Video Games
A video game is a game played using an electronic device with a visual display.
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.
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.
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 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:
The top 10 console video games in 2002 ranked by dollars of sales, according to NPD, were:
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, by Rockstar Games, for PlayStation 2
- Grand Theft Auto 3, by Rockstar Games, for PlayStation 2
- Madden Football 2003, by Electronic Arts, for PlayStation 2
- Super Mario Advance 2, by Nintendo, for Game Boy Advance
- Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, by Sony, for PlayStation 2
- Medal of Honor Frontline, by Electronic Arts, for PlayStation 2
- Spider-Man: The Movie, by Activision, for PlayStation 2
- Kingdom Hearts, by Squaresoft, for PlayStation 2
- Halo, by Microsoft, for XBox
- Super Mario Sunshine, by Nintendo, for GameCube
See 2002 in video gaming.
From time to time, video games are criticized by some parents' groups, psychologists, and politicians 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.
See also: video game controversy
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.
Below is an alphabetized listing of the main genres of video games and some examples of games for each genre. This list is by no means complete or comprehensive. Many of these categories are somewhat overlapping.
GTA, for example, is an adventure, a shooter and 2D or 3D depending on version.
Adventure games cast the player as the hero (or heroine) of a story in which the player participates. These games normally require the player to solve various puzzles and find various artifacts. Adventure games rose to popularity in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s.
Educational games, as the name implies, attempt to teach the user using the game as a vehicle. Most of these types of games target young user from the ages of about three years to mid-teens (past the mid-teens, subjects become so complex (for example, Calculus) that teachin cts. Adventure games rose to popularity in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. ve, they are really about acting in and against the world, and this type of entertainment is not primarily about passively seeing and hearing. g
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