Class History of Video Games

Video games have been around for over half a century assuming, nowadays, an important place of prominence in contemporary culture. As such, and for a better understanding of its current state and its expansive capabilities, it is necessary to address the past. This curricular unit is to analyse the history of video games in order to understand different types and classifications and to analyse the most influential episodes and achievements occurred over the decades, with special emphasis to both the creations and evolution of the industry, as well as the personalities, innovations and trends that have been shaping the way of thinking about video games. 

Not applicable

The 40's-60's: First studies and creations. Missile Simulator, OXO and Tennis for Two, SpaceWar! and Computer Space; The 70's: Ralph Baer, Nolan Bushnell, Atari and Pong. The arcade machines. ATARI's expansion. The success from Japan called Space Invaders; The 80's: Toru Iwatani and Pac-Man. Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto. The crash of 1983. PC's, NES, Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. The decline of arcade machines. Tetris A. Pajitnov. SEGA, GameBoy, concept of mobility and expansion of the players; The 90's: Nintendo Vs. SEGA. Beat'em'ups. PC, the graphics evolution (2D-3D). id Software, FPS and multiplayer. The fall of SEGA. Lara Croft's Tomb Raider. Characters and complex stories; 2000-2019: Microsoft, Halo and Xbox. Will Wright and The Sims. Serious games, persuasive games, advergames, art games, newsgaming, social games, indie games. Gamification. Expansion of video games, consoles and forms of interaction; The future of video game industry: trends and opportunities.

Classes will have theoretical and practical approaches. Implies discussions and analysis about the topics presented.    Semestral Evaluation:  1) Two written Test_70% (35% each); 2) Written work developed by groups of two students through a list provided. This work is based on an orientation guide made available to students by the teacher. (20%); 3) Presentation of the written work in the classroom (10%); 4) Attendance: students must attend at least 70% of the classes.   Exame evaluation: Written test about the syllabus (100%).

Carita, A. (2015). Pensar videojogos: Design, arte e comunicação. Edições Universitárias Lusófonas. Donovan, T. (2010). Replay: The history of video games. Yellow Ant. Gouveia, P. (2010). Artes e jogos digitais: Estética e design da experiência lúdica. Edições Universitárias Lusófonas. Harris, B. J. (2014). Console wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the battle that defined a generation. It Books. Juul, J. (2019). Handmade pixels: Independent video games and the quest for authenticity. MIT Press. Kent, S. L. (2001). The ultimate history of video games: From Pong to Pokémon. Three Rivers Press. Montfort, N., & Bogost, I. (2009). Racing the beam: The Atari Video Computer System. MIT Press. Wolf, M. J. P. (Ed.). (2021). Encyclopedia of video games: The culture, technology, and art of gaming (2nd ed.). Greenwood.