Game history

Community Forums/General Help/Game history

Warner(Posted 2011) [#1]
I've been asked to teach game history in september. So I'm looking for information on that subject. I've read the wikipedia pages, and I've read some articles.
Does anybody know any good resources, such as books, websites or video's? I'm looking for game history from the early beginnings until the most recent developments.


GfK(Posted 2011) [#2]
Don't take this personally but wouldn't they be better off with somebody who already has a comprehensive knowledge of the subject they're going to be teaching?


Guy Fawkes(Posted 2011) [#3]
Honestly, you people pray on EVERY innocent soul. If that's what he wants to do, then LET HIM DO IT! End of story


H&K(Posted 2011) [#4]
Does "Let him do it" mean dont help do it for him?
Thank you for posting that. I was going to post a very good link that would have had everything he needed.
But rez you are right, why should I spoil it for him.


Guy Fawkes(Posted 2011) [#5]
H & K, go blast **** in some other forum.


GfK(Posted 2011) [#6]
Honestly, you people pray on EVERY innocent soul. If that's what he wants to do, then LET HIM DO IT! End of story
I claim that a teacher needs to know their subject well, and you're disagreeing with me?

Does that say more about me, or you?

[edit] Anyway, this is warner's thread. Go do your foot-stamping somewhere else please.

Last edited 2011


Guy Fawkes(Posted 2011) [#7]
If Warner wants to be a teacher, LET him be a bloody teacher!

END OF STORY!


Guy Fawkes(Posted 2011) [#8]
Whatever. I'm leaving this thread b4 u ppl drive me insane.


Ginger Tea(Posted 2011) [#9]
GFK> Do people normally want to end up teaching game history?
perhaps whom ever is hiring him feels the course needs this section and Warner has an engaging lecture presence but just not in this field?

I bought years ago a largeish book called the A-Z of video games (or some such title) which as the title sugests is listed alphabetically, not choronologically, in doing this it lacked an evolution of the genre.

Warner> is it history of the games themselves or the industry?
I'm assuming it's the games, so would you be starting them off at the beginning with pong (although computer space came first) and as I said in another thread pong begat breakout, which in turn evolved into space invaders (the guy said somewhere that he invisioned the bricks shooting back when he first saw it)

shootemup's from space invaders and galga to R-Type and beyond, note the first power ups, the one's that seem essential these days (dont forget to plug platypus)

things like the konami code


GfK(Posted 2011) [#10]
Whatever. I'm leaving this thread b4 u ppl drive me insane.
Good. Mind the door doesn't hit you on the way out.

GFK> Do people normally want to end up teaching game history?
Its probably more of an issue of how many people actually want to learn it.
perhaps whom ever is hiring him feels the course needs this section and Warner has an engaging lecture presence but just not in this field?
Maybe. Anyway, as usual Rez has blown the issue out of all proportion, so moving on...

Have a watch at this (thought the quality is rubbish so maybe you can find a better copy).
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3637639460474263178


Guy Fawkes(Posted 2011) [#11]
Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya, "Gay fried chicken" ;)


H&K(Posted 2011) [#12]
http://www.crashonline.org.uk/


ziggy(Posted 2011) [#13]
Don't take this personally but wouldn't they be better off with somebody who already has a comprehensive knowledge of the subject they're going to be teaching?

He's not saying he doesn't have the knowledge, sometimes as a teacher, when you're new to teaching something, you need resources to give good examples to what you're explaining. It has nothing to do with knowledge of the matter, but more to do with the pedagogical part of the job.


Warner(Posted 2011) [#14]
Thanks for the links. About the subject of the classes: I can decide myself what I want to talk about. I've searched through the most obvious resources, but I was hoping for some good books recommendations o.s.

Last edited 2011


Kryzon(Posted 2011) [#15]
I don't know if you have this planned already, so please excuse any unintentional imposition :)

I suggest beginning or including somehow about 'games outside of the electronic realm', the way they were really born, why people play etc.
Perhaps video-games\electronic devices are merely the media, and they opened the door and made easier to explore the playful potential in people etc etc.

Best of luck! please share with us how it went.


Ginger Tea(Posted 2011) [#16]
Aye without risk (and to an extent monopoly) how would turn based strategies have turned out?

AD&D, without this and (warhammer) table top gaming, what would have happened to a bards tale and Ultima?


*(Posted 2011) [#17]

Don't take this personally but wouldn't they be better off with somebody who already has a comprehensive knowledge of the subject they're going to be teaching?



@gfk: TBH with the current state of our schools Warner teaching game history cant be any worse than the teachers we have in the UK, my daughter has a maths teacher that hates math LOL


Matty(Posted 2011) [#18]
Having been a school teacher for a very short time a few years back, it is quite common for teachers to teach outside of their specialisations simply because of shortages of trained teachers in certain sectors of the education curriculm.


andy_mc(Posted 2011) [#19]
I did a google search for "videogame history", lot's of useful information came up. Weirdly, the fourth link is for a page on "Sexual Moment in videogame history"???? Didn't click it as I'm at work.


Warner(Posted 2011) [#20]
About why I'm asked to do this: I don't understand why myself, but I'm not going to question that. It's also a job.
Normally, I teach programming, and I like history. I've been developing since 1984, so I've seen my share of the early platforms.
Throughout time, I have played games, but mostly to see how they were made.

I was thinking about splitting the topic into four parts, since I'll give four colleges/lessons:
-physiological history: how did platforms evolve
-sociological history: changes in who create/who play throughout history
-conceptual history: how did concepts change over time
-commercial history: how did the market change

Most books about gaming history seem to end at say 2003 with Wow, and speculate about how gaming will become immersive. But I think over the last +/- 10 years, many interesting developments have taken place, such as iPhone, Wii, N3DS, internet games.

Personally, I find Silas Warner, the org. author of Wolfenstein, an interesting part of gaming history. I think he was really influental, but is a bit underappreciated.


AdamRedwoods(Posted 2011) [#21]
I'd say most of us here probably are qualified to teach the history of computer games, as research predicates expertise.

IMHO, the most fascinating is the making of Pac-Man.
You could go on for weeks talking about the original game design alone, and then there's the franchise, including the cartoon series.
http://home.comcast.net/~jpittman2/pacman/pacmandossier.html
http://classicgames.about.com/od/history/tp/GhostMonstersAutopsy.htm

http://classicgames.about.com/od/history/History.htm


And wear this t-shirt:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/ribman/t-shirts/7262137-resolution-evolution-a-quick-video-game-history


Warner(Posted 2011) [#22]
Thanks Adam, that was interesting to read!