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%Kie-98.309 Computer English		Jari Karjala, 33869n, Ti IV


\chapter{Computer Games}
\author{Jari Karjala}

\section{A short history of computer games}

Games have been around as long as the idea of computers.  In his book
{\it On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures}, published in 1835,
Charles Babbage discusses the possibility of making a machine play
chess.  He outlines what we now call game trees and the min-max
strategy.  He also mentions that he has designed a machine which
would play TicTacToe, but he did not build it since "he would not
make any money with it." Actually it took over a hundred years until
these ideas were first implemented.

The first real implementation of a computer game was TicTacToe in the
early 1950s on Univac hardware.  Also the games of Bridge and
Draughts were implemented in the late 1950s on an IBM 701 computer.
The Samuels' Checkers, as the Draughts playing program was called,
was the first computer program to reach the master level.

In the 1960s some of the MIT hackers invented a game called Spacewar.
This was the first game which was not just a computer implementation
of an old board game, but something which could not exist without a
computer.  You controlled a space ship and of course there was an
enemy which you had to shoot before it killed you.  To make playing
more interesting there was also a sun in the middle of the screen
which caused a gravity field.  The simulation of the gravity field
was of course a good excuse to use the program on the expensive
hardware of those days!

The first arcade game was introduced in 1971.  This game was
called Pong and the game contained only two paddles and a ball which
the player or players tried to hit.  The game was a huge success.  It
was manufactured by Atari which became one of the largest
manufacturers in the video game business.  Pong was not really a
computer game since it did not contain a general purpose CPU, just
discrete logic components.  The great video game wave came a few
years after Pong.  The most famous video games were Breakout, Space
Invaders, Missile Command and PacMan.

In the late 1970s the video games invaded homes.  At first the home
games were simple variants of Pong with no expansion capability.
After a couple of years came video consoles which contained a general
purpose CPU and games were supplied on a cartridge.  Many of those
famous arcade games were converted for these consoles, but the
quality was not as good as with the original arcade versions.  

The home video consoles almost disappeared when home computers
start\-ed to appear.  There were now `good' reasons for buying a home
computer, but in most cases games were, and still are, the only
reason for having a home computer.  Lately the dedicated game
consoles have been gaining a market share again, mainly due to the
massive computer software piratism.

\section{Board games}

The first computer games were board games.  Board games provided an
increasing challenge for programmers and a good demonstration of the
capabilities of a computer.

The more powerful the computer hardware has become, the more
chal\-leng\-ing board games have been implemented on a computer.
TicTacToe and Draughts are amongst the simplest board games and there
have been unbeatable computer implementations since the 1950s.
Reversi has more possibilities but it is still possible to implement
an unbeatable computer opponent.  

Chess has so many game positions that currently even the best
programs lose against a grand master human player in a normal
tournament.  However, if the game is played under time constraints
the computer starts to win.  In the not too distant future, when
still faster hardware and better software becomes available,
computers will beat the best human players in chess, too.

\section{Arcade games}

Originally arcade games meant games which can be found in the
amusement arcades.  These are halls where there are several, even
dozens of, different games: pin-ball machines, fruit machines and
video games.  Nowadays almost any action game is classified as an
arcade game.

Several variants have been developed from the first arcade game Pong.
One of the most famous examples is Breakout.  This game modifies the
idea of ball and paddle by adding a wall of bricks which the player
must demolish using the ball.  Such a simple idea can develop almost
to the level of addiction.  There are even books which describe the
strategy of playing Breakout.

Space Invaders has become a classic example of video games.  It
places the player as the commander of the last defense base of the
Earth against the alien attack waves which slowly descend through the
upper regions of atmosphere.  This setup has given a general brand
name to these kinds of games: they are {\it shoot-em-up} games.

Another noteworthy arcade game is PacMan.  This game features a small
innocent-looking character collecting pills in a maze chased by
four nasty ghosts.  PacMan was exceptional in the respect that it was
not as violent as most other video games.  Perhaps that is the reason
why women liked it, too.

\section{Adventure games}

The first adventure game was called simply Adventure.  It placed the
player in a colossal cave which contained strange halls and passages,
magical objects, treasures and mythical characters like trolls and a
pirate.  The player could wander around the cave by giving the
computer instructions, and the system described the locations in text
format.  The purpose of the game was to explore the caves, collect
all the treasures and escape alive.

Adventure games have borrowed many ideas from the role playing games,
like Dragons \& Dungeons.  The most famous adventure and role playing
mixtures are Rogue and its later variant Hack (and still later
NetHack).  These were also the first games whose development was
greatly aided by the USENET network.

Nowadays text-only adventure games have almost disappeared, but the
idea of adventuring remains in so called arcade adventures.  These do
not use as much text to describe the locations, but draw a picture
instead and display the player as a little man who can wander around
interactively.  Well known examples of these kinds of games are the
adventures of the Leisure Suit Larry.

\section{Simulations}

There are various different kinds of simulations.  One of the first
was the lunar lander module simulation where the player had to guide
the module to the ground before the fuel ran out.  Big expensive
flight simulators have been used extensively to train aeroplane
pilots but there are several micro computer flight simulators which
can offer almost as realistic a simulation.

In addition to the technical simulations there are simulators for
human sciences, too.  It is possible to control a city or even the
whole Earth by making decisions about investments, taxes, population,
war and peace.  The simulator tells the player what the results of
the experiments will be after ten years.

It is often hard to tell when a simulation is game and when it is
education.  The Spacewar can be thought of as an graphically
illustrated simulation of gravity.  On the other hand, what would be
a more challenging game than flying a Boeing 747?

\section*{Glossary}

\begin{tabular}{ll}
TicTacToe	& A simple board game, a version of noughts and crosses \\
                & played on a board of limited size (usually 3x3 or 4x4 \\
                & squares)\\
MIT	        & Massachusetts Institute of Technology \\
hacker	        & A person who studies and programs computers purely as a \\
                & hobby.  Originally this word meant a member of a group of \\
                & students at MIT who were interested in model railroads.  \\
CPU	        & Central Processing Unit\\
discreet	& Consisting of distinct or unconnected elements.\\
cartridge	& A plastic box containing the necessary memory chips to \\
                & store a program.\\
\end{tabular}
