ICS 131: Social Analysis of Computerization

Lecture 17:

Computer Games

Are there any questions?

Key Idea

• Games are becoming an important entertainment medium and cultural artifact.

Games as Entertainment Medium

• Competing with movies, books, television, theater, musical concerts, etc.

History

• Various predecessors, 1880s-1950s

• Spacewar, 1961

• First Arcade Video Game, 1971

• Pong, 1972

• Atari, 1977

• Pac-Man, 1980

• Doom, 1993

Platforms

• PC Games

• Console Games

• Handheld Games

• Single Player

• Networked

• Heterogeneous

Genres

• FPS

• Third person adventure

• RPG

• Puzzle

• Sim

• Others?

Game Productions

• Programmers• Modelers• Animators• Game Designers• Marketers• Managers• Sound Designers• Others?

Game Production Process

• Hybrid of animated film and software engineering processes

• Describe each

Casual Games

• Benefits

• Limitations

Mobile Games

• Benefits

• Limitations

Ducheneaut Reading

• World of Warcraft

• What are its characteristics?

Operant Conditioning

• How does this factor in?

What Do Games Tell Us About US Culture?

• What games do you play?

• What does this say about people in the US?

• How does it compare to movies?

What Do Games Tell Us About Other Cultures?

• Non-US games?

• Differences from US games?

What Do Games Tell Us About the Interactions Between

Cultures?

• Games that cross cultures?

• How do people from different cultures interact in the games?

Topic for Debate

• Do violent computer games lead to real world violence?

• Let’s make a list of arguments for and against

Games for Change

• Conference

• Examples?

• Panel

Topic for Debate

• I think navigation and social skills will be the two most important parts of game AI’s in 20 years. Please list five other capabilities that game AI’s will have in 20 years, and describe the impact that each of these capabilities will have on the kinds of games.

Today’s gamers are...

…come on down front!

LARSON, CHRISTOPHER THOMAS

MU, NAN

TRAN, CHARLIE

WILKINSON, DAVID HIROSHI

WU, KEVIN KAI

ANGUIANO, ALFRED ALFONSO

AUSTGEN, CAMERON D.

FUJITA, JUSTIN TSUTOMU

LA PIERRE, BLAKE M.

LUZWICK, JAMES ROBERT

OLIVARES, JAMES PATRICK ROBLES

Next class: Social Relationships

• Collaborative AI• Predictive modeling• Responsive environment• Reasonable unpredictability• Physical interfaces to Ais• Help you find other people• Remember past experience• Artificial Marketers• Emotions• Learning strategies• Deal with unpredictable people• Natural language recognition• Moving across networks• Diversity in Ais• Imitation• Content creation• Ability to evaluate players• Emotion recognition• Communal planning