Ever Heard of The Plates Building?

So the architectural project begins, i had absolutely no idea how to start this project but somehow still managed to finish it in time. Whilst exploring around Leicester in search of an interesting building i came across a fairly simple square like framed house, this caught my attention because the building had number plates across the door and windows in advertisement. The colours were bright an unusual which i thought is a little but different from the normal. Knowing my standard of working in 3ds Max i decided to model this building as it had a fairly simple structure, this would enable me to spend a lot more time on the texture of the model.

I think i have learnt alot from this project, i refrained from asking any of the 2nd and 3rd years for any help just to see how much i could do on my own. The model of the building seemed to work well but I'm still getting used to texture which hopefully will get easier as i progress. A worthwhile project to help develop my fundamental skills. If i could start over again i would have spent alot more time on working out how to work faster if that makes sense. I feel there are many things that took me so long to do and this shouldn't be the case at this level but i guess I'm learning all the time!

Games In the 21st Century

  The games industry in the 21^st century will come into many problems and pressures. I find it strange talking about the current problems and developments in the industry as these are facts that can affect my employment in the future. I am worried about the cost of developing a high profile game and how much this has increased over the years and I expect this will rise from 20%-100% in the making of next generation consoles and games, which asks the question, will there be another ‘crash’ similar to one in 1983. I don’t think it will be for the same reason as all consoles releasing similar titles but for the cost of developing this new technology, most companies will be at a loss. I think we have developed our gaming technology so quickly over the years but during this time the amount that we have spent has risen exponentially. I always wonder if eventually there will only be one multi-purpose console so customisable it will be become personal and used for online gaming, social networking, browsing and computing.

 The PS2 released in 2000 is the best-selling console of all time, having reached over 150 million units. This figure was reached 10 years after its release, the console was succeeded by the PlayStation 3 in 2006, however the PS2 has far less competition as the PS3, rivals included Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii, all three known as seventh generation games consoles.

   In 2004, Microsoft released Halo 2. Over 190 people are listed in its credits, and the game took three years to complete with a total development cost of over US$40 million. The game did record sales in its first month, and has currently sold over 8 million copies at US$50. Halo was a great success but how many time can they recreate this game before it’s audience is bored and profits are at a loss?

The 2st century brought a lot of games I actually played such as Sonic Adventures, GTA, Super Smash Bros, Metal Gear, Resident Evil, Soul Calibur, Batman, Call of Duty, Uncharted and Battlefield. I think visually these games have come along-way in the past 10 years, as you can see graphics have become better, we have HD TV’s and the attention to detail has improved significantly. Although the imagery has become far more detailed the whole concept of the game has remained. Call of Duty, a first person shooter started by replicating the old war but now looks to be a futuristic modern war fighter and became a great success. Do gamers prefer a futuristic or current gaming environment to a one that represents history?

There are basically two positions you can be in when you launch a new games console into the market. You can be an upstart newcomer trying to steal market share from the established brands, or you can be a dominant brand trying to defend your market share from the upstarts. How will this change in the years to come?

History of Games 1980's

I will go on to talk about video games in the 1980’s featuring the rise of the personal computer and consoles such as Commadore 64 and Sega genesis. The computer gaming industry experienced its first growth in the early 1980’s with a few businesses surviving at least 20 years such as Electronic Arts. This year is considered the golden age of video arcade games developed and released In the first early years of the decade. 

A significant game that I feel influenced the whole concept of games is an action adventure that goes by the name of The Legend of Zelda. Made in 1986 this game help establish the action adventure genre this included puzzles, an action component, level building and experience points. Dragon Slayer is similar action packed game made in 1985, this is considered the first fully fledged action role playing game (RPG) with character stats and large quests this further popularized emerging action RPG game. Also made in 198 0 an increasingly popular game that many people still recognise, Pac-Man the first maze game to achieve widespread popularity in mainstream culture and the first game character to be in popular in his own right, If I could afford one I would still buy a Pac-Man Arcade machine.

In 1984 computers offered equal gaming ability and since their simple design allowed games to take complete command of the hardware after power-on, they were nearly as simple to start playing with as consoles for this reason the computer market took over from the console market. The Commodore 64 was released to the public in August 1982. It found initial success because it was marketed and priced aggressively. It had a basic programming environment and advanced graphic and sound capabilities for its time, similar to the ColecoVision console. It also utilized the same game controller ports popularized by the Atari 2600, allowing gamers to use their old joysticks with the system. It would become the most popular home computer of its day in the USA and many other countries and the best-selling single computer model of all time internationally.

At the end of 1983, the industry experienced ‘The Crash’ of the video games as well as bankruptcy of several companies that produced home computers and games consoles in 1983-1984. The cause included the poor production, designs and extremely tight deadlines. I think most games developed around this time were probably a similar genre therefor having too much competition, I wonder if any companies benefited from this crash.

The later part of the 80’s new consoles offered gamepads which took over joysticks, paddles and keyboards, this is included with the system and an 8 directional-pad with 2 or more action buttons became standard. Consoles were back on the rise at this point but I’m not sure if they were affordable for the younger generation.