Roberto Dillon

The Evolution of Business Models in the Video Game Industry

This paper aims at discussing the evolution of business models that have characterized the video game industry in recent times and use it as a starting point to predict possible scenarios that may develop in a near future. Different trends will be reviewed and discussed both under a general, worldwide perspective as well as a more localized, Asian one to gain insights on how this sector is evolving into new, unexpected directions.

Videogames and art: comparing emotional feedback from digital and classic masterpieces

Can Videogames be considered Art? The present study analyzes this question from an emotional perspective: in other words, if we see Art as something designed to evoke emotions through fantasy, are the emotional experiences we have while looking at works of Art similar to the ones we have while playing a video game? An experiment centered around seven highly acclaimed video games and seven art masterpieces from different periods was carried out at James Cook University to answer this question. The works have been discussed by using the Geneva Emotion Wheel as well as another set of emotional indicators, here proposed for the first time. Results have been compared and statistically analyzed to show that, indeed, Art and videogames can elicit very similar emotional experiences in people, showcasing strong similarities between the two media.

Computers for the Masses, not the Classes

This chapter discusses the origins of Commodore under the helm of Jack Tramiel and the events that followed MOS acquisition, from the release of the PET to the idea of providing “computers for the masses, not the classes” which led to the VIC-20 and, ultimately, the C64 .

Verba Volant, Scripta Manent

The computer revolution gave birth also to another related industry: its specialized press. Starting from Byte , whose first issue was published in September 1975, more and more magazines appeared in the following years discussing a broad range of topics, with games being among the most popular and extensively covered on both home computers and gaming consoles.

BBS: The Internet Can Wait

It may be odd today to think of a world with computers but without the Internet and it may even be more surprising to realize that, even when the Internet as we know it was not available, people still managed to use computers to connect together, socialize and exchange files online.

The Commodore 64 and Its Architecture

Here the unveiling of the C64 is discussed together with its original architecture, introducing the main components that made it unique: the 6510 CPU, the VIC-II and SID chips.

Games, Games and More Games!

Critical analysis, by genre, of more than 100 games on the C64 that defined 8 bit gaming. The following genres are covered (in alphabetical order): Action Adventures, Adventures, Arcade conversions, Driving games, Edutainment, Movie Tie-ins, Platformers, Puzzles, Role Playing Games, Shoot ‘em ups, Sports, Strategy, Virtual life, 3D Games.

Windows and Icons

Commodore had very ambitious plans for the C64 from the very beginning, with Jack Tramiel trying to position it in the market as the definitive “Apple II killer”. Naturally, to manage this goal, they needed more than games to push the computer’s appeal beyond the entertainment field and compete with a machine that had exceptional apps like VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet program to run on home computers, besides a more robust OS.

Rise of the Game Engines

Almost all games developed today are not built from scratch but by using powerful middleware tools, commonly named “game engines”. These provide programmers, artists and designers with a set of commonly used features and systems already implemented and ready to be reused to craft an original concept, considerably speeding up the development process. On the other hand, back in the 1980s, most games were developed in assembly language starting from zero and, while the various computer architectures were much easier to understand and master than modern counterparts, this barrier still made game development hard, especially for non technical people. Nonetheless, being creative and able to express ideas by writing their own programs and games, was always one of the main reasons or, sometimes, main excuses, used by kids to ask parents for investing in one of those new 8-bit technological marvels. This hunger for creativity didn’t pass unnoticed and it wasn’t too long before some of the leading developers in the newborn computer game industry decided to release the first tools offering users a shortcut for simplifying game development.