The Minitel , officially known as TELETEL , was an interactive videotex online service accessible through telephone lines. It was the world's first and most successful mass-market online service prior to the World Wide Web . It was developed in Cesson-Sévigné , Brittany by government-owned France Télécom .
133-526: The service was initially launched on an experimental basis on 15 July 1980 in Saint-Malo and extended to other regions in autumn 1980. It was commercially introduced throughout France in 1982 by the PTT ( Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones ; since 1991, divided into France Télécom and La Poste ). From its inception, users were able to make online purchases, book train tickets, access business information services, search
266-601: A full-duplex data transmission method facilitated by its modem. The downlink operated at a speed of 1200 bit/s (equivalent to 9 KB/min), while the uplink operated at 75 bit/s (equivalent to 0.6 KB/min). This configuration enabled relatively swift downloads by the standards of its time. Referred to colloquially as "1275", the system was more accurately designated as V.23 . Originally designed for general-purpose data communications, it found widespread application in Minitel and analogous services worldwide. Technically, Minitel refers to
399-457: A teletype printer , audio speaker , or similar device. This also distinguished from many handheld electronic games like Merlin which commonly used LED lights for indicators but did not use these in combination for imaging purposes. "Computer game" may also be used as a descriptor, as all these types of games essentially require the use of a computer processor, and in some cases, it is used interchangeably with "video game". Particularly in
532-419: A user interface or input device (such as a joystick , controller , keyboard , or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device , most commonly shown in a video format on a television set , computer monitor , flat-panel display or touchscreen on handheld devices , or a virtual reality headset . These games are addictive and can lead to the release of dopamine in
665-412: A "3615" number. The inclusion of the "3615" number implied the promotion of a Minitel service. A notable instance of this cultural reference can be observed in the title of the film 3615 code Père Noël , where a child endeavors to contact Santa Claus using Minitel, to inadvertently connect with a local criminal. The film faced accusations of plagiarizing the storyline from Home Alone . Minitel used
798-544: A DEC PDP-1 computer in 1962. Each game has different means of display: NIMROD has a panel of lights to play the game of Nim , OXO has a graphical display to play tic-tac-toe, Tennis for Two has an oscilloscope to display a side view of a tennis court, and Spacewar! has the DEC PDP-1's vector display to have two spaceships battle each other. These inventions laid the foundation for modern video games. In 1966, while working at Sanders Associates , Ralph H. Baer devised
931-437: A combination of the limitations of the game platform and display device and the program efficiency of the game itself. The game's output can range from fixed displays using LED or LCD elements, text-based games , two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics, and augmented reality displays. The game's graphics are often accompanied by sound produced by internal speakers on the game platform or external speakers attached to
1064-445: A developer's programming language of choice, or they may opt to also use game development kits that minimize the amount of direct programming they have to do but can also limit the amount of customization they can add into a game. Like all software, video games usually undergo quality testing before release to assure there are no bugs or glitches in the product, though frequently developers will release patches and updates . With
1197-629: A different design were distributed in Ille-et-Vilaine , and commercial service using Minitel terminals was launched in 1982. By the end of 1983, there were 120,000 Minitel terminals in France. It became highly successful in 1984 when the French government distributed free Minitel terminals to households. Minitel became a financial success for the PTT, as using the service cost the 2022 equivalent of 30 euro cent per minute. The telephone company primarily provided
1330-538: A direct marketing tool. Despite initial expectations, messageries roses ("pink messages"), adult chat services facilitated by operators posing as receptive women, gained significant traction, causing some discomfort among government officials who preferred to focus on the growing business applications of messaging. Extensive street advertising promoted services such as "3615 Sextel," "Jane," "kiss," "3615 penthouse," and "men." These and other pornographic sites faced criticism for their potential accessibility to minors. While
1463-414: A fictional piece of technology from Star Trek , arguing for the video game as a medium in which the player is allowed to become another person, and to act out in another world. This image of video games received early widespread popular support, and forms the basis of films such as Tron , eXistenZ and The Last Starfighter . Ludologists break sharply and radically from this idea. They argue that
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#17328515411101596-432: A game following its initial release. Several games offer players the ability to create user-generated content to share with others to play. Other games, mostly those on personal computers, can be extended with user-created modifications or mods that alter or add onto the game; these often are unofficial and were developed by players from reverse engineering of the game, but other games provide official support for modding
1729-415: A letter dated July 10, 1972. In the letter, Bushnell uses the term "video game" twice. Per video game historian Keith Smith, the sudden appearance suggested that the term had been proposed and readily adopted by those in the field. Around March 1973, Ed Adlum, who ran Cashbox ' s coin-operated section until 1972 and then later founded RePlay Magazine , covering the coin-op amusement field, in 1975, used
1862-504: A limited number of platforms, and exclusivity to a platform or brand is used by platform holders as a competitive edge in the video game market. However, games may be developed for alternative platforms than intended, which are described as ports or conversions. These also may be remasters - where most of the original game's source code is reused and art assets, models, and game levels are updated for modern systems – and remakes, where in addition to asset improvements, significant reworking of
1995-432: A minimum age is used by nearly all systems, along with additional descriptors to identify specific content that players and parents should be aware of. The regulations vary from country to country but generally are voluntary systems upheld by vendor practices, with penalty and fines issued by the ratings body on the video game publisher for misuse of the ratings. Among the major content rating systems include: Additionally,
