Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture Chapter 6: Three-Dimensionality and the Early-1990s © Frans Mäyrä & SAGE Publications

Game Violence Debate Digital games were linked to two highly public acts of violence: the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 and Erfurt, Germany school shootings in Violent games (as well as cinema, comics or rock music) have been blamed for violence, but it has been hard to demonstrate a clear, cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real violence. Contemporary research is most often interested in particular contexts for media use, and looks for e.g. games’ positive ‘effects’ as well as possible detrimental consequences of digital play. Debate around violent games continues and many countries have introduced games-related legislation.

Towards Three-Dimensional Technology High attention to games’ visuals was related to advances in audiovisual technology. Most contemporary digital games require real- time three-dimensional image synthesis. The increase of available memory and computing power is reflected in how 8-bit gaming technology was replaced first by 16-bit and then by 32, 64 and 128-bit systems. Home computing devices capable of real-time three-dimensional graphics became widely available in the 1990s. Some notable gaming systems are introduced next.

8-Bit Era Atari 2600 (1977)‏ Magnavox Odyssey 2 (1978)‏ NES/ Famicom (1983)‏ Nintendo Game Boy (1989)‏ Commodore 64 (1982)‏ Image credits: Wikipedia,

16-Bit Era PC Engine/ TurboGrafx-16 (1987)‏ Sega Mega Drive (1988)‏ Neo Geo (1990)‏ SNES (1990)‏ Image credits: Wikipedia,

32-Bit / 64-Bit Era 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (1993)‏ Amiga CD-32 (1993)‏ Atari Jaguar (1993)‏ Sega Saturn (1994)‏ Sony PlayStation (1994)‏ Nintendo 64 (1996)‏ Image credits: Wikipedia,

128-Bit Era Sega Dreamcast (1998)‏ Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)‏ Nintendo GameCube (2001)‏ Microsoft Xbox (2001)‏ Image credits: Wikipedia,

Current Era Nintendo DS (2004)‏ Sony PlayStation Portable (2004)‏ Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)‏ Sony PlayStation 3 (2006)‏ Nintendo Wii (2006)‏ Image credits: Wikipedia,

Consoles and the PC Games-dedicated video gaming consoles and multipurpose home computers (like the Commodore 64) competed in homes during the 1980s. IBM PC was released in The original PC was lacking in sound and graphics, but the open PC architecture provided opportunities for manufacturers of add-on cards. The PC was became an important gaming platform during the 1990s.

Civilization: PC Strategy Game Civilization (Microprose, 1991) was designed by Sid Meier. A turn-based strategy game, Civilization involves taking the role of controlling a civilization, building cities, developing new technologies and competing with other civilizations. Historically-themed, extensive game (years 4000 BC available for gameplay)‏. Long game sessions usually break into several smaller play sessions, with breaks in between.

Civilization Game Art Download and play FreeCiv, an open source Civilization clone: Image credits: MicroProse/2K Games; source:

Ideology in a Game Civilization has been a highly popular and influential game. It has also been criticised, e.g. for simplifying complex historical processes into a ‘toy version’ history, with organically-developing miniature civilizations. Ideological critique has pointed out that to succeed in the game, the player has to adopt principles of Western industrialised society. Civilization would thus implicitly teach Western, imperialistic values and lifestyles.

Start of Three-Dimensional Action: DOOM Doom (id Software, 1993) combined free movement in a three-dimensional environment and fast, shooter style action successfully. With its multiple followers (‘Doom clones’), it started the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre. An important factor in the game’s success was its atmosphere, derived from horror and science fiction film conventions. Also, the shareware distribution model contributed to Doom spreading quickly among the computer gamer communities.

DOOM Game Art Download and play a Windows version of the free Doom shareware episode: htmlhttp:// html Image credits: id Software.

Doom Aesthetics With its graphical violence, futuristic industrial environment and techno soundtrack, Doom represented a shift towards more adult- oriented popular culture in game design. References to cinema (e.g. Alien, Terminator, Evil Dead) as well as other shooter and maze games. Demonic adversaries, fast-paced shooting action and labyrinthine spaces define much of the Doom aesthetics.

Doom Level Design Changes in the design of game level ‘Episode 1, Map 4’ from Doom (id Software, 1993). Image credits: id Software; source:

Gameplay Immersion: Point of View The first person view does not focus our attention as much on the game character as e.g. the view used in ‘third person shooters’ (see Tomb Raider style of games)‏. Doom has very transparent interface: the player focus is strongly on the task and a feeling of immersion in virtual space is created. Image credits: Core Design, Crystal Dynamics; sources:

Components of Gameplay Immersion Three main components:  sensory immersion in the sounds and interactive images of virtual space  challenge-based immersion in the actions of play (sometimes close to an optimal, 'flow' experience)‏  Imaginative immersion in the world of fiction in a game (this immersion can be created e.g. by text alone)‏. Together, these different components contribute to games having considerable immersive potential.

Gameplay Experience Model Game – player interaction and the three components of immersion in play (the SCI model, Ermi & Mäyrä, 2005). Image credits: Laura Ermi & Frans Mäyrä.

Influences on Game Cultures With Doom and followers such as Quake, Unreal and Halo, FPS games found their audience and also developed into new sub-genres (e.g. ‘tactical shooter’, ‘MMOFPS’)‏. Practicing ‘speedruns’ means rushing through a game or level as fast as possible. Recording speedrun style game events gave birth to ‘machinima’, movies created using game engines. Doom-influenced ‘modding’ (user-created game modifications) becoming popular.

Famous Mods ‘Castle Smurfenstein’ modified Castle Wolfenstein to show opponents as Smurfs instead of Nazi characters (1983)‏. ‘Capture the Flag’ style of team play became popular as part of ‘Team Fortress’ (1996), a multiplayer mod for Quake. Counter-Strike was originally developed as a ‘total conversion’ mod of Half-Life (Valve, 1998) by Minh ‘Gooseman’ Le and Jess ‘Cliffe’ Cliffe. Counter-Strike is also an example of a game with its own dedicated ‘CS culture’, including professional CS teams and LAN tournaments. Number of mods can also be used as to estimate the popularity of certain games.

Controversy Continued The violent, adult-oriented themes of FPS style games continue to evoke debate. FPS action has become part of ‘family games’, like those in the Harry Potter franchise (produced by Electronic Arts)‏. Popular contemporary games like Grand Theft Auto III and its follow-ups often feature FPS style of gameplay, but combine it with quests familiar from adventure games. Also Grand Theft Auto III has created controversy with its violent and sexual content.

Assignments on Three-Dimensional and Turn-Taking Benefits and disadvantages of three-dimensional:  find a game that has appeared in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions; compare, and give grounds for whether three-dimensional is beneficial or not in games. Real-time and turn-based:  pick a game with either real-time or turn-based action; describe its core game mechanics and explain how the player experiences them temporally during play. Concept design for a real-time board game:  create a design for board game with real-time, rather than turn-based gameplay. Playable paper prototype optional.