The North American Game Industry - The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future - page 96

2005; Deuze, Martin and Allen 2007; Dyer-Witheford and de Peuter 2009;
O'Donnell 2012), more research is needed.
Platforms diverge more than they converge in the video game indus-
try. Each platform, mobile, web, social and console, each of ers a dif ering
set of user af ordances and expectations. Because of its highly controlled
character, the North American industry has come to depend largely on the
console game market, yet, clearly user expectations surrounding play expe-
riences dif er on each platform. As the game market dif erentiates itself, so
too will developers fi nd themselves serving dif erent markets.
The long-term viability of the North American game industry, although
seemingly cemented as a leader, faces signifi cant questions related to sus-
tainability. Sharing of basic game industry practices remains a limiting fac-
tor for the North American game industry (Martin 2011). Although many
of the base-level technologies of game development are available freely,
knowledge of how to bring those together with the broad array of exper-
tise, tools and business knowledge remains largely a “black art.” The rise of
“indie” game developers, digital distribution and a rapidly shifting console
industry seems to indicate that a sea change is under way throughout the
game industry, and the North American context is no exception. Small
developers, once locked out of the game industry centre, have found their
ways onto major consoles after demonstrating their skill on these newer
and more porous platforms.
GAME REFERENCES
Bushnell, Nolan and Dabney, Teb. (1971). Computer Space [Dedicated Computing
Device Game]. Mountain View, California: Nutting Associates.
Crane, David. (1982). Pitfall! [Atari VCS Game]. Santa Monica, California:
Activision.
Epic Games. (2006). Gears of War [Xbox 360 Game]. Redmond, Washington:
Microsoft Game Studios.
Epic MegaGames. (1998). Unreal [PC Game]. New York, New York: GT
Interactive.
Hingham Institute. (1962). Spacewar! [DEC PDP-1 Game]. Cambridge, Massachu-
setts: Hingham Institute.
Nintendo. (1985). Super Mario Bros. [Nintendo Entertainment System Game].
Redmond, Washington: Nintendo of America.
. (1986). The Legend of Zelda [Nintendo Entertainment System Game].
Redmond, Washington: Nintendo of America.
REFERENCES
Bates, Bob, Della Rocca, Jason, Dunne, Alex, Feil, John, McGilvray, Mitzi,
Reynolds, Brian, Schell, Jesse, and Schoback, Kathy. (2004). Quality of Life
Issues . IGDA. http://www.igda.org/qol/open_letter.php (ac cessed December 20,
2011).