2128-554: A nationwide electronic directory of telephone and address information, the PTT aimed to increase the utilization of the country’s 23 million phone lines and reduce the costs associated with printing phone books and employing directory assistance personnel. Millions of terminals were given for free (officially loans, and property of the PTT) to telephone subscribers. The telephone company prioritized ease of use. The French government's decision to provide free Minitel terminals to every household
2261-551: A platform, the hardware which contains computing elements, to process player interaction from some type of input device and displays the results to a video output display. Video games require a platform, a specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware and associated software , to operate. The term system is also commonly used. These platforms may include multiple brandsheld by platform holders , such as Nintendo or Sony, seeking to gain larger market shares. Games are typically designed to be played on one or
2394-647: A profit of 3.5 billion F after deducting payments to information providers such as newspapers. Additionally, an average of 500 million francs was saved annually by printing fewer phone books. A trial involving 55 residential and business telephone customers using experimental terminals commenced in Saint-Malo on 15 July 1980, two days after a presentation to President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on 13 July. This trial expanded to 2,500 customers in other regions in autumn 1980. Beginning in May 1981, 4,000 experimental terminals with
2527-464: A relatively recent development in the humanities. The two most visible schools in this emerging field are ludology and narratology . Narrativists approach video games in the context of what Janet Murray calls "Cyberdrama". That is to say, their major concern is with video games as a storytelling medium, one that arises out of interactive fiction . Murray puts video games in the context of the Holodeck ,
2660-455: A service . Today, video game development requires numerous interdisciplinary skills, vision , teamwork , and liaisons between different parties, including developers , publishers , distributors , retailers , hardware manufacturers, and other marketers, to successfully bring a game to its consumers. As of 2020 , the global video game market had estimated annual revenues of US$ 159 billion across hardware, software, and services, which
2793-590: A similar version running in a smaller coin-operated arcade cabinet using a less expensive computer. This was released as Computer Space , the first arcade video game , in 1971. Bushnell and Dabney went on to form Atari, Inc. , and with Allan Alcorn , created their second arcade game in 1972, the hit ping pong -style Pong , which was directly inspired by the table tennis game on the Odyssey. Sanders and Magnavox sued Atari for infringement of Baer's patents, but Atari settled out of court, paying for perpetual rights to
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#17328515411102926-515: A system to play a basic table tennis game on a television screen. With the company's approval, Baer created the prototype known as the "Brown Box." Sanders patented Baer’s innovations and licensed them to Magnavox , which commercialized the technology as the first home video game console , the Magnavox Odyssey , released in 1972. Separately, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney , inspired by seeing Spacewar! running at Stanford University , devised
3059-547: A temporary disruption in June 1985, lasting two weeks, when an increase in connection attempts per second revealed a dormant software bug. In France, the widely recognised dial number for accessing Minitel services was 3615, with 3617 reserved for premium services. Minitel service names typically incorporated these numbers as prefixes to signify their association with the system. Billboard advertisements during this period often featured minimal content, comprising an image, company name, and
3192-478: A topic of significant debate, partly because Minitel offered over a thousand services, many of which are now available on the Internet. In 1986, French university students effectively organized a national strike utilizing Minitel, showcasing an early instance of digital communication tools being employed for technological political objectives. The French government's allegiance to the domestically developed Minitel impeded
3325-463: A tradition of asserting its autonomy in dealings with the French authorities and even with the local Breton authorities. From 1590 to 1594, Saint-Malo declared itself to be an independent republic, when ' la république de Saint-Malo' (Saint Malo Republic) functioned as a de facto city-state , and from whence the town takes its defiant motto "not French, not Breton, but Malouin" (‘ Ni Français, ni Breton, Malouin suis ’). Saint-Malo became notorious as
3458-424: A video game are primarily determined by the underlying set of rules, demands, and expectations imposed on the player. While many games rely on emergent principles , video games commonly present simulated story worlds where emergent behavior occurs within the context of the game. The term "emergent narrative" has been used to describe how, in a simulated environment, storyline can be created simply by "what happens to
3591-412: A video game is first and foremost a game, which must be understood in terms of its rules, interface, and the concept of play that it deploys. Espen J. Aarseth argues that, although games certainly have plots, characters, and aspects of traditional narratives, these aspects are incidental to gameplay. For example, Aarseth is critical of the widespread attention that narrativists have given to the heroine of
3724-457: A way to distinguish them from console games , arcade games , or mobile games . Other terms such as "television game", "telegame", or "TV game" had been used in the 1970s and early 1980s, particularly for home gaming consoles that rely on connection to a television set . However, these terms were also used interchangeably with "video game" in the 1970s, primarily due to "video" and "television" being synonymous. In Japan , where consoles like
3857-411: A word from Billboard ' s description of movie jukeboxes, Adlum started to refer to this new breed of amusement machine as 'video games.' The phrase stuck." Adlum explained in 1985 that up until the early 1970s, amusement arcades typically had non-video arcade games such as pinball machines and electro-mechanical games . With the arrival of video games in arcades during the early 1970s, there
3990-431: Is a video game "appears highly eclectic and diverse". The gameplay experience varies radically between video games, but many common elements exist. Most games will launch into a title screen and give the player a chance to review options such as the number of players before starting a game. Most games are divided into levels which the player must work the avatar through, scoring points , collecting power-ups to boost
4123-599: Is between Saint Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe . The population in 2017 was 46,097 – though this can increase to up to 300,000 in the summer tourist season. With the suburbs included, the metropolitan area's population is approximately 133,000 (2017). The population of the commune more than doubled in 1967 with the merging of three communes: Saint-Malo, Saint-Servan (population 14,963 in 1962) and Paramé (population 8,811 in 1962). Inhabitants of Saint-Malo are called Malouins in French. The population data in
