A1: Social trends in computer gaming
The revenue achieved from the gaming industry is valued at $40B with the majority of
it being generated from software in the form of games, subscriptions and other
services.
The social trends in computer gaming are impacted by some of the following.
1. Popular genres
2. Demographic of players
3. Game producers
4. Available technologies
5. Culture around security and safety, especially within multiplayer environments
We will further explore some of the trends in the gaming industry that are contributing
factors to its continued growth:
,1-Popular Genres
Video Game Sales by Genre - United States in 2018
Computer game genre is a classification assigned to computer games based
primarily by the type of interaction or gameplay it provides; meaning the genre is
defined through the type of gameplay challenges it offers regardless of the setting or
game-world experience it provides. For example, a shooter game will be a shooter
game irrespective of the environment it is set-up in. However, this can also be
subjective as some games can overlap multiple genres. A brief explanation of some
the newer game types are as follows:
Action/ Shooter or FPS: one of the many significant genres in games is the First-Person
Shooter (FPS) type which centers on the player tackling weapon-based combat
through a first-person perspective, for example, Call of Duty falls under the genres of
action and first person shooter type.
MMO: Another genre which is quite popular in the gaming industry is the MMO genre
which stands for massively multiplayer online game. This is where multiple players can
play at the same time across the web. For example, Star Wars Battlefront offers the
functionality for several players to compete against each other at the same time.
Role-playing - This genre, has been around since the era of classic pen and paper
games, Role-playing is not a new concept, yet it’s popularity has inspired computer
game makers to create characters that grow with the player once they are chosen.
For example, in Call of Duty it enables the character to level up and receive rewards.
How has gameplay changed and why? In the 1950s, the first ever game invented was
the Nimatron which was a strategy game. Hence, one can say that strategy was the
first ever genre introduced when video games were invented. However, it wasn’t until
, 1968, that the Magnavox was invented by the father of video games, Ralph Baer. This
included a games console that allowed you to play a game of ping-pong, which
suggested an introduction towards the genre of sports, which was then followed by
Atari at around the same period who introduced the first action-adventure type
games. In turn, this was followed by an era where the genre of arcade games gained
popularity and games such as Pac-Man, space invaders and donkey hunt were
favoured by many during the period. Home consoles took off in 1985 when the
Japanese company Nintendo introduced their home consoles which ran many NES
games, including the popular Mario brothers. All followed a similar action/adventure
type of interaction. Two decades later, the gaming industry had experienced multiple
upgrades in video graphics technology, programming languages and hardware
which enabled the modern evolution from 2D to 3D graphics, to games that finally
allowed gamers to experience virtual reality. Consequently, this advancement was
also conducive to the birth of newer genres like FPS and Role-playing that we see
today
The revenue achieved from the gaming industry is valued at $40B with the majority of
it being generated from software in the form of games, subscriptions and other
services.
The social trends in computer gaming are impacted by some of the following.
1. Popular genres
2. Demographic of players
3. Game producers
4. Available technologies
5. Culture around security and safety, especially within multiplayer environments
We will further explore some of the trends in the gaming industry that are contributing
factors to its continued growth:
,1-Popular Genres
Video Game Sales by Genre - United States in 2018
Computer game genre is a classification assigned to computer games based
primarily by the type of interaction or gameplay it provides; meaning the genre is
defined through the type of gameplay challenges it offers regardless of the setting or
game-world experience it provides. For example, a shooter game will be a shooter
game irrespective of the environment it is set-up in. However, this can also be
subjective as some games can overlap multiple genres. A brief explanation of some
the newer game types are as follows:
Action/ Shooter or FPS: one of the many significant genres in games is the First-Person
Shooter (FPS) type which centers on the player tackling weapon-based combat
through a first-person perspective, for example, Call of Duty falls under the genres of
action and first person shooter type.
MMO: Another genre which is quite popular in the gaming industry is the MMO genre
which stands for massively multiplayer online game. This is where multiple players can
play at the same time across the web. For example, Star Wars Battlefront offers the
functionality for several players to compete against each other at the same time.
Role-playing - This genre, has been around since the era of classic pen and paper
games, Role-playing is not a new concept, yet it’s popularity has inspired computer
game makers to create characters that grow with the player once they are chosen.
For example, in Call of Duty it enables the character to level up and receive rewards.
How has gameplay changed and why? In the 1950s, the first ever game invented was
the Nimatron which was a strategy game. Hence, one can say that strategy was the
first ever genre introduced when video games were invented. However, it wasn’t until
, 1968, that the Magnavox was invented by the father of video games, Ralph Baer. This
included a games console that allowed you to play a game of ping-pong, which
suggested an introduction towards the genre of sports, which was then followed by
Atari at around the same period who introduced the first action-adventure type
games. In turn, this was followed by an era where the genre of arcade games gained
popularity and games such as Pac-Man, space invaders and donkey hunt were
favoured by many during the period. Home consoles took off in 1985 when the
Japanese company Nintendo introduced their home consoles which ran many NES
games, including the popular Mario brothers. All followed a similar action/adventure
type of interaction. Two decades later, the gaming industry had experienced multiple
upgrades in video graphics technology, programming languages and hardware
which enabled the modern evolution from 2D to 3D graphics, to games that finally
allowed gamers to experience virtual reality. Consequently, this advancement was
also conducive to the birth of newer genres like FPS and Role-playing that we see
today
