Industry Bodies

The industry bodies help to represent and serve interest for people who like computer games. Industry bodies works on three things being Operational Activities, Political Representation and Generating Media Coverage.


TIGA(The Independent Games Developers): TIGA was launched in 2001 by DTI Minister Patricia Hewitt MP. TIGA is a national trade assocaiation for computer games developers in the UK and Europe. TIGA used to represent 300 or so independent studios all over the UK but now it and now it represents all developers in the UK. TIGA works alongside the Government, the Westminster, Holyrood Parliaments to improve the games industry.

ELSPA(Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association): ELSPA was founded in 1989 by game publishers in the UK. It was one of the first and strongest trades over europe. ELSPA has 40 companies as memberships.

PEGI(Pan European Game Information): ELSPA turned into PEGI in 2003. PEGI sorts out the age ratings for games online and offline. The age ratings are 3,7,12,16 and 18. PEGI also sorts out the content each game has. PEGI is used in over 28 countries

There are two main things that makes a game come on the market and these are:

Publishers help out with the finance , sort out the packaging for the games and design the packaging and marketing

Developers make the games and test them out and decide what the game will actually look like

7th Generation

The 7th Genration of computer games came out in 2005 with the conoels being WII, X-box 360, Playstion 3. With in these consoles the notable releases were Mario, Pokemon, Red Ring of Death, Grand Theft Auto.

X-box 360

Playstation 3

WII

The WII has a processor of IBM power PC and its display is colour. The WII has a storage of 512 MB. For the connectivity the game console uses a WI-FI and also Bluetooth.

The 7th generation games are more up to date ones (current). North America introduced a console game called the Nintendo DS which was the first handheld console of the 7th generation. The first home console that came out in the 7th generation was called the x-box 360. Most of the consoles in the 7th generation had wireless controllers but the x-box 360 had wired controllers.

6th Generation

The 6th generation of computer games came out in 1998 with the consoles being DreamCast, Playstation 2, X-box, Nintendo Gamecube. With in these consoles the notable releases were Sonic Adventure, Super Mario Bros, Halo 2.

Dreamcast

Playstation 2

X-box

Nintendo Gamecube

The playstation 2 has a processor of 32 bit and 33.8MHZ or 37.5 MHZ and a display of 150 MHZ, 48GB per second. The storage for the playstation 2 is 32 MB direct RAMBUS. For the connectivity the game console uses buttons and joysticks on a controller.

In the 6th generation of console games The 6th generation was known as the 128-bit era. This is a lot more then in the 5th generation. In the 6th generation, you can see that more games are now getting to be on the Internet. This lead onto the 7th gneration which we are currently in.

5th Generatrion

The 5th generation of computer games came out in 1983-2006 with the conoles being Sega Saturn, Sony Play-Station, Nintendo 64, Atari Jaguar. With in these consoles thne notable releases were A.V.P, Return Fire, Virtua Figther 2

Sega Saturn

The SEGA Saturn has a processor of 2*32-bit RISC at 28.6 MHZ and a display of VDP1 AND VDP2 and it is colour. The storage space for the SEGA Saturn is 16 m-bit work RAM. For the connectivity the game console uses buttons on a controller.

Sony Playstation

Nintedno 64

Atari Jaguar

In the 5th generation the first Playstation was released by Sony. The 5th gneration is commonly known as the 32bit era. In the 5th gerneation three dominating consoles were the Sega Saturn, the Sony Playstation and the Nintendo 64. The demographics in each console varied slightly each time. In the 5th generation the first handheld consoles came out.

4th Generation

The 4th generation of computer games came out in 1987 withe consoles being Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx, Super Nintendo Entertainment. With in these consoles the notable releases were Bonk's Adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog, King of Figthersm Super Mario World

Neo Geo

Turbo Grafx

Super Nintendo Entertainment

The Super Nintendo Entertainment has a processor of 16-bit, 65c816 RICOH 5A22 3.58 MHZ and a pixel to pixel display. The Super Nintendo Entertainment has a storage of 128 KIB RAM and the connectivity for the game console is a 2-seven pin controller.

In the 4th gneration of games, the games have much better memory then the 3rd genration. In the 4th gneration there was a rival between the two game companies SEGA and NINTENDO. Sega was successful in the 4th generation with Sonic the Hegdehog. This then leads onto the 5th generation.

3rd Generation

The 3rd generation of computer games came out in 1983 withe the consoles being NES, Atari 7800, Sega Master System. With in these consoles the notable releases were 3d Asteroids, Ace of Acesm Action Fighter.

NES

Atari 7800

Sega Master System

The Atari 7800 has a processor of 1.19-1.79 MHZ and a display 160*240, 320*240 with 25 on-screen colours. The storage for the Atari 7800 is 4KB RAM, 4KB BIOS ROM and 48KB cartridge ROM space. For the connectivity the game consoles uses a controller pad.

In the 3rd generation the technology of the games became more advanced. The games now have colour cartridges instead of black and white as the same as the 2nd generation. Also in this generation the memory of the games are higher. The 3rd gen ration has been dominated by the NES console. This then lead onto the 4th generation.

2nd Generation

The 2nd generation of computer games came out in 1982 with the consoles being Vectrex,Emerson Arcaida 200, Coleco Vision, Bally Astrocade, Sega G-100. Within these associated consoles, the notable releases were Pacman, Donkey Kong, Astromash.




Vectrex


Emerson Arcadia 2001



Coleco Vision






Bally Astrocade







Sega SG-1000







The SEGA SG-1000 has a processor of 4-mbit and a display 256*192 resolution, 16 colours and 32 on-screen sprites. The storage for SEGA SG-1000 is 2KB RAM and 16KB V-RAM. For the connectivity of the game console, you use buttons and a joystick.

In the 2nd generation the games were still simple but this time they added colour into them because the technology got more technical. The storage in the games are still as little but better than the 1st generation. SEGA were established in the 2nd generation. The Atari 2600 was the most dominant console of the 2nd generation. This leads then onto the 3rd generation.

1st Generation

Before the first generation, the first PC games were developed. Martin Graetz, Alan Kotok and MIT employe Steve Russell devleoped the game SpaceWar on a PDP-1 computer ideal for statistical calculations.
The first generation of computer games came out in 1972 with the first consoles being Magnavox Odyssey, Coleco Telstar, Pong and Nintendo Colour TV Game etc. With in the associated consoles the notable releases for these consoles were Bonus Pinball, Cat+Mouse, Football, Haunted House, Naval Battle, Quick Draw and Road Race etc.

Magnavox Odyssey

Telstar

Pong

Nintendo Colour TV

Game

The Magnavox Odyseey had a processor of AY-3-8500 with no micro processor. The display was black and white because it didn't have a grahics card. The consoles of today e.g. x-box 360 have graphics card so they are colourful. The storage unit for the Maganvox Odyssey were pinout cards and for the connectivity it used catridges and controllers(paddles). The game console used batteries but you could also plug it in.

In the 1st generation the first consoles came out and these were very simple. These were simple because the graphics were not as good. It was also simple because of the technology used to make them and so this lead onto the 2nd generation.