Gaming: Then and Now - The evolution of computer, video, console and PC gaming, action and strategy, RPG, FPS and more types of games

Gaming today is a far cry from its ancient avtaar and is all about strategic thinking today.

BY A CORRESPONDENT

31 March, 2006
MUMBAI, INDIA

Ever remember the time you were 12 and worked your way patiently to beat your Top Score at Digger, Bricks, or PacMan? Or the thrill of realising you had to leap through the mirror in the fourth level of Prince of Persia? (And let's not get into fighting the skeleton who never died, or killing your ghost/other-self in that mesmerising final level, only to realise you kill yourself as well!) Then there was Tetris and the quick thinking it demanded. The heirs of PONG in the 1970s were no less addictive and popular.

Much later in the mid-90s, came Wolfenstien and Doom, signalling the dawn of a new age of first-person shooter games, and the delightfully satisfying sight of gore spilling out of the guy you had just expertly shot at. And let's not forget Civilization and Colonization, when strategy games had finally come of age with extensive strategic battles that had to factor in resource allocation, research and technology, military and economic planning, and somehow strike the right balance between them all to explore at the right time, build at the right time, develop at the right time, expand at the right time, and finally, attack at the right time.

The final decades of the 20th century have seen the meteoric rise in popularity of computer and video games as sophisticated gaming switched to sixth gear alongside the development of consoles from the 80s Game Boy to Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation and Sega's Dreamcast in the late 90s. Now we have a scenario where PC game sales touched $1.1 billion in 2004.

Gaming allows players to quickly develop and master skills and then utilise them over an intense period of time devoted to concentrated strategic thinking as the user adapts to the human-machine interface, learns game controls and game objectives and settles down to figuring out the most efficient method of completing the game. Despite its image as being a useless waste of time, as well as its capability of inciting violence through the graphic and often non-conformist scenarios it depicts, gaming has traditionally played an important role in an ever-changing cultural scenario, providing alternative worlds that gamers may find more accepting, sometimes even leading to the emergence of supportive communities. Meanwhile, researchers are yet to agree on whether gaming provides a welcome release of negative energy or actually incites violence, but it is important to point out that gaming is not alone in having blanket statements thrown at it for its potentially harmful 'influence.' Cinema, popular music, and even literature has gone through that drill before.

In what is becoming an increasingly interactive and productive community, developers often encourage gamers to modify existing games and create their own scenarios and campaigns. Gaming modifications or mods are perhaps the biggest reason why it would be incorrect to understand computer games as being about 'staring at the screen' doing 'inane and repetitive' things. Mods have not only added to the commercial popularity of a game, but also allowed players to become potential developers by allowing them to become significantly involved in the creative process. In the midst of what is obviously a hugely competitive and cut-throat market, and what can be the most passive experience (of let's say playing through a game using cheat codes), there exist space such as this one, that allow a degree of creativity that is not possible in any other cultural genre.

What does this mean? Gaming has become more than just an 'escape' reality for 'frustrated' users, today users across the internet are building, modifying, learning and perhaps eventually creating their own games and distributing it across a community that prioritises efficiency in gameplay and ingeniousness in development. Do we see dead brains mindlessly trying to keep a ball from falling 'down,' or do we see people dissatisfied with one reality trying to build fantasy worlds that they can relate to? Not exactly revolutionary (since clearly to play at all requires a certain amount of class privilege), but quite possibly, subversive.