GAMES AT ITS FINEST

HISTORY

HISTORY OF COMPUTER GAMES

The first computer game is generally assumed to be the game Spacewar!, developed in 1962 at MIT (Stephen Russell a.o.). Spacewar originally ran on a PDP-1 computer the size of a large car. By today’s standards, the graphics are rather primitive, although less primitive than many games form the 1980’s. The game as such is not bad: Two players each control a spaceship circling a planet. The players can shoot each other, turn their ships, and accelerate. The goal is – naturally – to hit the other player before being hit yourself.

He first commercially available video game, Pong (Atari 1973), was introduced 11 years after Spacewar! Pong is a simple concept that has turned out to be surprisingly durable even though the graphics are simply white rectangles on a black background. In the beginning, Pong was placed at entertainment venues, markets, and fun fairs, next to mechanical pastimes and as a supplement to these. This is the same kind of place where the game Space Invaders (Taito 1977) was also introduced. Space Invaders defines most of the basic parameters of what I call the classical action game: A player controls an object/an actor against some enemies; a score is kept; the game is real-time and requires fast reflexes; the player has a fixed amount of lives (typically three); the game is based on successive levels of increasing difficulty; the game (or just the title) places the player’s action as part of a minimal narrative.

About the term computer game: This term is in sharp competition with video games, console games, and arcade games. Video games and console games usually means games connected to a TV, whereas arcade games means games placed in public spaces (and individual cabinets). Computer games are occasionally taken to mean games played on a PC. Since all of these areas have been developed in close parallel (and because all of these games are played on computers), I am using the term computer game to denominate all of these areas as a whole.
In the early 1980’s, the adventure genre was renamed interactive fiction, a very controversial and slightly ideological term. Interactive fiction was never defined theoretically, and the theorist Espen Aarseth rejects it completely as pure connotation without any real meaning. (Aarseth 1997, p.48) I think this is basically correct: We lack a theoretical definition, the term is basically used to claim literary qualities for a game. But the basic image of interactive fiction is as simple as it sounds: It is the image of a fictive world (fiction taken to mean “narrative”), a world to interact with, to participate in. Interactive fiction has from the very beginning been defined in opposition to other types of computer games, but later on many games have been promoted as more true “interactive fictions” than other games with the same label. In actuality, the products labelled interactive fiction have not developed much on a structural level.

Then, In 1989 First hand held machine from Nintendo, called “Game Boy”. Tetris is produced for the Game Boy in Russia. In 2001 Nintendo released Gamecube. Sony’s PlayStation 3 was released on November 11, 2006, with a higher price than its direct competitor, the Xbox 360. The system’s reliance on new technology such as the Cell microprocessor and Blu-ray format has caused difficulties in manufacturing, especially the Blu-ray diode, leading to shortages at launch and the delay of the PAL region launches; however, by early December 2006, Sony announced that all production issues had been resolved. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gained an early lead in terms of market share, largely due to its established Xbox Live online gaming system, and its early launch date which was one year before its rivals.

HISTORY OF LARONG PINOY

Traditional Filipino Games or Indigenous games in the Philippines (known as Laro ng Lahi)[1][2][3] are games commonly played by children, usually using native materials or instruments. In the Philippines, due to limited resources of toys of Filipino children, they usually come up on inventing games without the need of anything but the players themselves. Their flexibility to think and act makes their games interesting and challenging.

The Indigenous games or Laro ng Lahi was coined and popularized by the Samahang Makasining (Artist Club), Inc. (commonly known “Makasining”)[4] with the help of National Commission for Culture and the Arts[5][6] and being used by the other Philippine Local Government Unit, other organizations and other institution. Imparting of these Filipino games to the youth is one of the main objectives of the organization.[7][8] The Makasining also created time based scoring for five (5) selected games (Patintero, Syatong, Dama, Lusalos and Holen).