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4256-459: Is frequently a cross-disciplinary field. Video game developers , as employees within this industry are commonly referred to, primarily include programmers and graphic designers . Over the years, this has expanded to include almost every type of skill that one might see prevalent in the creation of any movie or television program, including sound designers , musicians, and other technicians; as well as skills that are specific to video games, such as
4389-421: Is from 1947—a " cathode-ray tube amusement device " was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U.S. Patent 2455992. Inspired by radar display technology, it consists of an analog device allowing a user to control the parabolic arc of a dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets, which are paper drawings fixed to
4522-548: Is mostly isolated from the rest of the world due to the government's censorship, and all games published there must adhere to strict government review, disallowing content such as smearing the image of the Chinese Communist Party . Foreign games published in China often require modification by developers and publishers to meet these requirements. Video game development and authorship, much like any other form of entertainment,
4655-447: Is the primary means which one interacts with a video game. The narrative setting does not impact gameplay; a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of whether it takes place in a fantasy world or in outer space. An exception is the horror game genre, used for games that are based on narrative elements of horror fiction , the supernatural , and psychological horror . Genre names are normally self-describing in terms of
4788-571: Is three times the size of the global music industry and four times that of the film industry in 2019, making it a formidable heavyweight across the modern entertainment industry . The video game market is also a major influence behind the electronics industry , where personal computer component, console, and peripheral sales, as well as consumer demands for better game performance, have been powerful driving factors for hardware design and innovation. Early video games use interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example
4921-515: The Berne Convention . This typically only applies to the underlying code, as well as to the artistic aspects of the game such as its writing, art assets, and music. Gameplay itself is generally not considered copyrightable; in the United States among other countries, video games are considered to fall into the idea–expression distinction in that it is how the game is presented and expressed to
5054-659: The Channel Islands operated by Condor Ferries . It also has a railway station, Gare de Saint-Malo , offering direct TGV service to Rennes, Paris and several regional destinations. There is a bus service provided by Keolis. The town is served by the Dinard–Pleurtuit–Saint-Malo Airport around 5 kilometres (3 miles) to the south. Now inseparably attached to the mainland , Saint-Malo is the most visited place in Brittany. Sites of interest include: Saint-Malo
5187-637: The Clue VCR Mystery Game which required players to watch VCR clips between turns. To distinguish between these two, video games are considered to require some interactivity that affects the visual display. Most video games tend to feature some type of victory or winning conditions, such as a scoring mechanism or a final boss fight. The introduction of walking simulators ( adventure games that allow for exploration but lack any objectives) like Gone Home , and empathy games (video games that tend to focus on emotion) like That Dragon, Cancer brought
5320-728: The English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Allies heavily bombed Saint-Malo. The city changed into a popular tourist centre, with a ferry terminal serving the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey , as well as the Southern English settlements of Portsmouth , Hampshire and Poole , Dorset . The famous transatlantic single-handed yacht race Route du Rhum , which takes place every four years in November,
5453-807: The Gulf Stream and the range of average temperatures between winter and summer is very low (from 6.1°C in January to 17.8°C in August) with an average temperature of 11.6°C. Saint-Malo is part of Ille-et-Vilaine's 7th constituency , and is currently represented in the National Assembly by Republicans Member of Parliament , Jean-Luc Bourgeaux . Schools include: Saint-Malo has a terminal for ferry services with daily departures to Portsmouth operated by Brittany Ferries , and services on most days to Poole in England via
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5586-633: The Raid on Saint-Malo saw a British expedition land, intending to capture the town. However, the British made no attempt on Saint-Malo and instead occupied the nearby town of Saint-Servan, where they destroyed 30 privateers before departing. In World War II , during fighting in late August and early September 1944, the historic walled city of Saint-Malo was almost totally destroyed by American shelling and bombing. The beaches of nearby Dinard had been heavily fortified against possible Allied commando raids. Artillery at
5719-474: The Saint Lawrence River , visiting the villages of Stadacona and Hochelaga that would later become the sites of present-day Quebec City and Montreal respectively. As the first European to encounter these sites and learning the local word "Kanata" (meaning a group of houses), Cartier is credited as the discoverer of Canada . Inhabitants of Saint-Malo are called Malouins in French. From this came
5852-540: The United Kingdom and Western Europe , this is common due to the historic relevance of domestically produced microcomputers. Other terms used include digital game, for example, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics . However, the term "computer game" can also be used to more specifically refer to games played primarily on personal computers or other types of flexible hardware systems (also known as PC game ), as
5985-485: The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle ( Entertainment Software Self-Regulation ) would refuse to classify, and thus allow sale, of any game depicting Nazi imagery, and thus often requiring developers to replace such imagery with fictional ones. This ruling was relaxed in 2018 to allow for such imagery for "social adequacy" purposes that applied to other works of art. China's video game segment
6118-476: The crash of the North American video game market in 1983 due to loss of publishing control and saturation of the market. Following the crash, the industry matured, was dominated by Japanese companies such as Nintendo , Sega , and Sony , and established practices and methods around the development and distribution of video games to prevent a similar crash in the future, many of which continue to be followed. In
