Game Title Neverwinter Nights and its expansions Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide and Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark.
Game Development Studio & Publisher BioWare, published by Infogrames/Atari and MacSoft.
Platform Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. I play the widows version of the game. I dont think the game would translate very well onto platforms like the Xbox or Wii. Id expect it play somewhat like Knights of the Old Republic, since they are similar games in many respects.
Genre Role-playing. I think its suitable.
Player Mode The game is playable in both single player and multiplayer modes. I have played the game in both formats. Multiplayer supports different amounts of players depending on the servers hardware and bandwidth. Weaker servers can get up to 10, many servers support around 32, and the strongest servers can support over 72 players.
Time Interval The game is a real-time game, though combat is turn-based like Dungeon and Dragons 3rd edition rules. The player can give as many orders to the character as they want, but the character will only carry out so many in a given round, the rest adding up in a queue. Some actions, like moving or going into combat, will cancel this queue.
Audience/Market Neverwinter Nights to attract players that are interested in Dungeons and Dragons, which is to be expected, as its based on it. Many players used to or still play Dungeons and Dragons, and those who havent played Dungeons and Dragons still find it interesting.
Rating Neverwinter Nights is rated T. The rating is appropriate. There is blood and violence. Its not shocking by any means, especially when compared to more recent games. The indicators say Blood, Violence, and Fantasy Violence. Violence is part of the game, as much of it revolves around your character stabbing monsters and other characters. Blood is also present, in little puddles, and when a character gets hit by a sword. If a monster takes enough damage when it dies, it will explode. Its not a particularly violent or impressive explosion. The explosion can be disabled, as can the blood that appears when hit.
Challenge & Fun Factor I find the game both fun and challenging. I enjoy the game play, the customization available and the community. And depending on the server, the game play can be very challenging. And servers where you fight other players are almost always challenging. Ive played the game for several years, since late Middle School, I believe. I will continue playing this game after the assignment. Features Analysis Character Development: The game allows a lot of character customization and development as the game progresses. Players can choose unique appearances and classes. Even characters with the same classes can play differently than each other. Many players end up with a favorite character and build and use it repeatedly, with secondary characters they may create once the first is established. Others, like me, have several characters they can use when the mood hits them. Mission Design: While many didnt think the original campaign was anything special, it had many quests which were interesting to complete. But mission design shines more in the player-created modules found online, especially those quests which are not scripted in, but hosted by Dungeon Masters, players using a special client compatible with normal players. This allows for a more immersive experience than scripted NPCs can, and allows the quest to take different directions than it might otherwise. Concept Subject matter and Storyline: The official storylines in Neverwinter Nights have to do with different things, all or most of which take place in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. The original campaign deals with a mysterious plague set upon the
city of Neverwinter by an evil cult that serves an ancient race of lizard folk, and stopping the ancient race from returning to the normal world and invading. The first expansion deals with a medusas plot to use an ancient magical power source to resurrect one of the ancient ruins, a flying city, of the Netherese Empire, (an empire of obscenely powerful mages that went extinct when their ruler and most powerful mage killed the Goddess of Magic through a ritual that would make he himself a God, the Goddesss death caused all their flying cities to fall to the ground and have all their magic fail them, where they were quickly dispatched by their enemies), and use its power to dominate the world. The third expansion deals with an attack by a group of Drow, (dark elves), on the city of Waterdeep through the ancient dungeon of Undermountain, a rapidly changing dungeon created by a mad wizard named Halaster. The campaign follows the player as they descend to the Underdark, an underworld that exists under the surface world, to fight the Drow on their own turf. Then the campaign brings the player to Cania, a frozen layer of Hell, where the player must escape to stop an Archdevil from continuing the invasion the Drow started and making the city into a new plane of Hell. There are also many other modules, both created by BioWare and players, which all have their own stories. What does the game seem to be about?: It seems to be about bringing the Dungeons and Dragons experience to a video game, which Neverwinter Nights seems to do very well in many modules.

