INTRODUCTION
Graphics innovation has become inextricably tied to the development of PC and console games. Demand for gaming graphics has pushed the semiconductor industry, research in academia, convergence, and even art. Computer games are changing the concept of military defense and simulation. What was a niche market for arcade machines has expanded to “convergence” devices that combine utility with home entertainment. Demand for lifelike graphics is expected in all sorts of applications but what started the trend? Over the course of three decades, multi-billion dollar industries would be created, gaming would flourish, and digital actors would replace real people in the movies. Trace the money back to its roots and you’ll likely find a game of table tennis.
SIMPLE BEGINNINGS
The tremors began with a dubious game title that emulated table tennis: Pong. Households across America would not know the PC for another decade and could not imagine the revolution that was about to ensue. Pong’s beauty was in its interactivity. People could now have total control over the graphics seen on-screen. It attained popularity in the early- to mid-seventies and was a game unlike any other at the time. Game programmer Steve Ogden said, “[Pong] was not a ping-pong game; it was a series of icons that stood in for a ping-pong game. The conversion took place in the player’s head.”1
I was raised on an 8-bit computer system–the TI 99/4A. I can still remember the awe of first seeing an interactive game played on TV. Pong wasn’t much to look at but was the predecessor to a slew of 8-bit computer systems. These systems had limited memory and processor speed but were advanced for early-eighties computer systems. They had graphics no one had seen before but like Pong would yield their gaming crown in a matter of time thanks to better game titles. Again, as Ogden pointed, “Only content can compel us to play a game that is past its prime, for if a game is only the sum of its technological advances, it has nothing to offer when its technology is trumped by the inevitable newcomer.”1
Two 8-bit systems were part of this revolution and each had its place in gaming history: the Atari 800 and the TI 99/4A. My friends can speak for the Atari games. However, my childhood memories are of the Texas Instruments. These computers proved to be a viable platform for games. The TI 99/4A had 48K RAM, 16K ROM, and a maximum resolution of 256×192. The Atari 800 had 48K RAM, 10K ROM, and a maximum resolution of 320×192. Given this limited technology, game writers were still able to develop 2D and even 3D games.
Using sprites, primitive components of computer graphics, game writers could draw graphics on the screen (then TV monitors) to the foreground and background using sprite priority. This gave the illusion of 3D effects. As Collins stated, “The simplest method used to convey the impression of depth involved the use of spritebackground or sprite-sprite priority to achieve a degree of hidden surface removal.”2 Despite their similar technical capabilities, the product differentiation was achieved through game titles. I can remember my favorite games from the TI–games that provided hours of enjoyment–but the name Atari is synonymous with gaming, not Texas Instruments. I’m sure no one imagined this to be a multi-billion dollar industry. Thus, gaming did not propel itself directly on American society. Instead, gaming would take multiple paths into American homes. The PC, dedicated gaming consoles, and hybrid devices would introduce the lust for gaming on the public.
LEVERAGE FROM THE PC
The 8-bit computers quickly evolved into the PC. As Montfort identified in the late nineties, “[T]he games played on these early systems made graphics and sound capabilities more common and therefore affordable, fastforwarding the development of other uses of graphics, in areas like desktop publishing.”3 Part of the gaming graphics feedback loop is acceptance into the mainstream. There are many crossover technologies from gaming that shaped the future of the PC. Gaming itself has made inroads into various technologies, including graphics, but that progress has been leveraged by using the PC.
Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins notes that, “The video game is driving the demand for graphic computing. You wouldn’t even have graphics cards in PCs if it weren’t for games.”3 We take for granted the amazing 2D and 3D capabilities of modern PCs. Perhaps we’ll take for granted the next step in computer technology: haptics. Games started using this in arcades to shake the control stick and provide tactile feedback. This technology was first introduced for the PC by a company called Immersion. Now the PC is using this technology to complement the visual feedback from the computer screen. Microsoft is using this in mainstream office applications to let users feel when they move over a web link, or perform other routine functions. PC software now supports haptics and it is standard technology in gaming consoles.
