games (Mafia Wars on Facebook)