I just reviewed another article for ACM Computing Reviews; this time on the History of Pong. It reminded me of how much misinformation there is floating around about the history of video games. People who remember Pong and many who don't, recall it as the first home video game and see it as the first step in a technology that went on to provide home gaming consoles such as Ninetendo, Sony Play Station and Xbox. This perception is inaccurate and I thought I would take a few mintes to set the record straight.
First, Pong was not developed using computer technology. It was developed using television technology. There were games being developed on computers, at the time, in university computer labs. However, this was before the microcomputer was developed and computers were way too expensive for home use. Television technology was used to keep the price down.
Second, Pong was not developed for home use. The earliest video games were developed for arcades as a more advanced form of pin ball machine. So, the earliest versions of Pong were coin fed arcade machines. Home use did not come until much later. Yes, video games initially grew out of the pinball arcade business, not the computer industry.
Third, as disparagingly as many people like to view video games today, their image used to be much worse. Although they were advertized as 'games of skill' many viewed them as a form of gambling. And going into a pinball arcade to play them was viewed as a shady activity. Nolan Bushnell, inventor of Pong and developer of many of the early games, tried to increase their respectability buy creating a line of family restaurants where the kids could play video games while the parents waited for their food to be prepared. This was the origin of Chuck E. Cheese and many people who would not go into a pin ball arcade found Chuck E. Cheese to be perfectly acceptable.
Video games have come a long way and it is easy to forget where it all started. To learn more about the history of video games, I would recommend The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games
Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPGs, really need a better name. But, for now, we will just have to go with the acronym. They are a unique genre of video game with special features that lead to some very interesting emergent properties.
First consider "Massively Multi-Player". When you play a first person shooter game or a game of skill, it is you against the game. Any people or monsters you encounter are game objects. In a multi-player game, at least some of the other people or monsters are actually the characters of other players. So, instead of playing against the game (known as PvE or Player vs. Environment) you are playing against other players (known as PvP or Player versus Player).
Typically you will encounter only a few other players. However, the potential exists to encounter dozens or even hundreds of other players, which is why it is refered to as Massively Multi-Player. The fact that you are interacting with so many other players gives rise to group dynamics, a social environment, a rudimentary culture, and a real economy.
Online means that you are interacting with other players in real time although it is hard to imagine such a phenomenon not being online.
Role playing means that players are acting out roles which gives the environment a fantasy quality. This, in turn, gives rises to some interesting psychological and sociological aspects.
Some academics have studied World of Warcraft (the largest MMORPG) as a cultural artifact in the same way you would study film or novels. Hilde G. Corneliussen and Jill Walker Rettberg edited a book of readings called Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft® Reader which analyses the symbolism and values portrayed in World of Warcraft.
The point here is that there is a richness to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games that is only just beginning to be tapped. I reviewed Corneliussen and Rettberg's book for ACM Computing Reviews back in September of 2008.
I began that review with the observation that when Thomas Edison made the first three second movie of a guy sneezing, nobody could have possibly anticipated the impact of film and television on our culture. In the same same way, when people saw the first video game, Pong, they could not possibly have anticipated the impact of video games on our culture. Today we are just beginning to see that impact and are still a long way from understanding it.
First consider "Massively Multi-Player". When you play a first person shooter game or a game of skill, it is you against the game. Any people or monsters you encounter are game objects. In a multi-player game, at least some of the other people or monsters are actually the characters of other players. So, instead of playing against the game (known as PvE or Player vs. Environment) you are playing against other players (known as PvP or Player versus Player).
Typically you will encounter only a few other players. However, the potential exists to encounter dozens or even hundreds of other players, which is why it is refered to as Massively Multi-Player. The fact that you are interacting with so many other players gives rise to group dynamics, a social environment, a rudimentary culture, and a real economy.
Online means that you are interacting with other players in real time although it is hard to imagine such a phenomenon not being online.
Role playing means that players are acting out roles which gives the environment a fantasy quality. This, in turn, gives rises to some interesting psychological and sociological aspects.
