Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and insights through engaging keep in the topics in more complex and nuanced ways
(Johnson et al. 2011: 21).
Just as there has been an increase in the diversity of games, so too has there been
a propagation of technology platforms on which to play games.
Types of games and technology platforms
Originally computer games were designed to be played on desktop machines in the
1980s and 1990s; however, more recently (since 2000) there has been a prolifera-
tion of gaming platforms, which now include specialist games consoles and hand-
held devices. Today games can be played on a variety of platforms, of which there
are essentially three types: personal computers, gaming consoles or mobile devices.
Personal computers have the functionality to support games, whether they are desk-
tops, laptops, or tablets (netbooks or iPads). Games consoles, however, are specifically
designed for game playing, and the two market leaders are Sony X-Box and Nintendo
Wii consoles. Hand-held devices range from mobile phones, PDAs, which again sup-
port gaming, to specific devices designed solely for game play; of the latter, the two
market leaders are Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable) and the Nintendo DS (dual screen).
Just as there are different types of technology platforms to play on, so there are
different types of games to play, which require a more nuanced categorization. The
most effective is taken to be the Herz system (Herz 1997) which identified eight
types
of games. These are: action, adventure, fighting, puzzle, role-playing, simulation,
sports and strategy games. The range and types of games is staggering: for example,
there are over 1500 games available for the Nintendo DS device alone. These types
of games can also be characterized as
genres
, of which Douch et al. (2010) found six.
These were:
· action genre (
Grand Theft Auto
)
· strategy genre (
Tom Clancy's Endwar
)
· puzzle genre (
Crash Bash
)
· simulation genre (
The Sims
)
· shooting genre (
Call of Duty
)
· sports genre (
Wii Fit
).
Young people in Douch et al.'s (2010) research expressed a preference for one par-
ticular genre over others, which could be explained by reference to the subject matter
that interested them, such as animals, sport or exercise, or contained characters they
could relate to.
Douch et al. (2010) argue that the most accessible games for schooling envi-
ronments are those that have a dual aim of entertaining and educating and can be
played via a digital hand-held device. Those with puzzle, problem-solving, literacy
and numeracy games are now designed to be much more engaging and offer teachers
flexible tools to use in the classroom - for example,
'Dr Kawashima's Brain Training'
(Douch et al. 2010). Similarly, such hand-held devices offer additional functional-
ity, from camera mode for photo images, videoing, audio recording, texting options,
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