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.

History of Games 1950's

I vaguely remember the first console I owned but I do remember feeling extremely exited the time I hastily unwrapped my Sega Mega Drive which was released in 1990. Obviously at the time I thought it was literally the best thing ever invented but looking back now I can see the console is just another more advanced replication of all the other consoles based around that time. I think it’s amazing but scary how much technology has evolved in such a small amount of time, amazing because there are endless possibilities with the growth of games industry but scary because of the effect it will have on its whole audience, will people become less sociable and will games eventually influence behaviours in the future? Some theories believe that technology will determine cultures but I would like to think that the influence of technology will only inspire cultural developments.  

The early history of computer games started on January 25^th 1947 when Thomas Goldsmith and Estle Mann requested for an invention they called ‘cathode ray tube amusement device’. This machine basically allows a person to use knobs and buttons to manipulate a cathode ray tube beam to simulate firing at targets. This was the very beginning of games to come. In 1947-1950 Charley Adama created a ‘bouncing ball’ programme for MIT’s Whirlwind computer at the time this wasn’t much of a success as the programme was not yet interactive.

Another game said to be the ‘first’ ever made is Spacewar, developed in 1962, again at MIT. This programme originally ran on a PDP-1 computer the size of a large car! This game consists of two players that each controls a spaceship circling a planet. The players can shoot each other, turn their ships and accelerate, the goal is to destroy the enemy before being hit yourself. I think this programme defines the word game as it’s something created as a fantasy, you can’t run around in spaceships shooting each other but the programme can offer that entertainment to anyone who wants to play.

The next significant video game introduced 11 years after Spacewar is ‘Pong’. This is very simple concept with white rectangles on a blackboard. Pong was placed at entertainment venues, markets and fun fairs so we can already see how quickly the community took to like the programme. In a typical action game like any other Pong gradually becomes harder but provides a high score list making the player want to achieve his/her best. A score is always kept, the game is real-time and requires fast reflexes and the programme provides a fixed amount of lives. I think this very basic idea is how addiction to games first came about later on, although at this time they were simply for everyone’s amusement but not that easy to access in comparison to now where you could go as far to say most households have owned a console at some point. I’m interested to find out and compare the years from 1950’s to 2011 and see what influence game production has had in the world.

The DMU Rookie

Hello my name is Marc Pinkney, I’m 23 and studying Game Art Design in my first year at DeMontford University. I’m not sure if you would class me as a mature student but I guess I am a little older than everyone else on my course. I’m a very outgoing person who enjoys any type of social and my two biggest passions are sports and Art! I’m from the small city of Southampton on the coast. From the age of around 6years old I have always been a very keen swimmer and found to have a great technique, talent and ability. This progressed through the years and I found myself competing at club, county and national level.  During this time I gained a NVQ level 2 in a plumbing apprenticeship. Although this trade taught me a lot in the 4 years I worked I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

After a lot of hard saving from plumbing I finally had enough money to go travelling around various countries I wanted to see. I started in the very hot east coast of Australia, setting off in Cairns and making my way down to as far as Sydney. My next stop was Bali, Indonesia. To me, visiting Bali changed my life, I experienced a whole different culture, learnt how surf which is now a sport I am very passionate about, met so many interesting people, learnt how to manage and organise myself as well as money and found out what I really wanted to do in life.

 Whilst travelling I had a lot of spare time on my hands and decided to start drawing. I would sit on the beach or hotel an draw random things I found of interest. I really enjoy drawing, it relaxes me so I find myself scribbling away for hours, this is when I knew I needed to find a career in art. After travelling around a few more countries for example Africa and Asia I managed to enrol myself into my local college so I could study an Art Foundation as I knew I couldn’t get straight into Uni.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Foundation course and gained a lot of inspiration from my tutor who also attended DMU. I learnt new skills and techniques from life drawing classes and knew what direction I wanted to end up in. As soon as I researched DeMontford and the gaming course I didn’t want to go anywhere else, in comparison DMU offered exactly the right combination of things I needed as well as being a skillset accredited course.

I love being a student at DMU, I enjoy the Visual Design, Game Production and Critical Studies. I guess I like the prospects that are available from the course when graduated as well, this is definitely the right course for me and I can’t wait to see what exiting projects we will be given!