Some academics have studied World of Warcraft (the largest MMORPG) as a cultural artifact in the same way you would study film or novels. Hilde G. Corneliussen and Jill Walker Rettberg edited a book of readings called Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A World of Warcraft® Reader which analyses the symbolism and values portrayed in World of Warcraft.
The point here is that there is a richness to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games that is only just beginning to be tapped. I reviewed Corneliussen and Rettberg's book for ACM Computing Reviews back in September of 2008.
I began that review with the observation that when Thomas Edison made the first three second movie of a guy sneezing, nobody could have possibly anticipated the impact of film and television on our culture. In the same same way, when people saw the first video game, Pong, they could not possibly have anticipated the impact of video games on our culture. Today we are just beginning to see that impact and are still a long way from understanding it.
Monday, September 14, 2009
World Building Video Games
World Building Video Games are not technically games although the lines are quite blurry in some cases. Spore, for example, is a world building environment in that you create your own creatures. But it is a game in that you try to have those creatures defeat other creatures and take over the universe. Second Life, on the other hand, is a world building environment which is not a game at all. You can create games in Second Life because it is a world building environment. But the platform itself is not a game. This is a source of endless confusion and frustration to those new to Second Life who come asking "how does this game work?" and "what do you do here?"
Second Life can be viewed as many things, but, in order to understand it, it is best to think of it as a platform for creating three dimensional worlds. These three dimensional worlds can serve any number of purposes. They can be for entertainment, social interaction, education, public relations, information dissemination and so on. My interest in Second Life lies in their potential for business applications.
What does the ability to create three dimensional worlds have to do with business applications? The answer is simple. Three dimensional worlds are likely to be the next major change in computer interfaces. If you are old enough, you may remember that we used to interact with computers through what was called a command line interface. In fact, in the late 1980's and early 1990's as graphical user interfaces began to gain some traction, there was considerable debate over which interface (command line or graphical user interface) was superior. Of course, graphical user interfaces won and today we look back on the command line interface as primative and barbaric.
Each year that passes adds more people to that generational pool who grew up playing video games and interacted with the computers through three dimensional virtual world interfaces. They look at the two dimensional point and click interface that we are all so used to and wonder how anyone can interact with a computer through an interface that is so primative and barbaric. And when it comes to change, there is nothing more powerful than a new generation.
Second Life can be viewed as many things, but, in order to understand it, it is best to think of it as a platform for creating three dimensional worlds. These three dimensional worlds can serve any number of purposes. They can be for entertainment, social interaction, education, public relations, information dissemination and so on. My interest in Second Life lies in their potential for business applications.
What does the ability to create three dimensional worlds have to do with business applications? The answer is simple. Three dimensional worlds are likely to be the next major change in computer interfaces. If you are old enough, you may remember that we used to interact with computers through what was called a command line interface. In fact, in the late 1980's and early 1990's as graphical user interfaces began to gain some traction, there was considerable debate over which interface (command line or graphical user interface) was superior. Of course, graphical user interfaces won and today we look back on the command line interface as primative and barbaric.
Each year that passes adds more people to that generational pool who grew up playing video games and interacted with the computers through three dimensional virtual world interfaces. They look at the two dimensional point and click interface that we are all so used to and wonder how anyone can interact with a computer through an interface that is so primative and barbaric. And when it comes to change, there is nothing more powerful than a new generation.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Video Game Genres
I should point out that when we use the term 'video game' we are refering to a fairly large collection of software programs that run on a variety of different platforms and provide the user/player with a variety of very different experiences. I should also point out that there is a Wikipedia article on Video Game Genres which does not at all agree with what I am about to say. Nonetheless, I would offer the following categories of video games:
1) Games of Skill: These are simple video games such as card games that provide the user with a challenging diversion.
2) Leveled Games of Skill: There are slightly more complicated video games that not only require skill but allow the player to level up showing progress in the game. Some of the classic video games such as Mario, Link, Pac Man and Tetris are of this variety.
