Christmas Lights Hero!

Just been looking at gaming for research towards my essay and come across a few cool things people have done with their games and consoles.

Here, the guitar hero game is rigged up to someone's Christmas lights!



... and here kicking a football at the corresponding colours to play the game!



I love how these additions add a whole new dimension to the gameplay.

History of Games

This week's lecture was based around the history of the gaming industry. Firstly, we explored the fact that with developed intelligence, play and enertainment becomes a necessity.

Dr. Stuart Brown is a pioneer in the research of play and says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults - and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital.html

The first outbreak of games saw titles such as OXO, Pong, and Breakout emerge.



During the 70s and 80s, Atari was the recognized leader in all areas of videogames. Starting out and establishing the arcade industry, Atari set the stage for the gaming industry with the release of Pong, the first arcade machine game relesead in 1972.

Early platforms included Magnavox Odyssey, Atari, Vectrex and various coin operated machines. Gaming also made its way into the home on the Spectrum, BBC Micro, Commodore, Atari and Tandy machines.

Over the years, gaming has evolved dramatically to include 3D, multiplayer, virtualisation, real time and open world play.

http://www.gameinnovation.org/

^ Here we can see many of the great innovations made in the industry.

From the early part of the 90s, the industry has seen a huge market growth. With Nintendo's handheld Gameboy, Sony's PlayStation and then, later, Microsoft's Xbox consoles.

The technology has also been developed to incorporate photoreality. It is now possible to create an interactive world looking very close to "real" life.



This is Sony's advert for its Bravia recreated using the CryEngine2.

Essay Possibilities.

Recently I have been thinking more about what I would like to base my essay on. I have been considering writing an essay based around 5 things that have changed my life or that I couldn't live without. Possibilities include Facebook and The Internet, Heavy Metal music, iPods, TV, XBOX...

Facebook and other social networking sites help me to easily keep in touch with friends and relatives, plan events and discover new music, games and films.

Iron Maiden are my favourite Heavy Metal band and for me, are the epitomy of the whole genre. They have always inspired me and being a fan has given me the opportunity to travel to new places and meet many people.

Owning an iPod has made a big difference in my daily life. I can carry my entire music collection in my pocket everywhere I go, giving me a wide range of choice whenever I'm travelling or just at home. It's funny that 4 or 5 years ago I would have to choose 3 or 4 CDs before I left home and carry them around with me!

Television if of course a huge part of modern life. Even with the internet and mobile technology, it is still one of the best forms of entertainment, news and information. And with recent advances such as Digital, interactive, HD and the upcoming 3D TVs, the ongoing development of this 80 year old piece of technology is always interesting!

Microsoft's XBOX and indeed other consoles have always been a big part of my life. I've owned Sega Master System, Megadrive (I+II), PlayStation, PlaySation 2, XBOX 360, Gameboy Colour, Gameboy Advance, PSP... so I feel I've been watching the development of games consoles for a long time. From the movement of cartridges to discs, 2D to 3D graphics, the addition of online play, hard drives, HD, wireless hardware and other great advancements. The future of gaming looks very exciting!