Point of view: As mentioned, I believe they were trying to adapt Dungeons and Dragons to a video game, something which BioWare has done in the past with games like Baldurs Gate and Icewind Dale.

Challenges of Bringing Gaming and Simulations to Scale for Science Learning

Industry Perspective

John Hight
Director of Product Development Sony Computer Entertainment of America john_hight@playstation.sony.com

Published Work

God of War 3 (in progress) flower Warhawk PixelJunk Monsters PixelJunk Racers Everyday Shooter flOw BlastFactor Neverwinter Nights 2 Neopets: The Darkest Faerie Dragonshard Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone Neverwinter Nights Hordes of the Underdark Neverwinter Nights Shadows of Undrentide T emple of Elemental Evil Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Godzilla: Domination Superman: Shadow of the Apokalyps Superman: Man of Steel Command & Conquer: Yuris Revenge Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 Nox SportsCar GT NHL Powerplay 98 Sabre Ace Golden Nugget The Seventh Guest Windows 95 Jones Interactive Encyclopedia Killing Time Battleship Connect Four Pinball Time-Life Astrology Sesame Street Numbers Sesame Street Letters Time-Life Photography Museo Amparo Rand McNally Atlas Childrens Musical Theater Treasures of the Smithsonian

Hardware Timeline

Source: Game Development Essentials: Game Project Management 2007

analog

digital

Baby Boomers 1946-1964

Gen X 1965-1979

Gen Y 1980-1996

Post Millennial 1997+
Sources: Thinktank, infoplease.com, Wikipedia 2009
1992: CDi & PC, 2D graphics, 5 person team, $150K budget
Source: Philips Interactive Media, 1992
2009: PlayStation 3, 3D graphics, 135 person team, $40M+ budget
Source: SCEA, God of War 3, 2009
What do publishers look for?

high concept

What is it?
concise, easily understood

premise and story

What makes it compelling, fresh?
unique selling points and features
Why is it something no one else has?

audience

Who will buy this game?

competitive analysis

Who else is chasing this audience?

financial analysis

What will it cost? And return?
budget, schedule, resources, ROI

Main Entry:

Pronunciation:

Function:

Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English gamen; akin to Old High German gaman amusement

before 12th century

1 a (1): activity engaged in for diversion or amusement : play
(2): the equipment for a game b: often derisive or mocking jesting : fun sport <make game of a nervous player>2 a: a procedure or strategy for gaining an end : tactic b: an illegal or shady scheme or maneuver : racket
3 a (1): a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the
(3): the number of points necessary to win (4): points scored in certain card games (as in all fours) by a player whose cards count up the highest (5): the manner of playing in a contest (6): the set of rules governing a game (7): a particular aspect or phase of play in a game or sport <a football team's kicking game> b plural : organized athletics c (1): a field of gainful activity : line <the newspaper game> (2): any activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving rivalry, strategy, or struggle <the dating game> <the game of politics>; also : the course or period of such an activity <got into aviation early in the game> (3): area of expertise : specialty 3 <comedy is not my game> 4 a (1): animals under pursuit or taken in hunting; especially : wild animals hunted for sport or food (2): the flesh of game animals b archaic : pluck c: a target or object especially of ridicule or attack often used in the phrase fair game
participants in direct opposition to each other (2): a division of a larger contest