6251-611: The first-person shooter and the Grand Theft Auto clone , respectively, in the few years after their release. However, at times and more frequently at the onset of the industry, developers would intentionally create video game clones of successful games and game hardware with few changes, which led to the flooded arcade and dedicated home console market around 1978. Cloning is also a major issue with countries that do not have strong intellectual property protection laws, such as within China . The lax oversight by China's government and
6384-409: The game designer . All of these are managed by producers . In the early days of the industry, it was more common for a single person to manage all of the roles needed to create a video game. As platforms have become more complex and powerful in the type of material they can present, larger teams have been needed to generate all of the art, programming, cinematography, and more. This is not to say that
6517-589: The telephone directory , maintain a mailbox, and utilize chat functionalities similar to those now supported by the World Wide Web. In February 2009, France Télécom reported that the Minitel network still maintained 10 million monthly connections. The service was discontinued by France Télécom on 30 June 2012. Officially known as TELETEL, the name Minitel is derived from the French title Médium interactif par numérisation d'information téléphonique (Interactive medium for digitized information by telephone). Videotex
6650-494: The white pages were freely accessible on Minitel and could be searched faster than through a paper directory. In the early 1980s, parallel to the US development of the ARPANET , France launched the Minitel project to bring data networking into homes. According to the PTT, during the first eight years of nationwide operation, 8 billion francs were spent on purchasing terminals, resulting in
6783-439: The 1950s and 1960s were simple extensions of electronic games using video-like output from large, room-sized mainframe computers . The first consumer video game was the arcade video game Computer Space in 1971. In 1972 came the iconic hit game Pong and the first home console , the Magnavox Odyssey . The industry grew quickly during the "golden age" of arcade video games from the late 1970s to early 1980s but suffered from
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#17328515411106916-519: The 1970s and 1980s before having a larger worldwide contribution. Today, the video game industry is predominantly led by major companies in North America (primarily the United States and Canada), Europe, and southeast Asia including Japan, South Korea, and China. Hardware production remains an area dominated by Asian companies either directly involved in hardware design or part of the production process, but digital distribution and indie game development of
7049-471: The 1983 crash, forming around the concept of publisher-developer dichotomies, and by the 2000s, leading to the industry centralizing around low-risk, triple-A games and studios with large development budgets of at least $ 10 million or more. The advent of the Internet brought digital distribution as a viable means to distribute games, and contributed to the growth of more riskier, experimental independent game development as an alternative to triple-A games in
7182-462: The 1993 game . A hierarchy of game genres exist, with top-level genres like "shooter game" and "action game" that broadly capture the game's main gameplay style, and several subgenres of specific implementation, such as within the shooter game first-person shooter and third-person shooter . Some cross-genre types also exist that fall until multiple top-level genres such as action-adventure game . A video game's mode describes how many players can use
7315-626: The 2000s, the core industry centered on " AAA " games, leaving little room for riskier experimental games. Coupled with the availability of the Internet and digital distribution , this gave room for independent video game development (or " indie games ") to gain prominence into the 2010s. Since then, the commercial importance of the video game industry has been increasing. The emerging Asian markets and proliferation of smartphone games in particular are altering player demographics towards casual gaming and increasing monetization by incorporating games as
7448-515: The Channel. The modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to a monastic settlement founded by Saint Aaron and Saint Brendan early in the sixth century. Its name is derived from a man said to have been a follower of Brendan the Navigator , Saint Malo or Maclou , an immigrant from what is now Wales . Saint-Malo is the setting of Marie de France 's poem " Laüstic ," a 12th-century love story. The city had
7581-637: The Internet or other communication methods as well as cloud gaming alleviate the need for any physical media. In some cases, the media serves as the direct read-only memory for the game, or it may be the form of installation media that is used to write the main assets to the player's platform's local storage for faster loading periods and later updates. Games can be extended with new content and software patches through either expansion packs which are typically available as physical media, or as downloadable content nominally available via digital distribution. These can be offered freely or can be used to monetize
7714-408: The Minitel network, with plans to distribute an additional million by the end of the year. This expansion faced opposition from newspapers concerned about competition from an electronic network. In 1980, Ouest-France expressed the concern that Minitel would "separate people from each other and endanger social relationships." To mitigate opposition from the newspapers, they were permitted to establish
7847-467: The Odyssey were first imported and then made within the country by the large television manufacturers such as Toshiba and Sharp Corporation , such games are known as "TV games", "TV geemu", or "terebi geemu". The term "TV game" is still commonly used into the 21st century. "Electronic game" may also be used to refer to video games, but this also incorporates devices like early handheld electronic games that lack any video output. The first appearance of
7980-541: The Paris Sony Stores contained already over 100 pages. Today the 3611 Minitel Directory is replaced by the online white or yellow pages. On 11 February 2009, France Télécom and PagesJaunes jointly announced the cancellation of plans to discontinue the Minitel service in March 2009, despite its continued high usage of its directory assistance service, which was still accessed over a million times monthly. France Télécom retired
8113-575: The Spanish name Islas Malvinas for the archipelago known in English as the Falkland Islands. Islas Malvinas derives from the 1764 name Îles Malouines , given to the islands by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville . Bougainville, who founded the archipelago's first settlement, named the islands after the inhabitants of Saint-Malo, the point of departure for his ships and colonists. In 1758,
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#17328515411108246-536: The addict's synapses. Most modern video games are audiovisual , with audio complement delivered through speakers or headphones , and sometimes also with other types of sensory feedback (e.g., haptic technology that provides tactile sensations). Some video games also allow microphone and webcam inputs for in-game chatting and livestreaming . Video games are typically categorized according to their hardware platform , which traditionally includes arcade video games , console games , and computer (PC) games ;