3) Sports Games: Sport video games allow the player to engage in a sport such as football, hockey or baseball without leaving the couch. Perhaps the most famous game of this type is John Madden's Football.
4) Memorabilia Games: We often see blockbuster movies or TV shows add to their revenue by producing t-shirts, lunch pails or action figures. Some times they also produce video games. Examples include Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Most people who play these games are extending their movie going experience.
5) First Person Shooter - In this game the player uses a weapon to fight off the bad guys and the point of view is the shooter's. Much has been written about the violence in these games. Examples inlcude Grand Theft Auto and Fallout.
6) Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) - In other video games, you play against the game and the other characters in the game are controled by the game. In an MMORPG you play against other people. World of Warcraft and nearly all of the early virtual world video games such a Everquest and Ultima Online fall into this category.
7) World Building - This is an interesting niche within virtual world games. In these games, people create their own virtual worlds and then interact with others in those virtual worlds. Second Life is the best example in this genre. But an early and better known example would be Sims Online and its follow-on game called Spore.
8) Serious Games - This is a specialized niche in which video game technology is used for serious ends such as education. A subset of serious games, called persuasive games, uses video game technology to influence behavior.
Although I am interested in games in general (see my blog PerspectivesOnVideoGames for some foundation work), I am primarily interested in MMORPGs. MMORPGs have the added dimensions of a social and economic environment which make them a much more complex and hence interesting phenomenon for study. I am also interested in World Building games such as Second Life because of their potential for business applications.
1) Games of Skill: These are simple video games such as card games that provide the user with a challenging diversion.
2) Leveled Games of Skill: There are slightly more complicated video games that not only require skill but allow the player to level up showing progress in the game. Some of the classic video games such as Mario, Link, Pac Man and Tetris are of this variety.
3) Sports Games: Sport video games allow the player to engage in a sport such as football, hockey or baseball without leaving the couch. Perhaps the most famous game of this type is John Madden's Football.
4) Memorabilia Games: We often see blockbuster movies or TV shows add to their revenue by producing t-shirts, lunch pails or action figures. Some times they also produce video games. Examples include Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Most people who play these games are extending their movie going experience.
5) First Person Shooter - In this game the player uses a weapon to fight off the bad guys and the point of view is the shooter's. Much has been written about the violence in these games. Examples inlcude Grand Theft Auto and Fallout.
6) Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) - In other video games, you play against the game and the other characters in the game are controled by the game. In an MMORPG you play against other people. World of Warcraft and nearly all of the early virtual world video games such a Everquest and Ultima Online fall into this category.
7) World Building - This is an interesting niche within virtual world games. In these games, people create their own virtual worlds and then interact with others in those virtual worlds. Second Life is the best example in this genre. But an early and better known example would be Sims Online and its follow-on game called Spore.
8) Serious Games - This is a specialized niche in which video game technology is used for serious ends such as education. A subset of serious games, called persuasive games, uses video game technology to influence behavior.
Although I am interested in games in general (see my blog PerspectivesOnVideoGames for some foundation work), I am primarily interested in MMORPGs. MMORPGs have the added dimensions of a social and economic environment which make them a much more complex and hence interesting phenomenon for study. I am also interested in World Building games such as Second Life because of their potential for business applications.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Video Games
It seems like I go out of my way to bring trouble on myself. People ask me what I have been doing lately and I say "I've been spending a huge amount of time playing video games." This makes it sound like I am lazy, or loosing my mind, or having a second childhood among many other possibilities, none of which are good. But video games are a serious business.
The video game industry is threatening, if it hasn't already surpassed, other pillars of the entertainment industry such as film and television. People often refer to video games as 'interactive entertainment' to distinguish them from non-interactive entertainment such as television where you just sit there like a slug and do not participate. In a video game you participate in the outcome. This is an emerging phenomenon and is likely to grow in a lot of different directions.