synonyms see fun

Source: Source:http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/game

Console sales data

Sony PS3 PSP PS2 PlayStation Nintendo Wii Nintendo DS GameCube GameBoy Microsoft Xbox 360 Xbox 2005 9,206,3,624,770 5,528,126 53,649 8,862,2,611,914 1,703,345 4,546,792 2,848,678 604,850 2,243,8,446,275 694,005 3,023,963 4,719,740 8,567 10,388,701 1,089,736 5,314,826 754,119 3,230,020 4,311,357 3,926,388 384,10,371,439 2,560,883 3,829,347 3,979,960 1,249 16,125,142 6,287,196 8,527,284 182,391 1,128,271 4,629,890 4,627,133 2,9,896,805 3,549,844 3,835,791 2,508,593 2,577 20,230,052 10,227,880 9,970,429 19,430 12,313 4,747,616 4,747,2009 TD 3,180,891 1,241,539 1,042,384 896,7,924,381 3,279,818 4,642,384 1,1,822,122 1,822,LTD 98,408,861 8,046,711 15,353,970 44,516,040 30,492,140 127,228,790 20,885,820 32,295,860 11,826,110 62,221,000 30,197,220 15,729,560 14,467,660

Source: NPD July 2009

Its not just first-person shooters
Platforms Wii Wii Wii Wii, 350, PS3 360, PS3 360, PS360, PS3 Wii Wii Wii, 360, PS3 360, PS3 Wii, 360, PS3 NDS Wii NDS WII NDS 360 NDS Wii PS3 PSP PS3 PSP Product Description PLAY W/ REMOTE FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD MARIO KART W/ WHEEL GUITAR HERO III LEGENDS OF ROCK CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE GRAND THEFT AUTO IV HALO 3 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL SUPER MARIO GALAXY MADDEN NFL 09 ASSASSIN'S CREED MADDEN NFL 08 POKEMON DIAMOND VERSION MARIO PARTY 8 BRAIN AGE 2: MORE TRAINING IN MI LINK'S CROSSBOW TRAINING W/ ZAPP POKEMON PEARL VERSION GEARS OF WAR 2 MARIO PARTY MARIO AND SONIC: OLYMPIC GAMES METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUN OF THE P CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII LITTLE BIG PLANET GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS Manuf. Rel Date Nintendo Feb-07 Nintendo May-08 Nintendo Apr-08 Activision Oct-07 Activision Nov-07 Take 2 Apr-08 Microsoft Sep-07 Activision Nov-08 Nintendo Mar-08 Nintendo Nov-07 EA Aug-08 Ubisoft Nov-07 EA Aug-07 Nintendo Apr-07 Nintendo May-07 Nintendo Aug-07 Nintendo Nov-07 Nintendo Apr-07 Microsoft Nov-08 Nintendo Nov-07 Sega Nov-07 Konami Jun-08 Square Enix Mar-08 Sony Oct-08 Sony Mar-08 Genre PARTY GAMES MULTIPLE/OTHER SPORTS ACTION ORIENTED RACING MUSIC/DANCE GAMES 1ST PERSON SHOOTER ACTION/DRIVING HYBRID 1ST PERSON SHOOTER 1ST PERSON SHOOTER FIGHT/HEAD TO HEAD PLATFORM/SCROLLING CHARACTER FOOTBALL GENERAL ACTION FOOTBALL RPG PARTY GAMES PUZZLE GAMES GENERAL ACTION RPG SQUAD BASED COMBAT PARTY GAMES MULTIPLE/OTHER SPORTS STEALTH ACTION RPG PLATFORM/SCROLLING CHARACTER GENERAL ACTION LTD 11,010,940 7,752,682 6,574,223 5,590,809 5,498,990 5,253,311 5,100,243 5,027,435 4,511,449 3,943,400 3,729,778 3,444,451 3,310,442 3,256,610 2,888,234 2,620,115 2,473,392 2,352,268 2,340,885 2,316,409 2,152,835 1,179,208 811,207 789,566 789,216
What are you doing on a computer weekly?

Source: Thinktank 2009

Do you play computer or video games weekly?
Which of the following do you utilize weekly for playing video games?
Have you ever been a member of an online community based website where you can create customized pages/profiles, interact with other fellow members, post materials, and play games?
72% of people on social networks play games.
34 Million daily active users facebook, myspace, bebo, friendster, tagged, myyahoo, iphone

Source: www.zynga.com

Traditional distribution

Direct distribution

Under $500,000 Over 50% ROI