8379-728: The age of the "one-man shop" is gone, as this is still sometimes found in the casual gaming and handheld markets, where smaller games are prevalent due to technical limitations such as limited RAM or lack of dedicated 3D graphics rendering capabilities on the target platform (e.g., some PDAs ). Video games are programmed like any other piece of computer software. Prior to the mid-1970s, arcade and home consoles were programmed by assembling discrete electro-mechanical components on circuit boards, which limited games to relatively simple logic. By 1975, low-cost microprocessors were available at volume to be used for video game hardware, which allowed game developers to program more detailed games, widening
8512-446: The anonymity of users and services, Minitel usage was prevalent in workplaces where companies covered telephone expenses. In 1985, France Télécom generated 620 million francs (approximately US$ 70 million ) in revenue from Minitel. Throughout the year, 2,000 private companies collectively earned 289 million francs (about US$ 35 million ), while Libération, a prominent newspaper, garnered 2.5 million francs (about US$ 300,000) from
8645-417: The avatar's innate attributes, all while either using special attacks to defeat enemies or moves to avoid them. This information is relayed to the player through a type of on-screen user interface such as a heads-up display atop the rendering of the game itself. Taking damage will deplete their avatar's health , and if that falls to zero or if the avatar otherwise falls into an impossible-to-escape location,
8778-434: The cars in front of them and the obstacle. The programmer never wrote code to specifically create a traffic jam, yet one now exists in the game. Most commonly, video games are protected by copyright , though both patents and trademarks have been used as well. Though local copyright regulations vary to the degree of protection, video games qualify as copyrighted visual-audio works, and enjoy cross-country protection under
8911-417: The console itself, while peripheral controllers are available as a separate purchase from the console manufacturer or third-party vendors. Similar control sets are built into handheld consoles and onto arcade cabinets. Newer technology improvements have incorporated additional technology into the controller or the game platform, such as touchscreens and motion detection sensors that give more options for how
9044-430: The country is comparable with the other western countries in terms of high-speed internet penetration in households. Saint-Malo Saint-Malo ( UK : / s æ̃ ˈ m ɑː l oʊ / , US : / ˌ s æ̃ m ə ˈ l oʊ / , French: [sɛ̃ malo] ; Gallo : Saent-Malô ; Breton : Sant-Maloù ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine , Brittany . The walled city on
9177-423: The difficulty for foreign companies to take Chinese entities to court had enabled China to support a large grey market of cloned hardware and software systems. The industry remains challenged to distinguish between creating new games based on refinements of past successful games to create a new type of gameplay, and intentionally creating a clone of a game that may simply swap out art assets. The early history of
9310-415: The existing Transpac network, Minitel terminals connected to the system by dialing a short code number, initiating a connection to a PAVI ( Point d'Accès VIdéotexte , meaning "videotext access point") via the subscriber's analog telephone line. The PAVI was then digitally linked to the destination servers of the relevant company or administration through Transpac. The surge in popularity of the service led to
9443-743: The first consumer services on Minitel. Libération offered 24-hour online news, including results from events at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that occurred overnight in France. Providers promoted their services in their own publications, which helped to market the Minitel network. Newspapers were founded specifically to create Minitel services. By 1988, three million terminals were installed, with 100,000 new units being added monthly. The telephone directory received 23 million calls per month, with 40,000 updates daily. Approximately six thousand other services were available, with around 250 new ones being added each month. The emergence of Minitel led to
9576-662: The frontiers. According to the Notitia Dignitatum , the fort was garrisoned by the militum Martensium under a dux (commander) of the Tractus Armoricanus et Nervicanus section of the litus Saxonicum . During the decline of the Western Roman Empire , Armorica (modern-day Brittany) rebelled from Roman rule under the Bagaudae and in the 5th and 6th centuries received many Celtic Britons fleeing instability across
9709-434: The game Tomb Raider , saying that "the dimensions of Lara Croft 's body, already analyzed to death by film theorists , are irrelevant to me as a player, because a different-looking body would not make me play differently... When I play, I don't even see her body, but see through it and past it." Simply put, ludologists reject traditional theories of art because they claim that the artistic and socially relevant qualities of
9842-642: The game at the same type. This is primarily distinguished by single-player video games and multiplayer video games . Within the latter category, multiplayer games can be played in a variety of ways, including locally at the same device, on separate devices connected through a local network such as LAN parties , or online via separate Internet connections. Most multiplayer games are based on competitive gameplay, but many offer cooperative and team-based options as well as asymmetric gameplay . Online games use server structures that can also enable massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) to support hundreds of players at
9975-406: The game can also be exploited. On some consoles, cheat cartridges allow players to execute these cheat codes, and user-developed trainers allow similar bypassing for computer software games. Both of which might make the game easier, give the player additional power-ups, or change the appearance of the game. To distinguish from electronic games, a video game is generally considered to require
10108-484: The game should they lose all their lives or need to stop the game and restart at a later time. These also may be in the form of a passage that can be written down and reentered at the title screen. Product flaws include software bugs which can manifest as glitches which may be exploited by the player; this is often the foundation of speedrunning a video game. These bugs, along with cheat codes , Easter eggs , and other hidden secrets that were intentionally added to
10241-501: The game. Video game can use several types of input devices to translate human actions to a game. Most common are the use of game controllers like gamepads and joysticks for most consoles, and as accessories for personal computer systems along keyboard and mouse controls. Common controls on the most recent controllers include face buttons, shoulder triggers, analog sticks , and directional pads ("d-pads") . Consoles typically include standard controllers which are shipped or bundled with
