P1(C) - Game Types

Platform Games:

A Platform game is a video game that involves guiding an avatar/character to jump between suspended platforms, over obstacles, or both to advance within the game. The player can control the avatar to make them jump and move in a certain directions, the controls may often include ducking and/or rolling. An example of a popular platform game is Mario Bros. in which you have to get Mario from one end of the level to the other without dying, which was a developed version of the game Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong does also feature in the Mario Bros. game franchise.

Platform games can vary with their graphics, some games such as Temple Run have graphics that make the animation look quite realistic, for example the character you play as is a man and he is running through a temple trying to escape. The scenery and objects around are surroundings that can be found in real life, however some platform games such as Mario Bros. have animation that is strictly cartoon, most of the scenery is fictional, even the elements that may represent some of real life, such as clouds and trees, are highly animated to a point where we know we would never witness that in real life.

The price of platform games can also vary, for example, many platform games come in the form of an app, they are usually free to download initially but will have many in-app purchases so that the user can purchase more lives, or more coins to buy upgrades within the game. However other platform games that can be purchased for a console, such as Mario Bros., will often cost around £20-£30 but there is no other purchases within the game, and you can unlock characters and features by advancing within the game and completing levels, however once you have completed the levels in this game you will have to purchase the next installment for around the same price as before.

Adventure:

An Adventure game is a video game where the player assumes the role of the protagonist in an interactive story that includes exploration and puzzle-solving. The genre can often create games from other narrative-based media, literature and film, most adventure games are designed for a single player. An example of this is The Walking Dead, this has become popular since 2012. It is a zombie game but also includes aspect of humanity, love and compassion, you control the main character to complete a series of missions without being caught by the Zombies.

Many adventure games promote themselves through their uniqueness, there are many different genres of adventure games, such as horror, comedy, etc. There are also many ‘Butterfly Effect’ games which have grown in popularity within the past year, this is where the player will choose between two different actions and the consequence of each action will have a different impact on the story that is played, these games can be played over again until all the options have been explored, this makes them quite unique as many games can only be played once and then you know what will happen, however the outcomes from Butterfly Effect adventure games are endless. An example of a butterfly effect adventure game is The Last of Us.

Adventure games can be well known for their addictiveness, players will often become intrigued with the game play and the story and will continuously play it to find out what happens in the end. Each adventure game is different form the others that are available, therefore there can often be no telling in what will happen next, this persuades the player to play the game. To keep the player engaged each section or level of the game may end on a cliff-hanger or have an exciting end, this will make the player want to see what happens so they may start the next level to see where the storyline will lead, but may end up completing the level and the cycle will continue until the player has completed the game.

Role Playing Game:

A Role-Playing Game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players will take responsibility of the characters and will act out the roles that are included within the narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making or character development. An example of a role playing game includes Undertale, which is an indie game, where the player controls a human child who has fallen into the underground, the player meets various monsters during the quest and through a combat system, which is controlled by the player, has to survive.

A unique selling point of role playing games is that they have different controls compared with the usual adventure game, role playing games will often give the character problems to solve and there may be a main character that will guide the player through the game, introducing new controls throughout the levels to defeat the villains or access different features. The game, with having different options to choose from and often parts of read throughout the game, ensures that the length of play is quite long, this appeals to some players as if they’re purchasing a game they don’t want it to be completed after a few levels.

The sales figures for role playing games shows from the UK the sales turnover is around $21 million per year, for the game ‘Undertale’, there are around 1.6 million owners, however this doesn’t compare with the 7.72 million copies of The Sims 3, a simulation game, that were sold. Despite the large difference of copies sold between the Sims and Undertale, board games proved to be less popular than role playing games, with only 1.3 million copies sold of monopoly, a board game, this shows that games that are computer/technology based are more popular amongst the game players.

First Person Shooter

A First Person Shooter (FPS) is a video game that is centred on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through a first-person perspective, the player experiences the action through the eyes of the protagonist. An example of a first person shooter game is Call of Duty, the original game is based on Quake III Arena Engine, and the player sees their surroundings through a first person view and will use weaponry to kill opponents.

