Video games

A video game is a game played using an electronic device with a visual display.

Overview

Often "video game" is taken in a narrow sense to mean those games played on consoles for television and similar handhelds. The term "video game" is often not considered to include computer games and coin-operated arcade games, both because historically the games in these three categories were very different, and also because the activity of playing these three types of games is different. See history of the video game for more information.

However nowadays in terms of genre there is a thin line between computer games and video games. Arcades are still based on gameplay that can be quickly caught on, and work according to progression through levels. Many games intended for computers are now just as much prevalent on videogames, both having many of the same selection of titles. This is due to the fact that videogame has increased its technology so dramatic over the last few years, that it can handle games that at one point were only operational through computers. However, computers still remain dominant through technology, and typically a computer will acquire a certain game before it "hits" the video game consoles.

Video games are made by developers, sometimes individuals, but almost always a team consisting of designers, graphic designers and other artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, and other technicians. Most video game console development teams number anywhere from 20 to 50 people, with some teams exceeding 100. The average team size as well as the average development time has grown with the maturation of the industry and technology, and this has led to regular cases of missed deadlines and unfinished products. See video game industry practices for more information.

From time to time the term interactive is used to describe a video game. This term is often used by people in the movie and television industry who are not comfortable with the idea that they are involved in making video games. Usage: "We're a movie production company, and we're getting into interactive."

Video game market

Video games are very popular and the market has grown continuously since the end of the video game crash of 1983. The market research company NPD estimated that video game hardware, software, and accessories sold about US$10.3 billion in 2002. This was a 10% increase over the 2001 figure.

The video game market changes over the years as new video game consoles are introduced. This has happened in cycles of about 5 years or so, in which multiple manufacturers release their consoles within about a year of each other, then they and the video game publishers enjoy several years of game sales until technology has improved enough for a new cycle to begin. At that point, games for the old consoles generally enjoy some residual sales, but the video game public as a whole has moved on to the new generation of machines. The current dominant consoles are:

Sony's PlayStation 2
Nintendo's GameCube
Microsoft's XBox
Nintendo's Game Boy Advance (portable console)
Sega's Dreamcast

Critics of video games

From time to time, video games are criticized by some parents' groups, psychologists, politicians, and some restrictive religious organizations for glorifying violence, cruelty, and crime, and exposing this violence to children. It is particularly disturbing to some adults that some video games allow children to act out crimes, and reward them for doing so. Some studies have shown that children who watch violent television shows and play violent video games have a tendency to act more aggressively on the playground, and some people are concerned that this aggression may presage violent behavior when children grow to adulthood. These concerns have led to voluntary rating systems adopted by the industry, such as the ESRB rating system in the United States, that are aimed at educating parents about the types of games their children are playing (or are begging to play).

Critics of movies, television, and books as a group look down on video games as an inferior form of entertainment. This is probably because of the accurate observation that most video games have very little plot and even less character development—although there are some wonderful exceptions to the rule. In any case, a frequent counter is that this complaint is like complaining that playing a game of football doesn't have much plot or character development—that though video games include a narrative, they are really about acting in and against the world, and this type of entertainment is not primarily about passively seeing and hearing.

Genres

Nearly all video games fall into one or more genres. A genre is a category which classifies what kind of content and game play a game is likely to contain. For example, a first person shooter is likely to contain a great deal of action, will require quick reflexes and may contain graphic violence, while an adventure game will require a great deal of problem solving and exploration.

See video game genres for more information.

External links

Console Database - All about video game consoles and games
Video Game Reviews
Video Game Directory
Open Gaming Center: the Wikipedia of Computer Gaming
MobyGames, a game documentation and review project
BBCNews, 28 May, 2003, Video games 'good for you'
Gamasutra, a video game developer e-zine
Open Gaming Foundation
Game Download site
NPD Video games industry sales studies, press releases
Atari Corporate History ,a site about the History of Atari from a corporate perspective