Dickie Aguado, Executive Director of Magna Kultura Foundation (a Philippine NGO for Arts and Culture), confirms that the Traditional Filipino Games are “very much alive in the Philippines”. It is not true that the Filipino Street Games are no longer played, as some would say that it has vanished in Philippine society in the age of computers and technology. In many urban and rural areas, a great majority of Filipino children still play outdoor street games as most of them are still unable to own expensive technology. Games such as Patintero, Tumbang Preso, Piko, Sipa, Turumpo, and many others, are still played daily in the neighborhood. One of the main reason why some children stop playing the Filipino games is because Western sports activities (i.e., basketball or volleyball) are more prominently organized in local Barangays and in schools. With lack of organized sports activities for Filipino street games, children can only move on leaving the games of their childhood in the streets.

MOST POPULAR COMPUTER GAMES

League of Legends is one of the most popular video games in the world. It is played by over 100 million active users every single month. League of Legends is also the most popular esport. At the 2015 League of Legends World tournament, a five-week tournament that is the League of Legends equivalent of the UEFA Champions League, over 334 million viewers tuned in. The finals, the League of Legends equivalent of the Super Bowl, brought in 36 million unique viewers.

Clash of Clans (CoC) is an android game. It is an online game. It is a strategy game. You can create your own base. You can create a group/clan. You can attack other players all over the world. You can make a clan war. You can design your base by arranging the walls. Next, you have to build a Gold Collector, Gold Storage, Elixir Collector, Elixir Storage, Barracks and a new Builder. After that, you have to upgrade your defenses like archer tower and cannons to have a strong defense when the other players attack you.

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994.[3] World of Warcraft takes place within the Warcraft world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard’s previous Warcraft release, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.[4] Blizzard Entertainment announced World of Warcraft on September 2, 2001.[5] The game was released on November 23, 2004, on the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.

Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a multiplayer online battle arena mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The objective of the game is for each team to destroy their opponents’ Ancient, a heavily guarded structure at the opposing corner of the map, which is based on the “Aeon of Strife” map for StarCraft. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied teammates and AI-controlled fighters. As in role-playing games, players level up their heroes and use gold to buy equipment during the mission.

LARONG PINOY

There are over thirty-eight (38) known Filipino games, and many of these are as challenging and competitive as Western games. To cite a few, Filipino Traditional Games include the following:

Agawang sulok -(lit. catch and own a corner): the it or tagger stands in the middle of the ground. The players in the corners will try to exchange places by running from one base to another.

Sekyu Base- It is another version of Agawan Base but no score limits. If a team scores five (5) points, the game still continues. The players can hide in other things near the enemy base and ambush them.

Araw-lilim -(lit. sun and shade): The it or tagger tries to tag or touch any of the players who is in direct contact with the light.

Bahay-Bahayan- It is a role-playing game where children act as members of an imaginary family, sometimes to the extent that one of them becomes the family “pet”.

Bati-Cobra- It is a hitting and catching game. This game is played outdoors only by two (2) or more players.

Bulong-Pari-(lit. whisper it to the priest) is composed of two teams and an it. The leader of team A goes to the priest and whispers one of the names of the players of team B.

Calahoyo- (lit. hole-in) is an outdoor game by two (2) to ten (10) players. Accurate targeting is the skill developed in this game because the objective of each player is to hit the anak (small stones or objects) with the use of the pamato (big, flat stone), trying to send it to the hole.

Declan Ruki- (lit. I declare, do it!): Participants are told to do something by the winner of the previous games. It is similar to the game Simon Says.

Holen- This game is where players should hold the ball called holen in their hand then throw it to hit the players ball out of the playing area. Holen is called marble in USA.

Iring-Iring- (lit. go round and round until the hanky drops): After the it is determined, he/she goes around the circle and drops the handkerchief behind a person.

Juego de prenda- (lit. game of looking for the missing bird): There is no limit to the number of players that can play. Players sit in a circle with the leader in the middle. Each player adopts a name of a tree or flower that is given by the leader.

