Technology
Technology, I believe, is what drives the advancement of video games on an electronical level. Games themselves have started from analog in 1958. The first one was a tennis game created by Physicist William Higinbotham that was similar to Pong. The game itself was housed on an analog computer that was the center of attention in Higinbotham’s instrumentation group at the Brookhaven National Laboratory [APS News][1].
Nowadays, video games are completely digital and are burned on Blu-Ray discs. Digital provides more memory and faster response times, creating a better game by many different aspects. The first console that went digital was the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972 was created by Ralph Baer and his coworkers Bill Harrison and Bill Rush. However, the Atari took over in the same year and became the more refined and sought-after console [Pong Story][2].
Between 1972 and the present year of 2019, video games have come a very long way considering the technology advancements that have been made. But, do the technological improvements themselves dictate a better game? Some people prefer a simple analog game or an 8-bit pixelated game, while others prefer the AAA game like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry. Each variation has their pros and cons, and it is important to look at both sides.
​
​
[1] APS News. https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200810/physicshistory.cfm
[2] Pong Story: http://www.pong-story.com/odyssey.htm
Design
Design can impact a video game’s appeal and/or the way a person perceives it. Interlacing with technology, design can include the physical and analog/digital appearance of a console and video game. The impact of design on video games can mean a multitude of things, but I will focus on the visual impact of modern games.
There are many different genres of games such as horror, adventure, role-playing, and shooters. Each have their own design feel to them and may have certain set visuals for each genre. The types of video games I will be looking at are horror, role-playing, and puzzle.
Horror games such as Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Dead Space, all have a similar visual darkness in every scene to conjure up the ultimate scare factor. This leads to a lower brightness setting inside the permanent settings of the game. It is well known that people are afraid of what they can’t see, thus having a darker scene-based game will produce similar results. People who like these types of video games tend to attribute the feel of adrenaline as their main reason.
Role-playing games tend to be the most visually appealing, such as The Witcher 3, Skyrim, and Mass Effect. These games tend to include various colors with contrast and high-definition textures to produce crisp and colorful scenes. This genre is my favorite because these are story-driven and house a high number of hours of game play, so you are getting your money’s worth. Other design impacts for role-playing games include highly detailed quests, can be historically educational, and may enhance creativity by the amount of interaction (non-playable character interactions, exploration/open world, choosing different actions, etc) you can have inside these games.
Finally, puzzle games like Tetris and Candy Crush Saga are great examples for this genre as they require intuition and practice to complete levels or to just even enjoy playing in general. The impact of these games is cognitive learning by visual motions that happen throughout the game by the players input. The colors tend to be very vibrant and crisp as the game itself does not require much memory. This is because these games contain a lot of repetition of content while still maintaining amusement.
​
Content
While going off design, content can also impact a person’s way of perceiving a game. I chose to do content last because it ties up everything that is significant with technology and design in video games. A game’s content is the core of its purpose and meaning. It can include many things that range from visuals to sound. Let’s go back to the three chosen genres from design; horror, role-playing, and puzzle.
The type of content in horror games are usually themed around scare factors. To produce scare factors, the video game may contain darkened visuals, scary enemies, ominous music, and/or less saturated colors. The design of each of these can be more complex and potent as technology advances. For example, if you look at the first Silent Hill, the enemies are blocky and don’t really appear to be that scary because of technological disadvantages. But if you play Dead Space 3, the enemies are more realistic and their movements are faster giving the opportunity for an easier jump scare (see fig 1 and fig 2).
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Figure 1 Figure 2
​
Role-playing games consist of story-based content and visual appeal. Technology and design have vastly enhanced these two types of content by increasing memory and the ability to create advanced assets. Similar to the comparison of Deadspace and Silent Hill enemies, the enhancement of scenery, music, and story can heighten the ability to indulge in the story and get lost amongst the lore and visuals.
Puzzle games differ from horror and role-playing genres as they have not advanced as much with the technology and design. Tetris games may slightly differ with visual aspects but the core of the game is still the same, get as many Tetris’s as you can. Although there has been a recent change in technology with Tetris, there is now a multiplayer game called Tetris 99 that pits you against, you guessed it, 99 players. Otherwise, if you compare a screen shot of the first Tetris and todays Tetris, there isn’t much change in technology and design (see fig 3 and fig 4).
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Figure 3 Figure 4