Character development in a first person shooter game is very little, the majority of first person shooter games will give you a scenario and tell you the location that your character is in. In games such as Call of Duty, there is little storyline, although sometimes it may include cut-away’s to add parts of a storyline to the game, to ensure the player stays interested. The graphics in a first person shooter game will, majority of the time, look fairly realistic, as the idea is that you are the character, however when set in different universes they can include more animated characters, such as aliens and robots, etc.

First Person Shooter games can often create new aspects to the game in order to keep the player interested, for example in Call of Duty: Black Ops, player had the chance to not only complete the traditional levels of the game where they are fighting another human army, but instead can be placed in an unknown area where zombies are present and they have to kill the zombies instead. The range of weapons that are offered in first person shooter games can also vary and may sway some people to another game if that includes a wider range of weaponry, especially if, in the other games, you have to pay extra for the wider range of weaponry.

Puzzle

A Puzzle game is a game, problem or toy that tests a person’s ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle you are often required to put pieces together in a logical way, in order to arrive at a solution that will allows you to advance within the game or receive points. You can often get different puzzles for different ages, such as crossword puzzles, world-search puzzles, number puzzles or logic puzzles. An example of a puzzle game is 1010!, within this game you are provided with a grid which is 10x10, you then are given a selection of different shapes and have to complete lines in order to receive points, you keep adding in shapes and clearing lines until you have no more space for the shapes on the grid.

Puzzle games are mostly available on smartphones today, however you can still play them on a laptop, console, etc. They are often free, however there are some that require a payment of up to £3 on the app store, however if you buying a puzzle game for a console, you may end up paying around £20-£30 for one. Those on the app store that are free will mostly likely offer ‘in-app purchases’ for more lives or special features, such as skipping levels, or bombs to destroy parts of the level in order for you to advance within the game.

Within a puzzle game the graphics are often quite basic and will include small transitions for aspects such as moving blocks, for example, the game 1010! Uses animations when the blocks are placed into the grid and when a line is made and the shapes disappear in a wavy fashion. Most puzzle games will have a grid of some sort for you to input shapes into, the aim will usually be to gain as many points as possible in order to beat your own high score, as well as those in the leader board, which can often be accessed by linking the game and your social media account together.

Brain Training

A Brain Training game is a game which helps advance your brain and can ultimately make you smarter or help you think differently about certain puzzles in order to solve them. An example of a brain training game is the Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training on Nintendo DS, within this game there is a series of puzzles and games which have different levels of difficulty, you can try all levels within the game and will be given a total number of points at the end which will help contribute to the overall analysis of your brain growth and training.

The graphics of brain training games can vary depending on the device its being played on, for example, Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training on Nintendo DS is split between the two screen that are available on the Nintendo device, however if you play a brain training game on a device that only has one screen, the likelihood is that you will be told what to do and then the screen ill transition to the activity, however on a Nintendo, the ‘host’ of the game will stay on the left screen and give you hints and instructions throughout the game.

Brain training games can often be very popular because of their portability, there are now many brain training apps that you can download to your smartphone, therefore some people may play them when they’re waiting around, on the bus, in a car, etc., to pass time but also to increase their knowledge at the same time. The size of the application is usually quite small and therefore many people will be less hesitant to install and play the game, when compared with an adventure game that would have a bigger file size and would need more concentration to play, rather than something that you can play on the go.

Sport

A Sports Game is a video game that can simulate the many sports, most sports have been recreated, including water sports, football, tennis, extreme sports, etc. Some sports games can emphasize playing the game, whilst other can emphasize the strategy and management of the sport, such as Championship manager and Out of the Park Baseball. An example of a sports game would be WII Sports, the game provides many different sports, such as tennis, bowling, golf, etc., and allows the player to play the sport by using the remote control equipment needed to play the sport, such as a tennis racket, bowling ball, golf club, etc.

Sports games are popular with mostly males, they can not only allow the player to control the players but many games now offer the chance to manage your own team, as well as buying, transferring and training players that they see playing in tournaments around the world. For example, Fifa, which has now has around 18 versions released, as a new one is released each year to keep the player portfolios up to date and to add any new players that may have broken onto the scene within the past year, this is one of the most popular sports games as the quirks of being about to manage your own team, the way the game allows you to, appeals to many users.

Graphics within sports games is something which is very competitive between the game creators, it’s been found that the sports games sell based on how realistic they are, as well as how well designed and realistic looking the players are, millions of copies of Fifa are sold each year, one of main reasons for this could be their representation of real life, including the stadiums which are designed in the game exactly the way they are in real life. As well as this you can also create your own player which you can develop and train throughout each season.