10374-399: The game. By definition, all video games are intended to output graphics to an external video display, such as cathode-ray tube televisions, newer liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions and built-in screens, projectors or computer monitors , depending on the type of platform the game is played on. Features such as color depth , refresh rate , frame rate , and screen resolution are
10507-560: The game. Today, many games are built around a game engine that handles the bulk of the game's logic, gameplay, and rendering. These engines can be augmented with specialized engines for specific features, such as a physics engine that simulates the physics of objects in real-time. A variety of middleware exists to help developers access other features, such as playback of videos within games, network-oriented code for games that communicate via online services, matchmaking for online games, and similar features. These features can be used from
10640-415: The government opted against implementing coercive measures, it underscored the responsibility of parents, rather than governmental intervention, in regulating children's online activities. The government did impose a tax on pornographic online services. Numerous services were covertly operated by conservative newspapers, which publicly expressed disapproval the sex industry. The majority of operators were not
10773-485: The growth of the size of development teams in the industry, the problem of cost has increased. Development studios need the best talent, while publishers reduce costs to maintain profitability on their investment. Typically, a video game console development team ranges from 5 to 50 people, and some exceed 100. In May 2009, Assassin's Creed II was reported to have a development staff of 450. The growth of team size combined with greater pressure to get completed projects into
10906-438: The hesitant adoption of high-definition TV in the U.S., where companies resisted new technologies to safeguard profits. France's struggle with Internet adoption reflected typical free-market issues, rather than those associated with centralized economies. In 1997, recognizing the emerging global Internet society, the French government partially privatized France Télécom, ending its telephone monopoly and introducing competition in
11039-521: The home of the corsairs , French privateers and sometimes pirates . In the 19th century, this "piratical" notoriety was portrayed in Jean Richepin 's play Le flibustier and in César Cui 's eponymous opera . The corsairs of Saint-Malo not only forced English ships passing up the Channel to pay tribute but also brought wealth from further afield. Jacques Cartier lived in, and sailed from, Saint-Malo to
11172-586: The idea of games that did not have any such type of winning condition and raising the question of whether these were actually games. These are still commonly justified as video games as they provide a game world that the player can interact with by some means. The lack of any industry definition for a video game by 2021 was an issue during the case Epic Games v. Apple which dealt with video games offered on Apple's iOS App Store . Among concerns raised were games like Fortnite Creative and Roblox which created metaverses of interactive experiences, and whether
11305-526: The island of Cezembre were out of reach of American ground forces. German garrisons on the Channel Islands of Jersey , Guernsey , and Alderney were able to use small craft to bring in water and remove the wounded from the battle. On 13 August, the walled city was on fire and a short truce was declared to allow French civilians to flee the city. Outlying German positions at St. Ideuc and La Varde fell to infantry attacks. This fighting ended resistance on
11438-450: The larger " AAA " game studios, and are often experiments in gameplay and art style. Indie game development is aided by the larger availability of digital distribution, including the newer mobile gaming market, and readily-available and low-cost development tools for these platforms. Although departments of computer science have been studying the technical aspects of video games for years, theories that examine games as an artistic medium are
11571-713: The larger game and the individual experiences themselves were games or not in relation to fees that Apple charged for the App Store. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers , recognizing that there was yet an industry standard definition for a video game, established for her ruling that "At a bare minimum, video games appear to require some level of interactivity or involvement between the player and the medium" compared to passive entertainment like film, music, and television, and "videogames are also generally graphically rendered or animated, as opposed to being recorded live or via motion capture as in films or television". Rogers still concluded that what
11704-558: The last man even if the last man had to be himself". The first American attack was launched by the 83rd Infantry Division on 5 August 1944. German positions at Châteauneuf quickly fell. Cancale was abandoned and occupied by the Americans on the 6th. In the same way and on the same day, Dinan fell to Free French forces. The Germans shortened their lines and drew closer to the ancient citadel at St. Servan-sur-Mer , now reinforced with concrete. Effective German artillery emplacements on
11837-417: The late 2000s and which has continued to grow as a significant portion of the video game industry. Video games have a large network effect that draw on many different sectors that tie into the larger video game industry. While video game developers are a significant portion of the industry, other key participants in the market include: The industry itself grew out from both the United States and Japan in
11970-452: The latter also encompasses LAN games , online games , and browser games . More recently, the video game industry has expanded onto mobile gaming through mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablet computers ), virtual and augmented reality systems, and remote cloud gaming . Video games are also classified into a wide range of genres based on their style of gameplay and target audience . The first video game prototypes in
12103-659: The major content system provides have worked to create the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a means to streamline and align the content ratings system between different region, so that a publisher would only need to complete the content ratings review for one provider, and use the IARC transition to affirm the content rating for all other regions. Certain nations have even more restrictive rules related to political or ideological content. Within Germany, until 2018,
12236-462: The market to begin recouping production costs has led to a greater occurrence of missed deadlines, rushed games, and the release of unfinished products. While amateur and hobbyist game programming had existed since the late 1970s with the introduction of home computers, a newer trend since the mid-2000s is indie game development . Indie games are made by small teams outside any direct publisher control, their games being smaller in scope than those from
