Since the very first computer there has been a desire to find ways to improve it. Technology took on many shapes and forms and today it is almost in every aspect of life. The aspect of this that interests me is the area of video games and the journey of how they evolved to what we know them as currently. After the possibility of using computers for gaming took off there were most assuredly different views on how to achieve the goals of creating good games and hardware. This is true because even today there are different outlooks on how developers approach their goals of how to create their products, such as video games and platform hardware.

Everything from the different marketing strategies, to the genre of the game, to the type of hardware that it runs on can affect the success of the game. These different attributes greatly contribute to the evolution of games since success equals money which equals upgrades and those, it turn, equal an evolution for the company and theirs products which are the video games in this case. If you have ever played a video game in your life, try to recall one of your favorite games and think about how it got from an idea in someone's head to that mass produced cd in your hand. It's a lot harder than just having good intentions and wishing it into existence. This journey, from idea to reality, is what I find to be important, along with examples of successful game franchises and developer companies.

Out of the people that play video games there are those that prefer certain genres over others. Personally I enjoy the Role Playing Game and Platforming genres so long as there is a good story within it. Along with the difference of genre preference in the gaming community there is also the factor of post-release reviews and whether or not they are positive or negative. Essentially there are many aspects that have contributed to the progression of video games but most are relative to each individual. Even though most of this is up to personal interpretation there are different ways that the developers approach these relative topics while creating a game. These approaches lead to explain what ways that different video games have evolved over the years and yields successful, profitable games and also complete failures. While there is no so-called perfect way to make a successful game that can evolve over the years I have my own personal belief on what works best and I am sure that is different from other people's opinions. Through my research I feel even more confident in my own beliefs and hopefully I can open up the world of possibilities and possibly persuade others into having similar opinions as mine.

To begin, I would like to start off with the most successful game franchise which is Mario. Well, since I am focusing on what ways that games become successful and then evolve, we need to find out how Mario became so successful. For starters Mario has no specific personality, which means that the players can easily put themselves in his shoes. This leads to a more in depth gameplay that can really hook a player. Secondly, he is a simplistic character which makes him more relatable which references the theory of "Simplistic Empathy." (Bhasin) Lastly, Mario's story is always the same. He has to go save the princess and no matter what choices are made in one game they do not affect the next game. This means that players can enjoy a relatable character in a relatively constant environment. These factors together have made Mario the success that it is today.

Next let us focus on a game genre that is relatively new to the scene. The loot based shooter, where the player fights through challenges to receives random loot that can be equipped to become stronger to then do tougher missions to increase in strength again. As of today there are really only three game franchises in this genre. Borderlands, Destiny, and The Division. Borderlands first introduced the RNG factor, or the Random Number Generator. Granted there are many Role Playing Games that allow you to get stronger with better gear but the main difference with these games is that they revolve entirely about the RNG loot for progression. This lets the loot in the game be completely random as it is selected from a pool of possible loot. Then the RNG leads to what a player might receive. Clearly the fact of nothing being guaranteed might immediately loose possible buyers which is less profit. The redeeming factor for all of these games is what the players get to be while they play. All three of these games have a character creation with different classes. Perhaps one that is tough, one that is as agile, and one that is powerful. The fact that players get to decide exactly what they want to become leads to potentially hours of playtime and more sales for the companies which is a very important part to allow these games to evolve and become even more successful.

In Destiny you are Earth's last hope from invaders. You pick a character class and begin your journey as you get RNG loot and become stronger. The players can decide exactly what they want to do, when they want to do it, and how to achieve their goal. The Division sets the player in a post-pandemic Manhattan. There has been a bioterrorist attack and smallpox and organized crime is rampant among the streets. Players create a government agent and join up with other players to make the city safe again. Both of these games have the same relatable aspect that Mario does. The only difference is instead of relating to a simplistic character, these games allow you to design and customize you own which lets people express themselves in an environment that could never be recreated in real life.

Both Mario and these "loot based shooter" games are a great success even though there are many differences between them. There are many different genres of games but these are some of the most popular of today. We will discover what attributes of each genre makes them successful and which can lead them to a more efficient evolution. The three main points that made Mario successful has also helped it evolve. Profit from one game helps the developers upgrade for the next game. Mario was originally an 8-bit game character and today he is a three-dimensional computer generated image in a much higher resolution and on many more gaming platforms. Despite which attributes of a game make it successful, the platform will always be a key component of game evolution as a whole. Without a system to run the application there would be no games. Once again, the profit that game makes can lead to upgrades to the platform. With current technology we are on the cusp of entering the realm of 4k resolution. This would essentially double the detail of video games and anything on the screen today in 1080p. Higher resolution is by far the most important part of video game evolution since there can be no video game without a video screen.