Few other technologies have gained more leverage from the PC as 3D technology. Graphics chip designer NVIDIA develops 3D chips for use in PCs. These chips are also used for Microsoft’s Xbox system and even for the F-22 fighter aircraft.4 Some cards have upwards of 128MB of video memory and produce 32-bit true color in resolutions exceeding 1280×1024. Microsoft research is also developing a 3D desktop environment to replace our flat, 2D PC desktop. Their Unit Interface group calls this project “Task Gallery.” George Robertson, head of that group, said, “The computer science researchers who work on 3D navigation techniques pay close attention to what goes on in the gaming community.”3 The gamers who once played 3D games might soon ask for the same capabilities from the PC.
Politicians and other pundits who panned the intensity of some games are overlooking the technologies they are bringing to the PC. Online gaming has become a huge segment of gaming. Just go to Yahoo! and check the list of available online games (for free!). These are fun trifles but the real influence comes from games like Electronic Arts’ The Sims Online and Sony’s EverQuest. The role playing in online gaming lends people to identify not with the other person but with their avatar. It’s an abstraction of real-time video conferencing. Microsoft is also investigating this phenomenon where people identify with the representation of the user–a fake image–but not an actual picture of the user.
For an example of the blinding pace of graphics in the PC industry, you need only look at the number of graphics cards available. There are no less than 20 available at any given time. They all offer various levels of technology; they all capitalize on the most recent advances in gaming, such as shadowing, bump-mapping, and increased frame rates. The turnover rate for graphics cards is very high due to the number of games available. Games often demand the most advanced video technology. For gaming consoles, the turnover rate is not as high but their contribution to graphics is no less astounding.
CONSOLES AND CONVERGENCE
The consulting firm IDG estimates that 72 million dedicated gaming consoles will be owned in North America by 2004. To that end Sony is investing $400 million just to develop the chip, not the system, of the PlayStation 3 console.3 Most new consoles are supporting DVD technology and companies are devoting increasing attention to networking capabilities. The feature list of consoles is reading more like a slimmed down PC rather than a dedicated gaming machine. As Richard Rouse, PlayStation 2 game designer said, “Each time a new generation of console gaming systems is launched, the death of the PC gaming market is predicted. In the end, though, the PC market survives and evolves, maintaining its position as a separate and unique form of interactive gaming.”5 The common link between PCs and consoles still remains the graphics. The difference remains in the presentation.
Rouse noted, “PC and console games also use radically different visual output devices.”5 The difference between a TV and a computer monitor are like night and day–when sitting 12 inches from the screen. Trying to read the fine print on TV commercials is nearly impossible. Thus, PC gaming has an edge when highly detailed characters are used. Game developers are aware of these limitations but graphics are still a key concern. Rouse continued, “A console system remains commercially viable for a span of at least four years, meaning that a developer can learn how to develop for a system and then reuse and refine a game engine for the next few years. A PC developer, on the other hand, is constantly faced with shifting technology targets, where each year or even half a year new hardware becomes available which allows for more impressive graphics. The prevailing wisdom is that these snazzier graphics must be delivered if the PC game is going to compete in the marketplace.”5 He concludes by saying that consoles carry much higher development costs, thus, constricting small game developers with limited finances. Better games will almost always debut on the PC.
With so much going for the PC why pour so much money into consoles? That’s the billion dollar question. Sony is betting that home entertainment will converge to the gaming console. Convergence of “systems-on-chip” is a greater issue for consoles. As England stated, “Integrating CPU and graphics is more a business issue than a technical one; game consoles represent one area where tight integration is mandatory.” He later states that game consoles are the “first real graphic appliances.”6 Many consumer electronics are adding visual interfaces. For some devices such as DVD players, digital satellite receivers, and digital video recorders, a graphical interface is requisite. Gaming consoles could offer the level of convergence necessary for modern home entertainment.
