Abstract:
The academic literature hitherto has mainly addressed the 'effects' of video
games and not their creation. The thesis seeks to gain an understanding of
the motivations behind the design choices in creating home computer and
video games software in light of this 'gap'.
The research sought to understand the process of constructing games by
examining: (i) the individual designer's aims and how these were mediated
by the contexts of. - (ii) the development team and organisation; (iii) the needs
of the audience and their presence in the innovation process and (iv) the
impact of the hardware manufacturer's quality assessment upon the game's
design.
These aims were met by outlining the industry structure operating in the
video games' market from the period between the early 1980s to mid-1990s.
This was performed with reference to the rise of Sega and Nintendo's
hardware and software strategy, covering their diffusion from Japan to the
US and UK. This highlighted the context surrounding the creation of three
computer games from initial concept to actual commodity that served as the
subject of case study analysis.
The discussion seeks to explore the implications of the choices made in
designing the games and widens the debate to the creation of other games. It
is argued that the design of games mirrors aspects similar to the creation of
other entertainment media but possess certain problems associated with
aesthetic conventions, labour, industry and technical issues unique to this
medium.
Consequently the thesis outlines certain dimensions that impinge'upon the
process of product innovation in entertainment software. From a theoretical
perspective the application of a social constructivist approach to the
emergence of a leisure technology is a novel one and demonstrates the
contingent nature of game design.