After discussing the most successful game franchise and an upcoming genre of games I find that there are some aspects of each that are very good while there are others that are not so good. So far the one shared attribute of the games mentioned above is the ability to have the players relate to the in-game character. Players want to feel as if they are accomplishing something while they play, whether that be saving a princess while dressed as an Italian plumber or save New York City from a smallpox disaster. The way that players can feel this way is if they are the character either in the form of character creation or by having a universally simplistic character. Having this attribute in a game is sure to bring success and profit which will later help to evolve the game even more. Another attribute I have found extremely popular among some game developers is an intense story. I personally really enjoy a great story but when this is present in a game it is very unlikely that it will include a loot based progression system. In most cases games like this have the progression in the story and stick to the boundaries of reality as the player continues through "scenes" or "chapters" of the game. Although before we go into too much detail of what characteristics games of today have, we should cover where games began to see how they have evolved over the years and to see what aspects of that evolution have contributed the most to the game's success. Most of the developing companies of today had predecessors, close or distant, that started with very crude games. These were actually high-tech for their day and age but today it seems very barbaric which brings us to the rapidly evolving aspect of graphics.

When thinking about how games have evolved the first thought that most people have involve the graphics. This is very logical since the video part of a video game is clearly the most important part but what most people do not think of is what actual goes into making that video screen work in the clarity, or resolution, desired. A YouTube video that I found covers the graphical evolution of video games. He clips footage together from a game from every year for the past 50 years and the differences are astounding. Images transition from heavily pixelated to high resolution. (Spire Gamer) As mentioned before, the first games were very blocky like Mario in an 8-bit form and today games are displayed in nearly lifelike clarity. The research and development of new technology and, more specifically game engines are directly responsible for the increases in video quality that we see today. Game engines are essentially processors that allow for certain implementations in the game like weather or a day/night cycle. None of this would have been feasible without funds and the way that the video game industry created funds is by selling the games they create. Without good attributes, like the ones mentioned above, a game will not create a lot of profit. Even though there is an evolution gained from technical upgrades there is also a great deal that developers have learned from past games allowing them to tweak their game to contain some of the better qualities that players desire.

On an entirely different level there is the actual sale count of the game that the developers do not have complete control over. Meaning that it is up to the consumer community to see whether or not a game will succeed or fail and if it succeeds that means that it can earn the company profits to help evolve that next game, thus continuing the cycle. There are a few things that developers can do to try and ensure a successful game that can earn the company money for years to come. The best way to ensure this is to have a successful marketing strategy. Unlike the simple cycle of "successful game, profit, evolution, and repeat", having a good marketing strategy has become "increasingly important in just the past decade." (Carbon64)

With essentially everyone having the internet, giving them access to anything imaginable, game developers have to come up with ads and other creative ways to grab people's attention in hope that they will buy their game. This also comes in the form of trailers, demos, promotional offers, and other things. If a company fails to market their game correctly, and not enough people buy their game, they will lose money and possibly go out of business. This could end all potential evolution for a game whether it is truly great or not. In the case that marketing fails and there are no profits, there would be no success or evolution of that game. Just like many other industries, sales are the key factor to success, profit, and evolution.

Along with character relatability, stunning graphics, and a good marketing strategy; I consider one of the most important attributes that a game can have is a great story. Most game genres differ greatly from one another but in this aspect they can be quite similar. When I think of a game with a great storyline I immediately think of the Uncharted series with its rich story and movie-like qualities. Critical Distance covered the second game of the series a few years ago and for the most part this was about how closely the game resembled a Hollywood movie for its time. "Additionally, the characters have to feature naturally smart dialogue, gameplay directly connected to the story and, above all, enjoyable play mechanics." (Kilhefner) These few attributes that Kilhefner used all contribute to developing a great story. Just like a good book, the more in-depth that a story is, the more a reader or player is drawn into it. This also allows for more character relatability which lets players feel a sense of accomplishment for saving the day or whatever the goal of the game is. In turn this gives the game developer true accomplishment since they have created a successful game which earns them profit and the ability to evolve their hardware for future games.

At this point all of this information may seem a bit widespread and not fully tied together. Well, just like how a good story keeps you guessing till the end, so does this paper. I have outlined my personal preferences on what I believe to lead to a successful game. Having relatable characters, rewarding loot systems, good marketing, graphics, etc. are all very important in my opinion as well as in my sources opinions. So I suppose the question now is "why do not all game developers introduce at least some of these aspects, if not all?' The answer to that is not a simple one since games are immediately categorized into genres. Each genre has attributes that vary from other genres because that is what makes the different categories. For example a racing genre game might not necessarily need a good story but it does need amazing graphics. Without any variation in the aspects of one game from another why would there need to be more than one game? Without this fundamental difference the world would only need one video game that is "perfect" for everyone. Video games started off simple and similar in nature but then spread out into different genres over time. Each of these genres are designed to loosely fit a personal preference area. Evolution in the game world is what keeps these genres separate because developers change their games in was that should lead to more profit. Their goal is to draw a profit from consumers that might like its specific graphics, storyline, characters, or whatever. Profit equals the success and evolution of games or almost anything for that matter. So personal preference will always determine the route that the evolution of video games take. My ideal genre of a game does not exist. Even though some are close, nothing is perfect and that is why games continue to evolve. That way a company's genre could be a person's ideal genre. So if your personal preferences are not similar to mine, or if my reasons and sources have not altered your beliefs, what is your ideal genre? Perhaps even you, as a consumer, could help determine where evolution takes Mario next.