12369-405: The market. Due to loss of publishing control and oversaturation of the market, the North American home video game market crashed in 1983 , dropping from revenues of around $ 3 billion in 1983 to $ 100 million by 1985. Many of the North American companies created in the prior years closed down. Japan's growing game industry was briefly shocked by this crash but had sufficient longevity to withstand
12502-622: The network. In 1998, Minitel returned €832 million ( US$ 1,121 million ) in revenue, with €521 million allocated by France Télécom to service providers. Notably, Minitel sales in the late 1990s constituted nearly 15 percent of total sales for La Redoute and 3 Suisses , prominent mail order companies in France. By 2005, the most popular Minitel application was Teleroute , an online real-time freight exchange, which accounted for nearly 8 percent of Minitel usage. In December 1985 Minitel users made more than 22 million calls, up 400 percent in one year. In 1994 they made 1,913 million Minitel calls, used
12635-516: The new French numbering system on 18 October 1996, access to the phone directory transitioned to 3611. Companies had the option to include up to three lines of supplementary information and a rudimentary website. Advertisement space within the Minitel phone directory was managed by the Office d'Annonces (ODA), today known as Solocal / Pages Jaunes Groupe based in Sèvres, France. In 1991, the "Minitel Website" for
12768-407: The north shore of the peninsula. Only the citadel remained. Surrounded by American artillery and under frequent air attack, this last holdout surrendered on the afternoon of 17 August. Cezembre surrendered on 2 September when the three-hundred-man garrison ran out of drinking water. The Americans had taken more than ten thousand prisoners during the two-week fight, von Aulock among them. Saint-Malo
12901-774: The original game and possibly from scratch is performed. The list below is not exhaustive and excludes other electronic devices capable of playing video games such as PDAs and graphing calculators . Early arcade games, home consoles, and handheld games were dedicated hardware units with the game's logic built into the electronic componentry of the hardware. Since then, most video game platforms are considered programmable, having means to read and play multiple games distributed on different types of media or formats. Physical formats include ROM cartridges , magnetic storage including magnetic-tape data storage and floppy discs , optical media formats including CD-ROM and DVDs , and flash memory cards. Furthermore digital distribution over
13034-472: The patents. Following their agreement, Atari made a home version of Pong , which was released by Christmas 1975. The success of the Odyssey and Pong , both as an arcade game and home machine, launched the video game industry. Both Baer and Bushnell have been titled "Father of Video Games" for their contributions. The term "video game" was developed to distinguish this class of electronic games that were played on some type of video display rather than on
13167-409: The platform, as directed by the game's programming. This often will include sound effects tied to the player's actions to provide audio feedback, as well as background music for the game. Some platforms support additional feedback mechanics to the player that a game can take advantage of. This is most commonly haptic technology built into the game controller, such as causing the controller to shake in
13300-399: The player interacts with the game. Specialized controllers may be used for certain genres of games, including racing wheels , light guns and dance pads . Digital cameras and motion detection can capture movements of the player as input into the game, which can, in some cases, effectively eliminate the control, and on other systems such as virtual reality, are used to enhance immersion into
13433-502: The player that can be copyrighted, but not the underlying principles of the game. Because gameplay is normally ineligible for copyright, gameplay ideas in popular games are often replicated and built upon in other games. At times, this repurposing of gameplay can be seen as beneficial and a fundamental part of how the industry has grown by building on the ideas of others. For example Doom (1993) and Grand Theft Auto III (2001) introduced gameplay that created popular new game genres,
13566-433: The player will lose one of their lives . Should they lose all their lives without gaining an extra life or "1-UP" , then the player will reach the " game over " screen. Many levels as well as the game's finale end with a type of boss character the player must defeat to continue on. In some games, intermediate points between levels will offer save points where the player can create a saved game on storage media to restart
13699-419: The player's hands to simulate a shaking earthquake occurring in game. Video games are frequently classified by a number of factors related to how one plays them. A video game, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres . However, unlike film or television which use visual or narrative elements, video games are generally categorized into genres based on their gameplay interaction, since this
13832-430: The player." However, emergent behavior is not limited to sophisticated games. In general, any place where event-driven instructions occur for AI in a game, emergent behavior will exist. For instance, take a racing game in which cars are programmed to avoid crashing, and they encounter an obstacle in the track: the cars might then maneuver to avoid the obstacle causing the cars behind them to slow or maneuver to accommodate
13965-425: The proliferation of numerous start-up ventures , similar to the later dot-com bubble of World Wide Web-related companies. Many of these small enterprises encountered challenges due to an oversaturated market or poor business practices, such as inadequate infrastructure for online retailers. By the late 1980s, the Minitel system had become widespread in France, with numerous products displaying their Minitel numbers as
14098-450: The question of what are the essential factors of a video game that separate the medium from other forms of entertainment. The introduction of interactive films in the 1980s with games like Dragon's Lair , featured games with full motion video played off a form of media but only limited user interaction. This had required a means to distinguish these games from more traditional board games that happen to also use external media, such as
14231-637: The same time. A small number of video games are zero-player games , in which the player has very limited interaction with the game itself. These are most commonly simulation games where the player may establish a starting state and then let the game proceed on its own, watching the results as a passive observer, such as with many computerized simulations of Conway's Game of Life . Most video games are intended for entertainment purposes. Different game types include: Video games can be subject to national and international content rating requirements. Like with film content ratings, video game ratings typing identify