Kapitang bakod-(lit. touch the post, or you’re it! or hold on to the fence): When the it or tagger is chosen, the other players run from place to place and save themselves from being tagged by holding on to a fence, a post, or any object made of wood or bamboo.

Langit-lupa- (lit. heaven and earth) one it chases after players who are allowed to run on level ground (“lupa”) and clamber over objects (“langit”).

Lagundi- A game of Indian influence. It is basically a game of tag, except here, the divide into two teams, the it team members get to hold the ball, passing it between themselves, with the ball touching the head of the other (not it) team.

Luksong-tinik-(lit. jump over the thorns of a plant): two players serve as the base of the tinik (thorn) by putting their right or left feet together (soles touching gradually building the tinik).

Luksong-Baka- (lit. jump over the cow) is a popular variation of Luksong-tinik. One player crouches while the other players jump over him/her. The crouching player gradually stands up as the game progresses, making it harder for the other players to jump over him/her.

Palosebo- (lit. greased bamboo pole climbing): This game involves a greased bamboo pole that players attempt to climb. This games is usually played during town fiestas, particularly in the provinces.

Pitik-Bulag- This game involves 2 players. One covers his eyes with a hand while the other flicks a finger (pitik) over the hand covering the eyes. The person with the covered eyes gives a number with his hand the same time the other does.

Piko- It is the Philippine variation of the game hopscotch. The players stand behind the edge of a box, and each should throw their cue ball. The first to play is determined depending on the players’ agreement (e.g. nearest to the moon, wings or chest).

Sambunot- It is a Philippine game which may be played outdoors by ten (10) or more players, but not to exceed twenty (20). The goal in the game is to get the coconut husk out of the circle.

Sawsaw-Suka-(lit. dip into vinegar): The it has his palm open while the other players touch this with their index fingers, singing “sawsaw suka/mahuli taya!”

Sipa- It is (lit. game of Kick): The object being used to play the game is also called sipa. It is made of a washer with colorful threads, usually plastic straw, attached to it. Also, sipa can be played using a rattan ball or a lead washer covered in cloth or plastic.

Syatong- It is a game where player uses two sticks of rattan, 30 inches (76 cm) and 10 inches (25 cm) of length.

Taguan- It is similar to hide and seek. What is unique in Tagu-Taguan is that this game is usually played at sunset or at night as a challenge for the it to locate those who are hiding under the caves in Laguna and Cavite which is a popular site for pro taguan players.

Teks or teks game cards- (lit. texted game cards): Filipino children collect these playing cards which contain comic strips and texts placed within speech balloons. They are played by tossing them to the air until the cards hit the ground.

Ten-Twenty- A game involving two (2) pairs, with one utilizing a stretched length of garter. One pair faces each other from a distance and has the garter stretched around them in such a way that a pair of parallel lengths of garter is between them. The members of the other pair, then begin doing a jumping “routine” over the garters while singing a song (“ten, twenty, thirty, and so on until one hundred).

Tinikling- A game variant of the tinikling dance, with the same goal—for the players to dance nimbly over the clapping bamboo “maw” without having their ankles caught.

Tumbang preso or Presohan- and Tumba-Patis or Tumba-Lata in most Visayan regions (in English Hit The Can). This also one of the popular Filipino street games played by children using their slippers to hit a tin can at the center.

Ubusan lahi- (lit. clannicide): One tries to conquer the members of a group (as in claiming the members of another’s clan). The tagged player from the main group automatically becomes an ally of the tagger. The more players, the better. The game will start with only one it and then try to find and tag other players. Once one player is tagged, he/she will then help the it to tag the other players until no other participant is left. Some people also know this as Bansai.

TRIVIAS

~Online gaming isn’t as recent a development as you may think; in the ’90s, a modem peripheral called the Satellaview was released for the Super Nintendo. It let gamers download gaming news and specially-designed games. They were mostly remakes of retro classics.

~The Xbox was originally named DirectXbox, as it was initially designed to show how Microsoft’s Direct X graphics technology could benefit the console market.