Video Game History part 1

So the great history of video games... one topic that has strangely never ever grabbed my attention. I don't know why, its interesting I suppose, but for some reason its never crossed my mind to research the first games ever made and it probably wouldn't have done if it wasn't for this blog.

I'm likely to get a lot of this wrong so I apologize in advance and just leave a comment if you can spot any. Things start in the 1950's with experimentation of computers, people studying our interaction with them and what better way to do this than make games. Things were pretty slow some checkers games were created but they couldn't be run due to the amount of data they required which computers at these times just didn't have. In 1962 "Space War" was created, a simple black and white monitor consisting of two white ships rotating around a planet / star trying to shoot one another whilst not crashing into said star planet. This was then used as an arcade game with slight name changes and different versions in the market.
Then we have Ralph H Baer an engineer who developed one or the first video game console the "Magnavox Odyssey." which was released in 1972. It came with a simple "table tennis" created by William Higinbotham, which was then copied by Atari with the well known "Pong" in 1973, the new hit coin, arcade machine. Simply just two rectangles and a circle but still we simple creatures just love this stuff don't we. Then in 1977 we have "Space Invaders" created by Tomohiro Nishitaka a Japanese engineer. It includes the constructs which all games are based on today, lives, levels and increased difficulty with every level.

So thats my summary of it top help me remember. Its quite funny though what started as computer simulations and testing our interaction with computers led to games. Well entertainment runs our life really so there was never any point in testing us with question but with something we could truly enjoy and want to interact with. Also I found it interesting that it was mainly engineers and some university students that were the developers of the consoles and games that followed on from the first computer simulation tests. But its a little sad that William Higinbotham didn't want to be remembered for his contributions in video games but rather in the nuclear field... though I guess the fact I'm talking about him proves hes probably never going to be remembered for what he wants. Ralph H Baer, started off from having to escape from Germany due to the war and making a life for himself in America, creating and helping to develop the gaming industry as we know it. From such a dark history he was able to create an amazing industry, maybe his past influenced him to create something positive and exciting.  Tomohiro who could have been influences by "Pong" as he created another version of it in Japan before he went on to create space invaders. Like a chain with table tennis being converted to pong, then pong being recreated around the world and then influencing Tomohiro to create an even greater game. Maybe without those first few simple games, the later games would never have been created. Though since space invaders was also inspired from "war of the worlds" films and culture can aso be considered as a factor. A mixture of money can play a part with Atari stealing table tennis and "remaking" it, but then that being remade by others who then went on to create even greater games.

Me Myself and I

My name is Sophie Brown. I'm a current Game Art student at De Montfort University in Leicester. I'll be using this blog to show how I'm progressing on the course and developing as an artist.

I come from the North West of England in an area called Lancashire.Though for around 5 years of my childhood I lived in Italy, in a medieval walled city called Lucca.

           <---- Moved from this





                 To this ------->                           

This was due to my dads work but now I feel very grateful for the opportunity of living in another country, learning its culture and language and still having close friends over there that I am able to visit, as its something a lot of people don't get to experience

I never really considered a job in video games until my teens. I've always loved animals and when I was younger wanted to be a Vet, mainly because of the Tv series Animal Hospital, but that dream was sadly cut when I discovered how dificult, gory, sad and how clever you truly need to be to become one. In the words of my biology teacher "doctors are just failed vets".

I started secondary school, it was well known for being quite a delinquent school but the 5 years I spent there were some of the best. I gained an even greater passion for art, my Italian came in very handy when learning Spanish as they are almost the exact same thing and eventually the Spanish overwriting the Italian. Things changed for me there. I was in an environment were I learned so much and due to that I left with 3 A*, 3 A, 4 B and 2 C at GCSE and was able to go to one of the best sixth forms in the country to do my A levels. My ideas for potential jobs changed by the day but I eventually stumbled across Krome Studios website and discovered the Jobs section. Reading through "concept artist", "Lead Animators" and "Environment Artists" and the specifications that they asked for, I then researched into university courses and the subjects I needed to take if I wanted to progress into that field.I was never very good at English but because universities often specifically asked for a B at GCSE I re-sat my English to ensure I wouldn't be hindered even by that.

                                                               My GCSE Art exhibition


At A level I took Art and Design and Computing as at that point I wasn't sure exactly what field to go down between Game art and Animation. And I also took Biology and Spanish which are quite odd subjects from each other. But like I said I love animals so Biology was a given and my Spanish was high level due to my Italian. I dropped Computing at As as I only got a D and personally found coding to be quite difficult and with the large amount of coursework it requires in the second year along with Art and Design coursework I don't think I could have managed them both.

                                                                My As Art Exhibiton

I then applied for De Montfort university. Though the facilities in comparison to other universities I applied for where slightly lacking the work the students produced was to a much higher standard. I felt so lucky to be offered a place after my interview and worked my butt off to ensure that I achieved the 260 Ucas points which was a B and 2 Cs. Which I managed to do with a B in my Art and Cs in my Spanish and Biology which I'm very proud of as they are such difficult subjects. I'm the first in my family to go to university.

                                                            My A Level Art exhibition

Now at university I can strive to follow my goal of becoming a Character Designer. Its a difficult field to get into but I've been really influenced by Tetsuya Nomura the main character artist working for Square Enix. He started off as a basic illustrator, then monster artist, then character designer and now a game director. Even if it takes countless small jobs one day I would like to climb the ladder like he did and make a name for myself. An example of the skills that a character artist for working for Eidos (who is now run by square enix) needs are:
Experience in character modeling with 3D programs and 2D art applications;
Excellent knowledge of the human anatomy, physiological reactions, body language and proportions in character conception;
Knowledge of animation principles;
Experience in hard surface modeling an asset.
Ability to adapt own art to our style and unique vision;
Good sense of responsibilities;
Excellent oral and written communication skills;
Be focused on achieving superior results;
Ability to work as part of a team;
Ability to think analytically and synthetically.

To develop for the future i think the areas I'm going to need to concentrate on the most are character modelling, more work on human anatomy, learning animation and hard surface modelling. Some of the other skills I feel confident in such as working in a team, being focused and in my oral and written communication but I will continue to improve them over the next few years too.