Let's conclude our discussion of game technology by looking at where games are played. Arcades are a shared social experience. It often is just as entertaining to watch other players play in the arcade as it is to play yourself. The games can be single-player experiences, but the arcade really shines with local multiplayer. Arcade machines can be customized to the game, including the internal hardware, the inputs, and the cabinet itself. From the traditional cabinet, like in Ms. Pac-Man, to the multiplayer cabinets of Street Fighter, to the dance pad of DDR, to the full cockpit of the Jurassic Park first-person shooter, to the fully immersive, full-motion VR simulator rides. I personally worked on a 12 player arcade game called Plunder Panic, where we built a custom arcade cabinet out of a rum barrel, a sail, and treasure chest to match the pirate theme in the game. This was a very cool experience for me, to break outside of just working on the game software, to creating an entire themed experience. Of course, the arcade needs to pay for its real estate as well as for the games. The games must be designed in a way to promote coin drop, or card swipe, or something that keeps the player spending money within the arcade or Barcade video. In the home office, the player is typically playing on a personal computer, in an upright chair, and a table or desk. They are often close to the screen. The input devices are typically a keyboard and mouse. Their PC often has lots of storage, so the games can be very sophisticated and deep. The player is usually the only one in the space, so it is a solitary experience, at least within the room. But of course, they usually have networking capability, so multiplayer games are popular on the PC. But they also often use the computer for other things like work or school, so games may also serve as a casual break between tasks. Console games are typically played from a comfy, laid back chair in the living room. The space is much more of a shared social experience than the home office but more intimate than the arcade. That is, you share the space with family and friends, not strangers like the arcade. The console is likely connected to a larger display and higher fidelity audio than gaming in the home office, so players are often seeking a more immersive cinematic experience. Players are typically using game controllers that are designed for gaming versus the more utilitarian keyboard and mouse. But the controllers may not be as customized or streamlined as the arcade controls since they need to work for many games, not just one. Last but not least, mobile and handheld games are often played on the go, in-between spaces. The player may be playing in the few moments they have before the bus comes or before they're called in for an appointment. This leads to more casual, shorter game experiences, though deeper, longer play games are now common as well. Given that they are playing in potentially locations where it is not appropriate to make noise, they may have the sound turned off, or maybe wearing headphones. The size of the device means that most games are local single-player. But given that most of these devices are constantly connected to a network and nearly everyone has them means mobile devices are perfect network multiplayer machines. Of course, the screen size is much more limited given the small size of these devices. Players are often interfacing them primarily through the touchscreen, so the controls need to be simplified, sometimes made larger in relation to the overall screen size to make them touchable. Further, the player may also block the screen while providing input, so this is another game design challenge when creating games for mobile. Of course, wherever our players play, it is all about the games. In the video that follows, Stuart Brown gives a brief history of video games as part of his Ahoy YouTube series. This video does a good job of showing major games across time and relates it to some of the game technology history I've discussed in this lecture. I think it makes a nice conclusion to my talk. Please give it a watch.
