Economics 361N Final Project

Hardware

In today's world, cutting edge home PC hardware is required for only two things: graphic design and computer gaming. Seeing as how computer gamers vastly outnumber graphic designers, it is fairly safe to conclude that the majority of advancements in computer hardware are driven by gamer demand. As computer games become larger, more complex, and more visually and audially immersive, stronger and faster computers are needed. It can be argued that larger hard drives, more RAM, and faster processors are good for any computer user. However, advanced graphics and sound cards are used almost exclusively for gaming and this is the area of computer hardware that gaming influences the most.

The graphics for new games can be rendered in one of two ways: hardware or software. Software rendering means the main processor handles the rendering for in-game graphics. Hardware rendering, which can be used if the computer has a dedicated (usually 3d) video card installed, frees the main processor from drawing the graphics and delegates the task to the dedicated video card instead. The newest video cards have large amounts of onboard RAM that are used for nothing other than graphics. This leads to extremely high quality images with an extraordinary amount of detail, running at very high frames per second (FPS). High FPS results in very smooth gameplay, in the same way in which a movie running with many frames per second will look less jerky.

One of the leading manufacturers of high-performance video cards is 3dfx Interactive, the company that produces the popular Voodoo 3 video card. Hardware such as the Voodoo 3 is pretty much required to play many of the newest games like Mechwarrior 3, Starsiege Tribes, and Homeworld. Since gamers are always eager to try out the latest computer game, they anticipate new releases in video and sound cards, such as the Sound Blaster 64 Gold by Creative Labs with equal enthusiasm.

Software and Types of Games

There is tremendous variety in the types of computer games which are available. Specific genres are usually established by a few trial games followed by an immensely successful game. This process of development is evidenced most recently by the advent of the first-person shooter and real-time strategy genres.

One of the most popular genres today is the first-person shooter. First person shooters got started with Wolfenstein 3d, were made popular by Doom, and are represented today by such notables as Quake II & III, Starsiege Tribes, and Half-Life. This genre is played from a first-person view and generally consists of acquiring weapons and obliterating hordes of monsters.

Quake 3: I don't know what this thing is, but it doesn't look friendly. Better blow it up.

Another extremely popular genre is real-time strategy. RTS (as it is commonly referred to) takes the management skills of strategy games and adds a fast paced, reflex-based element. The genre was essentially created by Westwood Studios in their groundbreaking game Dune 2. Another company called Blizzard Entertainment followed, producing a game called Warcraft, which met with some success. Westwood made the first well-known RTS game in their award-winning Command & Conquer. However, it was Blizzard that brought RTS into the limelight with their smashingly successful game, WarCraft 2. After Warcraft 2, many other companies jumped into the RTS field, producing such notable titles as Dark Reign, Total Annihilation, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert by Westwood Studios. However, it was Blizzard which was to maintain the crown of RTS games with their insanely popular game StarCraft, which revolutionized online gaming through the inclusion of the company-supported online gaming network, Battle.net. In fact, StarCraft is the best-selling computer game of all time, and Blizzard has won the Game of the Year award from Computer Gaming Weekly for three straight years in a row, first with WarCraft 2, then Diablo, followed by StarCraft.


StarCraft: A Protoss High Templar attempts to hold off a wave of Protoss Dragoons assaulting his ally's base.

A third notable genre is the strategy genre, most prominently represented by the Civilizations and Heroes of Might and Magic series. These types of games, while still popular, have lost some of their fan base to more fast paced games, as turn-based strategy often tends to be slow and tedious.


Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Sandro the Necromancer meets Zydar the Heretic in the middle of a blazing Inferno.

The fourth genre discussed here is the RPG or Role-Playing Game genre. Popular RPG titles for the PC include Might & Magic, Wizardry, and most recently, the tremendously successful Baldur's Gate by BioWare. Baldur's Gate almost singlehandedly revived the PC-based RPG genre. Through efficient programming, an involved story, and its use of the Dungeons & Dragons rules system, Baldur's Gate was able to create an RPG the likes of which haven't been seen before on the PC.


Baldur's Gate: A group of heroes battles an enemy mage.

Many other genres of games exist, such as sports, action/adventure, racing, space simulator, and puzzle. The four mentioned above, in addition to the ones mentioned in the previous sentence, are simply the biggest and most popular genres around. Many games blend different genres together, resulting in games that cannont be categorized in an existing genre. Diablo, for instance, falls into the RPG or action/adventure category depending on who you talk to.