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Evolution of games from ‘Blades of Steel’ to ‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour’

So for this week’s readings I could only open two of them. One, the Zach Whalen article, was rather interesting and talked about genres, milieus, and modes used in relation to games. I know I have played my fair share of games, especially as a kid. From watching my older brother play his Atari, to getting my first Nintendo system in 1989, to the present where the Playstation 3 has taken over my world of entertainment. My dad used to kick my ass at the original Blades of Steel for the original Nintendo. Two buttons was easy for him to figure out and thusly shame me time and time again. Now a days, give him a playstation controller and he’s royally F***ed.

When it comes to genres and milieus I tend to stick to the sporting categories. But then again, who wasn’t swept up in the first person mutli-player James Bond Goldeneye epidemic that hit the Nintendo 64 with alarming impact? Last month I was able to play a first person game on my brother’s playstation 3. It was disgustingly great. This game did not merely let you face each other, but you could go through the actual RPG game together at the same time. We both did our separate thing but were in the same game. I’m not a gamer by any means, but the detail and smoothness made me want to cry tears of sheer joy. The designers finally understood me and what I had always wanted in a game.

I don’t know if any of you noticed this article, but I came across a blog on the way the packaging of games has changed over the years. It is quite well done and worth the read if you are old enough to remember the old pc floppy disks and the original pc games. They were all so very alike when you look back on it now. Here’s a link to the blog, as it’s worth the read in relation to this week’s topic.

In relation to this article I can say I see quite clearly the difference in packaging of games. I had games very similar to the ones the author of that blog had. I had an India Jones PC game in 1990 that came with a large box that contained 5 disks, an instruction booklet, a story book, and a large newspaper that had to be read with 3D glasses. When I compare that to the last computer game I bought in 2005 it’s remarkable. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 came in a small box with an even smaller instructional booklet. It’s main instructional information came in a pdf file that you could open once you installed the game.

When I look at this Tiger Woods game I think about the first golf game I played on a computer. It was on my dad’s work laptop and it was some old Microsoft golf. The evolution from this game to Tiger Woods it amazing. The genre, mode and milieu are all the same in both the games, yet the technology is incredibly more advance. Kind of makes one curious what another 20 year will bring. Makes you think everything will be just Hunky – Dory for the future of games.