Some of the Main Landmarks in Game Design History

Anyone who plays modern games on their computer or mobile device knows what to expect in terms of the design. Slick, professionally-created games that transport us to unique worlds are now common, but this wasn’t always the case.

The history of gaming is longer and more complex than you might think. Starting out from humble beginnings with an incredibly basic type of design, these games have passed some huge landmarks to reach the current high levels.

The First 3D Game

The use of 3D graphics has proved crucial in adding realism so gamers could get immersed in their on-screen adventures. However, one of the issues with this type of presentation is that older 3D games tend to look more dated than 2D titles from the same era.

Nowadays, we expect a 3D game to feature a huge world, including characters and objects that we can interact with. However, in the early days achieving some sort of 3D effect was a feat in itself, with no complex world behind the images.

Arguably the first commercially successful 3D game was Battlezone. It was released by Atari in 1980 and has wireframe vector graphics to add depth to the screen. This game was first brought out in a big arcade cabinet version, before being developed for home consoles such as the Atari 2600 and the Commodore 64.

Battlezone now looks incredibly dated and simplistic, although it was well-received at the time and offered a genuine breakthrough in game design. An updated version was launched for the Xbox Live Arcade in 2008, with the far more impressive and detailed graphics showing how far 3D design has come since the early days.

The Arrival of Multiplayer Games

Another hugely important aspect of modern gaming is the way that multiple players can take part at the same time. Massively multiplayer titles such as World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, and Star Trek Online allows many players to play with or against each other.

At the peak of its popularity, World of Warcraft was said to have 12 million active players, but it was far from the first game of this type on the market. There is some debate over what was the very first game to allow more than one player to compete simultaneously.

One contender is Tennis for Two, which was created by William Higinbotham way back in 1958. In terms of commercially successful multiplayer games, we need to jump forward to 1972 to take a look at Pong.

This arcade classic from Atari was possibly the first successful video game of any type, initially coming out as an arcade cabinet version before being turned in a popular home console game. It was based on very simple gameplay and graphics, as the two players batted a ball back and forward across the screen.  Yet, the appeal of playing against another human meant it was incredibly popular.

Pong is so highly-regarded that it is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection. Pong World is an updated version that was released in 2012 to celebrate 40 years since the original came out. This new adaption of the title added stylish graphics and a more modern feel.

The Move to Streamed Games

A more recent change has seen streaming become a popular activity among gamers. In some cases, this doesn’t alter the game design, as it is simply the case that a well-known gamer streams the action to their fans while they play. This is typically done through platforms such as Twitch.

In the second quarter of 2019, over 2.7 billion hours of games were live streamed on Twitch, which was launched in 2011. The most popular gamers in this category are led by Shroud, who has a record of over 516,000 concurrent viewers and a total of over 8 million followers on Twitch at the time of writing. If you are a gamer or a content creator and looking to make thousands of dollars every month through gaming, you need to have thousands of followers. But the million dollar question is how you can gain thousands of followers quickly? Answer is – either wait and watch to slowly build your followers over the period of time gradually or the second option (which is a better one) is to buy Twitch followers through any reliable and trusted source. To know more, you can check this related website : https://useviral.com/buy-twitch-followers

Streaming has also appeared as an important part of online casino game design across various countries in the 21st century. The Asiabet site confirms that top online casinos such as the likes of Casumo, Comeon!, and Bet365 casinos provide a selection of live dealer titles where a human dealer controls games such as roulette and blackjack in a live casino setting for the Indian market among others.

Another definition of game streaming you might see is when we talk about a game that is played live from data stored on the cloud, rather than the player having to download it. Popular game streaming services include the Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Now, and Google Stadia.

In this case, the challenge for software companies is to provide easier, constant access to the action without losing any of the quality of the original design. The gamers buy a title and then can access it anywhere on any device they are logged into.

Summary

These are three of the most important advances in gaming history that have become part of the gaming landscape, giving players exciting ways to enjoy games.