What is Fun?

Sooo whats fun..... okie I am lazy.. so i am just going to past the defination from a dictionary.

adjective
–noun
1.something that provides mirth or amusement: A picnic would be fun.

2.enjoyment or playfulness: She's full of fun. –verb (used without object), verb (used with object)

3.Informal. joke; kid. –adjective

4.Informal. of or pertaining to fun, esp. to social fun: a fun thing to do; really a fun person.

5.Informal. whimsical: flamboyant: The fashions this year are definitely on the fun side. —Idioms

6.for or in fun, as a joke; not seriously; playfully: His insults were only in fun.

7.like fun, Informal. certainly not; of doubtful truth: He told us that he finished the exam in an hour. Like fun he did!

8.make fun of, to make the object of ridicule; deride: The youngsters made fun of their teacher.


..... WoW thats like the defination of fun there... okie to be serious since I am a game developer , more or a programmer wanna be and avid gamer. So what do it find fun in computer games. Firstly we need to know what are computer games or games for that matter. A Game is pretty much a puzzle. A puzzle where the player has to solve. ( or as my lecturer calls it... noise and where the player has to reach the goal thru the noise )

If you do not believe me, that a game is pretty much a puzzle. Picutre this in your head. A game of chess , the puzzle will be being able get into your opponent's mind , and the goal is to win him. Compare this with oh lets say.. Warcraft 3 ( online fighitng against and other player ). Is'nt the puzzle the same? to get into your opponent's mind and see his moves. And the goal is to beat him. So games are pretty much the same. There is a puzzle and the players tries to solve it. ( or master it )

But this will eventually creates a new problem. If everyone who plays the game manages to master the game, won't it get to start to be boring? Yes it will. The player will not longer find a challenge in the game. ( a human characteristic )

So as a game developer / designer / programmer how do we ensure the game we are making will be able to keep the fun factor, or maybe juz prolong it as long as possible so that a new game can be created. The answer is simple really. Create a puzzle that always create a new puzzle by itself. Example , PVP ( player versus player ) element into online multiplayer games. With this human element added they can cause unpredictable challenages now and then , like how to kill the other player, or how to ambush him and so forth.

So overall computer games are puzzles that players need to solve and players in turn get fun and satisfaction once they have solved it.

History of The gaming Industry form my POV (Point of View)

Computer Games / Gaming has evolved a lot. From the time of people playing with machines that produce mild electric shocks ( I am serious in the past there are machines that produce mild electrical shocks to people and they find it fun.... wondered if anyone died) , to a realistic 3D world to people.

One of the more olden games that is still being played in some arcades today is pinball. The pinball was once a old broken down machine when player try to keep a metal ball in the game while completing objectives. Now over the years , it has even become a digital game where players play it on the computer.

One of the early type of video games was one that involved 2 players taking control of 2 spaceships and the objective is to shoot at each until one of them is destroyed.

Soon after other games began to develope. Some made bg successes other did not. Soon there were the protests about video game violences. The game that caused it was called Death Race where it involves the player to crush gremlins using a car.

Pic of the game Death Car.

(1976)

But during that year there was a slump in computer games. People stopped buying and games were left on the shelves. It was only in 1978 when the games can back in demand when Toshihiro Nishikado started a get called Space invaders where the player has to defend earth using a gun platform agianst a invasion of alien armada.

Anyway we should als focus on the gaming plateforms too. It is not the games that make the industry succesful.

In 1972 a company called Waco (Toymaker) , created the 1st handheld game device called OXO which is like the game Tic Tac Toe. While during the 70s and 80s rapidly computers where allowed into homes whith simple computer programmes. In 1969 the 1st console gaming machine was sold and soon after a game called PONG made by Atari was sold which was one of the most successful game of that time.

And over time the computer games kept evolving from Dots and black and white games, to 2D colored environments to now 3D one so close to real life realizm.

On the personal note.. i still can remember my 1st computer game. It was Before windows was installed into my computer. it was a 2D ( extremely simple 2D) game where you play as a ninja and fighting enemies thru each level.

My Favourite Compter Games

MMORPG (Massive Online Role Playing Games)
The main MMORPG I am playing now is World Of Warcraft ( a.k.a WoW ). How I interesting is that this game is quite unique in the gameplay and user interface. WoW is a 3D kind of MMORPG and whats more the game world in it is extremely big. There are some servers in WoW allows you to fight other players in neutral territories ( PVP ). This games the gameplay extremely challenging ... but sometimes Super annoying. There are parts in the game where players are able to join together in 1 large party called raids where 10 - 40 people are able to join together and fight a boss monster , who tend to drop power items when they die. WoW is also unique as they also allow players to ride flying / riding mounts. Mounts are animals which allows you to get from one place to another at your command. Example horses , wolves , gryphons , etc.

RTS ( Real Time Strategy)
For RTS type of game I love the command and conquer series. They are one of the best RTS game series selling in the market. The latest Game Command & Conquer 3 , that was just realised in March in singapore, continues the storyline of 2 factions on Earth. What I like about this game is the storyline. Altough the game dates back to about 10yrs ago, the storyline remains interesting as they manage to improve the gameplay and how the mini movies are played during the game. Whats more the in game units which you take command are unique to the game itself as most of them are orginally created by the designers themselves.