The process of convergence has already begun with various gaming technologies. As Froggatt stated, “The level of semiconductor integration was, for the time [1994], simply staggering. It had taken ten years for the appearance of a semiconductor process capable of integrating 1 million transistors onto a single device and capable of turning the 20,000 discrete components of System G into those two ICs. PlayStation was a standardbearer for the principles of system-on-chip integration, and set the trend for the extensive semiconductor integration that is to be seen in the current generation of consoles.”7 The gaming industry is focused on convergence and integration. Smaller components means the same device can have more space for added functionality. The Xbox is the current king of game consoles. It has more functionality installed than other consoles such as the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2; networking for online gaming and a hard drive are already installed. Electronic convergence might enter the living room sooner than we realize.
Jon Peddie, a consultant in the graphics industry, predicts that digital entertainment will evolve into three forms: smart digital TVs, game consoles, and virtual appliances (a derivative of the entertainment PC). He noted, “Although CISC and RISC processors have advanced according to Moore’s law, doubling speed every 18 months, graphics controller performance, as measured in MHz, has improved even more quickly.”8 These graphical leaps are more apparent in the movie industry. Distinguishing real from computer generated is becoming harder with the passage of time. The movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is an example of a computer game made into a movie with very convincing, human-like renderings of people.
Cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras, and other small personal devices are the next big question mark in convergence. People want the functionality of all devices integrated into a compact, easy-to-use device. Several combinations have been attempted but it seems the cell phone has the most potential. The ability to connect to the internet via cell phones is not new but the color screens on those phones are only now becoming popular and widely available.
According to handheld device sales, 90 percent are simple PDAs. The trend is simplicity. The most advanced PDAs incorporate wireless connectivity, stylus data entry, color screens, and now miniature keyboards (e.g., the Palm Tungsten W).9 Microsoft Pocket PC devices had installed keyboards but users rejected them for being too clunky. New PDA designs seem inspired by the old Nintendo GameBoy. The most obvious similarity is a four-direction navigation key with a few thumb buttons. Even the design of these devices is converging.
Go to any online consolidator like ZD Net or CNET and you’ll find a game download section clearly marked for PDAs. Cybiko, maker of popular handheld devices for kids, has teamed with Nortel Networks and Motorola to offer game downloads to Motorola phones. Cybiko’s founder, David Yang, notes that video games are a major factor for color graphics and improved displays on cell phones.3 Until manufacturers determine what buyers want, we’ll see plenty of these hybrid convergence devices. The effect of gaming convergence is not limited to popular culture. The military has also benefited from PC games and consoles.
EXTREME RESEARCH
Many people enlist in the military just after high school. They’re maybe 17 or 18 years old. Few expect to play games or simulations based on the very games they played as adolescents, but that’s exactly what is happening. The government spends roughly $4 billion every year on simulation and equipment.
Michael Macedonia, an employee of the U.S. Army Simulation and Instrumentation Command said, “[T]he Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 game consoles are being adapted for distributed networked military gaming.”10 It’s no surprise that these machines are being used for practical purposes other than gaming. Today’s military isn’t like the military of yesteryears. Cost effective solutions come in whatever form they take. In this case, the military uses these devices because all the components, audio, video, and input/output are completely integrated.
A recent Xbox TV commercial shows teenagers playing an online, first-person shooter; they’re losing the battle. The scene cuts to some actual U.S. Marines; they’re playing the same Xbox game in the desert; the teenagers lose the game. The analogy is no coincidence. Playing on a gaming console is nothing new for Marines or teenagers.
The concept of war games in the military is not a recent development. The Army tried to enhance gunners’ hand-eye coordination with the Atari game Battlezone. It wasn’t until the U.S. Marine Corps modified id Software’s popular title Doom when I could relate on a personal level. I played the original game (and its sequel) many hours in my high school days. The modified version was known as Marine Doom–an urban combat simulation.10
According to Platoni, “Off-the-shelf video games can be modified for military use for under $200.”11 That’s very reasonable if you consider the retail price of most games to be $50. Some game developers are releasing the underlying code of their games to the public. This permitted many new opportunities in research areas including “augmented reality” systems, which will be discussed later.