Driving

A Driving Game, also known as a racing video game, can be played in either first or third person perspective, the player will often partake in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles, and they may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings. An example of a racing video game is Mario Kart, within this game you play as different characters from the Mario world and race against each other in different locations such as Rainbow Road, Mario Circuit, Bowsers Castle, etc.

Many driving games are now available on the app store, but most of them will include in-app purchases to allow you to unlock certain cars, boosts, etc., however driving games are still available to buy on console where you can sometimes buy a steering wheel to control the characters in the cars, this adds to the experience for many players and will encourage them to buy the games on a console rather than buying a free app and tilting your phone, or pressing buttons on the screen to control the vehicle.

Graphics in driving games can vary from real life representation to complete fiction, for example, some driving games can be simulations, therefore you will most likely be driving down a road, there can often be people walking along the sidewalks, or in a crowd etc., this can be seen in Need for Speed. However, in other games, such as Mario Kart, you can drive on levels that are completely fictional, for example Rainbow Road, where you race through the sky in a vehicle, that can range from a baby’s pram to a tortoise shell, on a rainbow road that goes upside down at some points.

Simulation

A simulation game is a video game that attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such as training, analysis, or prediction. There may often be no defined goal and players can sometimes control their character freely. One of the most popular simulation games are Flight Simulators, they can be used to train future pilots or can be used for entertainment purposes. Other simulations include medical simulations where the player will take on the role of a surgeon, this includes games such as Trauma Centre, or photography simulation games where players will take photographs of animals or people, and this includes games such as Pokémon.

A popular simulation game is The Sims, there are versions released every few years on different platforms that will have better graphics and new features for players to use. However, the initial price of the game is usually around £40-£45, and you can then buy expansion packs including, Spa Expansion, Party ‘stuff’, Camping, etc. the expansion packs are usually around £20 and can often be bought in bundles.

 Many people enjoy simulation games as it can allow you to do something that you wouldn’t usually do, for example, in The Sims, you can create a spa in a room in your house or set your home on fire and be visited by the grim reaper. They can also be used for educational purposes, for example there are flight simulators that can be used to train future pilots without endangering others or losing expensive equipment.

Action

An action game will often emphasize physical challenges, such as hand-eye coordination and reaction-time, it can include a large range of sub genres such as fighting games, shooter games and platform games, and these are considered as widely important action games. An example of an action game includes Final Fight, a game in which the player fights against other opponents, and play as a pro-wrestler named Mike Haggar.

The graphics in action games can often vary like the graphics from driving games, for example Final Fight has graphics that can represent real life slightly but are still animation are the characters aren’t designed like a real human. However, you can also get action games, like Assassins Creed, which includes characters, surrounding and objects that reflect real life. As well as this, the character moves like a human, compared with the character in Final Fight who have very animated moves.

Action games such as Call of Duty, which is also considered as a First Person Shooter game, has very large sale figures, with COD: Modern Warfare selling around 26.5 million copies, Black Ops selling 26.2 million copies, however they were still beaten by some popular puzzle games, such as Tetris that had 495 million downloads.

MMORPG

MMORPG, also known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, are a combination of role-playing video games and massively multiplayer online games. Large numbers on players can interact within another game world of endless size, therefore allowing players to play with other players from all over the world. An example of a MMORPG game is World of Warcraft, the game is based within a Warcraft world, known as Azeroth, a fantasy world, where player can control an avatar within the world either in third or first person view, and they can explore landscapes, fight various monsters, complete quests and interact with non-player characters or other players.

Some MMORPG games are free, and may have restrictions, however some require a monthly fee in order to play the game and contact with other gamers around the world. There aren’t many in-game purchases in MMORPG games, as you will usually go out into the world the characters are in to find your resources and weaponry that are needed to protect your team and defeat villains within the game.

A key part that appeals to many gamers about MMORPG games is that the length of game play isn’t restricted at all. The world that the game is based in is always changing and having new aspects added to it, therefore, you and the other gamers that you play with can pick your own objectives to complete, there can often be tournaments between different teams within the game, this can encourage people to purchase the games, as well as to play the game.