Academics who traditionally study novels and films have begun to study the values, symbolism and messages conveyed by video games. This suggests that those people, at least, see video games as an important emerging cultural phenomenon.
Some researchers are looking at ways in which video game technology can be applied to education. The call it edutainment. Others are looking at how video games can used to persuade people. They call this 'persuasive games'. In fact, the whole area of using video game technology for some thing other than games is called 'serious games' and is a rapidly growing area within the field.
In areas of interest to the Business School specifically, people are looking at video games technology for advertizing, virtual team building, and learning any number of business skills from inventory management to group dynamics.
I have taken on a deeper philosophical analysis of games and the role they play in our lives. If philosophy does not give you a nose bleed you may want to look at my other blog - Perspectives On Video Games. Ask yourself, first, what is a game? Can you come up with a definition that includes all games? Why is it that we play games because we want to while everything else we do because we have to. The simple answer is - because they are fun. But, why are they fun? Wouldn't it be great if both school and work could be as much fun as a video game? They can be and they should be.
At the same time, video games are very diverse. Free Cell, a simple card game, is vastly different from World of Warcraft which includes sophisticated social interactions and an in world economy. Next week I will look at the variety of video game genres and try to sort this all out.
The video game industry is threatening, if it hasn't already surpassed, other pillars of the entertainment industry such as film and television. People often refer to video games as 'interactive entertainment' to distinguish them from non-interactive entertainment such as television where you just sit there like a slug and do not participate. In a video game you participate in the outcome. This is an emerging phenomenon and is likely to grow in a lot of different directions.
Academics who traditionally study novels and films have begun to study the values, symbolism and messages conveyed by video games. This suggests that those people, at least, see video games as an important emerging cultural phenomenon.
Some researchers are looking at ways in which video game technology can be applied to education. The call it edutainment. Others are looking at how video games can used to persuade people. They call this 'persuasive games'. In fact, the whole area of using video game technology for some thing other than games is called 'serious games' and is a rapidly growing area within the field.
In areas of interest to the Business School specifically, people are looking at video games technology for advertizing, virtual team building, and learning any number of business skills from inventory management to group dynamics.
I have taken on a deeper philosophical analysis of games and the role they play in our lives. If philosophy does not give you a nose bleed you may want to look at my other blog - Perspectives On Video Games. Ask yourself, first, what is a game? Can you come up with a definition that includes all games? Why is it that we play games because we want to while everything else we do because we have to. The simple answer is - because they are fun. But, why are they fun? Wouldn't it be great if both school and work could be as much fun as a video game? They can be and they should be.
At the same time, video games are very diverse. Free Cell, a simple card game, is vastly different from World of Warcraft which includes sophisticated social interactions and an in world economy. Next week I will look at the variety of video game genres and try to sort this all out.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Stealing the Clay
When I was considerably younger and fretting over what it might take to be professionally successful, I used to have a recurring dream. In this dream, I was a famous world class sculptor. I would make statues and busts out of clay. My fans, in the dream, marveled over the quality of my artistic creations. I was well known, well liked, and well respected. But, there was a secret. In order to make my artistic creations, I had to 'steal' the clay. I couldn't just buy it and nobody could supply it for me. I had to steal it. Not only did I have to steal the clay, but everyone knew it. Nobody would openly endorse or even condone such an activity, even though everyone knew it and was willing to look the other way. The responsibility for this transgression was entirely mine and it was the cost of success.
The point of this dream, I believe, is that you cannot succeed by just doing what you are told or by just doing what you are 'supposed' to be doing. At some point you have to take risks and take responsibility for those risks. To be successful, you have to be good at something and in order to be good at something you have to figure out what you do well and pursue it. This process of individuation makes you better at the things you are good at while differentiating you from those around you. Aristotle would have called this developing your virtues.
But, as we develop our virtues and differentiate ourselves from others we often feel that we are on a lonely path and maybe the wrong path. So, in the twisted logic of a dream, my risks became transgressions.