Gaming is a lucrative business, as Platoni said, “some of the bigger defense contractors are trying to make the pendulum swing the other way.”11 The example given by Platoni is Lockheed Martin, which spun off Real 3D. The company even came to UCF’s Engineering Expo Week during 1999 to demonstrate some of its technology. Their demonstration consisted of a flat panel LCD display running at an amazing resolution of 2048×1024 in 32-bit color, running at over 24 frames per second. It was a repeating 3D simulation of a roller coaster. Through these developments Lockheed Martin has sold back this technology to the Department of Defense; they call this process “defense conversion-reinsertion.”11
The augmented reality I mentioned earlier is part of an academic experiment. Gaming has finally extended its reach into academia. Thanks to wholesome efforts by game makers the source code to certain games is available to the public. Open source also allows for development into new computer operating systems such as Linux. One such example is the ARQuake system based upon the id Software Quake graphics engine. Quake was a popular sequel and massive leap from previous generations of 3D first-person shooter games. To quote Piekarski and Thomas, “Augmented reality (AR) is the process of overlaying and aligning computer-generated images over a user’s view of the physical world.”12 This was accomplished with a laptop computer, head mounted display, a modified pistol to act as the gun, and a GPS to determine the player’s location. Augmented reality brings gaming graphics into our world. Very often it’s the exact opposite; game developers incorporate aspects of our world into the fake realms of games like The Sims Online–a micro simulation of society itself.
The Quake doppelganger, Unreal Tournament (another first-person shooter), has also been converted into a practical graphics application. The result is CaveUT. As Jacobson and Hwang described, “[C]omputergenerated imagery could respond to input from a performer or the audience itself. At this point it is more like an interactive game–a boon for entertainment and educational applications, as well as certain areas of research.”13 The premise of its development is to put the user within a virtual world. Real-time images of that world are then projected on all sides onto white projection screens. The authors of CaveUT relate the technology to planetariums and IMAX theaters.
ART FROM THE MACHINE
The discussion thus far has focused on gaming and graphics as a technology, a form of science or engineering. What about gaming as a form of art? Gaming has influenced the creation of numerous movies and TV shows. It seems just as likely that this technology will influence our concept of artistry. Henry Jenkins wrote in Technology Review, “Computer games are art–a popular art, an emerging art, a largely unrecognized art, but art nevertheless.”14 The skeptics might say that game graphics aren’t worthy of an art museum. To that end, Jenkins uses the example of Web artists being invited to New York’s Whitney Museum. The same hesitance of inviting them to the museum is likely to translate to game graphics designers. Jenkins said, “Games also depend upon an art of expressive movement, with characters defined through their distinctive ways of propelling themselves through space, and successful products structured around a succession of spectacular stunts and predicaments.”14
Computer game designer Richard Rouse also shared a similar viewpoint, “As game developers, we need to realize that as of now we’re still a fringe art form with little mainstream appeal, and it’s really too early to tell whether or not computer games will ever evolve to become the mass media phenomena movies are.”15 Ultimately, this transition will probably be based upon the merit of the game design, not the medium. Paintings, movies, theater, and sculptures are all accepted. Gaming will eventually make the transition from mere graphics to artistry. Game designer Steve Odgen said, “[E]xactly how good do game graphics need to be? We are well past the midpoint on the continuum between icons and thoroughly convincing visual representation. So how good is good enough?”1
CONCLUSION
Predicting the future of computer graphics is easy: it will become more advanced, more life-like, and more pervasive. The hard part is to know how we’ll get there. Gaming seems to be the common link between disparate technologies; the link between art and science, and the key to new devices. Consoles will be a hot commodity. Knowing how much functionality they will have beyond gaming is still a mystery.
The medium of gaming as a form of art is still too abstract in the public eye. The internet helped to launch a career for many computer graphic designers. The moving picture helped launch an entire industry. Technology initiates trends but it is the art form that perpetuates them. The gaming technologies discussed in this paper are simply an enabler; people don’t demand better graphics of their own volition, they want better games. It’s a causal relationship whereby games are the art form that will push graphics technology into the future.
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