1. Presentation by Doug Wilcox Com 546 – Evolution and Trends in Digital Media – December 6, 2005 Video Games: Pong to Present

2. Agenda Who invented the video game? Brief Industry History Impact of Internet Games compared to Film Future of the Games Industry

3. Who Invented the Video Game? Ralph Baer  1949: Loral tasks Baer to create next-generation television. Baer suggests interactive game, but management refuses.  1966: revisits idea under new employer  1970: Baer licenses his technology to Magnavox for tennis game Steve Russell  1961: Invents Spacewar! for MIT mainframe  Spacewar! popular on college campuses  Nolan Bushnell, Nutting Associates commercialize Spacewar!

4. Early Years: 1970 - 1985 1972: Atari is formed  Bushnell founds Atari, develops Pong  Pong popular in public trial  Bushnell breaks off negotiations with Bally and Midway 1976: Deathrace 2000 creates first public outcry 1983: Atari starts decline  Overproduces ET, Pac Man  Games industry’s first slump

5. Rise of Japanese Consoles: 1985 – 2000 1980s: Nintendo and Sega  Donkey Kong boosts Nintendo  Mortal Kombat defines Sega as adult oriented console 1994: Nintendo and Sony attempt collaboration, but fail. Sony goes on to develop Playstation. 2000: Sega bows out of hardware market, leaving Nintendo and Sony. Xbox appears the following year. 2000 – Present: Sony vs. Microsoft

6. Effect of Internet Online games offer unlimited game-play compared to traditional single-player game Possibility for online distribution Consumer can “mod” content for PC online games  Quake  Counterstrike  Starcraft Social structures online  Bartle (1996) taxonomy  Jansz and Martens (2005) observe group dynamics for online gamers

7. Games compared to Film Industry 2004: Games surpass film revenues  $9.9 billion (Games) vs. $9.4 billion (Film)  Blockbusters: Spiderman ($114M) vs. Halo ($125M) 2004: Sales data leveling off

8. Games compared to Film Industry Shared Franchises: film versions of games  Tomb Raider  Final Fantasy  Doom  Halo Consolidation  Film industry in 1930s – Studios leverage titles  Games industry at present  Advances against royalties  Rising costs – risk averse  Increasing reliance on recycled franchises

9. Future of Games Online Growth  Larger and richer multiplayer environments  Increasing transfer between virtual, real economies  Additional forms of communication  Advertising Sony vs. Microsoft  Battle for the living room  HDTV to allow consoles to displace PCs

10. Questions?