This summer, I have spent an enormous amount of time playing World of Warcraft. It is the summer of 2009 version of stealing the clay. I think video games are going to become a major force in all aspects of entertainment, education and commerce. But, if I wait until that is obvious to everyone else, it will be way too late. So I have invested my time in learning about this important phenomenon and feeling a little guilty in the process. But, what the heck. I would rather live with the guilt than sit back and wonder how the world managed to pass me by.
The point of this dream, I believe, is that you cannot succeed by just doing what you are told or by just doing what you are 'supposed' to be doing. At some point you have to take risks and take responsibility for those risks. To be successful, you have to be good at something and in order to be good at something you have to figure out what you do well and pursue it. This process of individuation makes you better at the things you are good at while differentiating you from those around you. Aristotle would have called this developing your virtues.
But, as we develop our virtues and differentiate ourselves from others we often feel that we are on a lonely path and maybe the wrong path. So, in the twisted logic of a dream, my risks became transgressions.
This summer, I have spent an enormous amount of time playing World of Warcraft. It is the summer of 2009 version of stealing the clay. I think video games are going to become a major force in all aspects of entertainment, education and commerce. But, if I wait until that is obvious to everyone else, it will be way too late. So I have invested my time in learning about this important phenomenon and feeling a little guilty in the process. But, what the heck. I would rather live with the guilt than sit back and wonder how the world managed to pass me by.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Emergent Properties
One of the things that makes the study of complex systems difficult is the fact that we are almost always studying emergent properties. Emergent properties are properties of the system that cannot be predicted from or even explained in terms of the properties of the constituent parts. A simple example of emergent properties is water. The properties of water cannot be predicted from or explained in terms of the properties of hydrogen and oxygen. When you put these two elements together the combination produces a whole new set of properties.
An example of emergent properties in social science would be the political systems that arise from people living together under certain circumstances requiring organization. But are political systems 'real'. Have they always existed? The answer is no. They are not real and they have not always existed. Over time people noticed these emergent properties and began to group them into categories and give them names. The Romans recognized the emergent properties of people living in organized societies and called these emergent properties 'the thing of the public" or res publika or republic. Now we think of the republic or any political system as a real thing.
Economics came into being much later with Adam Smith identifying a collection of emergent properties based on wealth rather than power. But who is to say that organizing properties based on wealth and power rather than class, location or time is the best way? The point is that these are constructs that we are studying that become real over time by virtue of the fact that they are being studied.
In the same way, computer systems have emergent properties. When people or societies interact with computer systems other emergent properties arise as well. Are these things 'real'? No, they are just constructs that we create to organize our knowledge and give us ways to think about things that we are trying to understand. These things are not 'real'. They are just our best attempts to organize our knowledge and understand our experiences.
It is good to keep this in mind as we talk about virtual worlds, or interactive entertainment or any number of other phenomenon that arise through the interaction of complex human systems with complex computer systems.
An example of emergent properties in social science would be the political systems that arise from people living together under certain circumstances requiring organization. But are political systems 'real'. Have they always existed? The answer is no. They are not real and they have not always existed. Over time people noticed these emergent properties and began to group them into categories and give them names. The Romans recognized the emergent properties of people living in organized societies and called these emergent properties 'the thing of the public" or res publika or republic. Now we think of the republic or any political system as a real thing.
Economics came into being much later with Adam Smith identifying a collection of emergent properties based on wealth rather than power. But who is to say that organizing properties based on wealth and power rather than class, location or time is the best way? The point is that these are constructs that we are studying that become real over time by virtue of the fact that they are being studied.
In the same way, computer systems have emergent properties. When people or societies interact with computer systems other emergent properties arise as well. Are these things 'real'? No, they are just constructs that we create to organize our knowledge and give us ways to think about things that we are trying to understand. These things are not 'real'. They are just our best attempts to organize our knowledge and understand our experiences.
It is good to keep this in mind as we talk about virtual worlds, or interactive entertainment or any number of other phenomenon that arise through the interaction of complex human systems with complex computer systems.
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