14364-458: The scantily-clad women depicted in the advertisements, but were men engaged in their regular occupations. By the mid-1990s, it provided over 20,000 services, including home banking and specialized databases. Minitel was widespread in French homes a decade before the Internet became known in the US. France Télécom, maintained steady income from Minitel and cautiously approached the Internet to protect its business model. This slow adaptation paralleled
14497-544: The scope of what was possible. Ongoing improvements in computer hardware technology have expanded what has become possible to create in video games, coupled with convergence of common hardware between console, computer, and arcade platforms to simplify the development process. Today, game developers have a number of commercial and open source tools available for use to make games, often which are across multiple platforms to support portability, or may still opt to create their own for more specialized features and direct control of
14630-605: The screen. Other early examples include Christopher Strachey 's draughts game, the Nimrod computer at the 1951 Festival of Britain ; OXO , a tic-tac-toe computer game by Alexander S. Douglas for the EDSAC in 1952; Tennis for Two , an electronic interactive game engineered by William Higinbotham in 1958; and Spacewar! , written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell , and Wayne Wiitanen's on
14763-568: The service in September. Despite the increasing prevalence of the World Wide Web, Minitel connections remained stable in the late 1990s, with a consistent monthly volume of 100 million connections alongside 150 million online directory inquiries. In response to the rising incidence of cybercrime, France Telecom has developed a new contract specifying that all Minitel service operators must identify themselves by providing their name and address. This measure aims to enhance security and accountability within
14896-531: The service on 30 June 2012, attributing the decision to operational costs and declining customer interest. Minitel utilized computer terminals featuring a text-only monochrome screen, a keyboard, and a modem , all integrated into a single tabletop unit. These terminals had the capability to display basic graphics using a predefined set of block graphics characters. Color units were eventually offered for an additional fee, they saw limited adoption. Aftermarket printers were also available to users. Operating over
15029-506: The short-term effects, and Nintendo helped to revitalize the industry with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1985. Along with it, Nintendo established a number of core industrial practices to prevent unlicensed game development and control game distribution on their platform, methods that continue to be used by console manufacturers today. The industry remained more conservative following
15162-863: The system for 110 million hours, and spent 6.6 billion francs. In 2005, there were 351 million calls for 18.5 million hours of connection, generating €206 million of revenue, of which €145 million were redistributed to 2,000 service providers (these numbers were declining at around 30 percent per year). There were still six million terminals owned by France Télécom, which had been left with their users in order to avoid recycling problems. Key utilization of Minitel included banking and financial services, which leveraged Minitel's security features, as well as access to professional databases. France Télécom cited 12 million updates to personal carte vitale healthcare cards were facilitated through Minitel. By 2007, revenue exceeded US$ 100 million . This trend persisted into 2010, with revenues reaching €30 million , of which 85 percent
15295-580: The table and graph below refer to the commune of Saint-Malo proper in its geography for the given years. Founded by Gauls in the 1st century BC, the ancient town on the site of Saint-Malo was known as the Roman Reginca or Aletum . By the late 4th century AD, the Saint-Servan district was the site of a major Saxon Shore promontory fort that protected the Rance estuary from seaborne raiders from beyond
15428-484: The target age group that the national or regional ratings board believes is appropriate for the player, ranging from all-ages, to a teenager-or-older, to mature, to the infrequent adult-only games. Most content review is based on the level of violence, both in the type of violence and how graphic it may be represented, and sexual content, but other themes such as drug and alcohol use and gambling that can influence children may also be identified. A primary identifier based on
15561-411: The telecommunications sector. This led to reduced prices for telephone communications, allowing more affordable dial-up Internet access by the late 1990s. Minitel became quickly outpaced by the development of the Internet. France Télécom estimated that by the end of 1999, almost 9 million terminals, including web-enabled personal computers ( Windows , Mac OS , and Linux ), had access to the network, which
15694-641: The telephone company, named after newsagent shops . Charges for Minitel usage and voice calls were amalgamated on the monthly telephone bill without itemized breakdown. Service providers typically received two-thirds of the $ 10 per hour fee paid by customers as of 1988. Since the telephone company managed bill collection and users who failed to settle bills risked losing telephone service, the customer acquisition cost for service providers remained low. The consolidated billing system fostered impulse shopping , as users, while browsing, often discovered and utilized additional services beyond their original intention. Given
15827-405: The term "video game" emerged around 1973. The Oxford English Dictionary cited a 10 November 1973 BusinessWeek article as the first printed use of the term. Though Bushnell believed the term came from a vending magazine review of Computer Space in 1971, a review of the major vending magazines Vending Times and Cashbox showed that the term may have come even earlier, appearing first in
15960-498: The term in an article in March 1973. In a September 1982 issue of RePlay , Adlum is credited with first naming these games as "video games": "RePlay's Eddie Adlum worked at 'Cash Box' when 'TV games' first came out. The personalities in those days were Bushnell, his sales manager Pat Karns, and a handful of other 'TV game' manufacturers like Henry Leyser and the McEwan brothers. It seemed awkward to call their products 'TV games', so borrowing
16093-528: The terminals, while the network is known as Télétel . Minitel terminals were equipped with an AZERTY keyboard, reflective of the standard keyboard layout in France, as opposed to the QWERTY layout more commonly used in English-speaking regions. Some early models deviated from this convention, featuring an ABCDEF keyboard arrangement . The impact of Minitel on the development of the Internet in France remains
16226-557: The two locations provided mutual support. The fortification complex was garrisoned by more than twelve thousand German troops from different services and units as well as stragglers from other battles in the Cotentin . About eight thousand Germans were in Saint-Malo itself when the battle began. Colonel Andreas von Aulock , the German commander, refused to surrender when asked to do so by the town's authorities. He said he "would defend St. Malo to
16359-503: The type of gameplay, such as action game , role playing game , or shoot 'em up , though some genres have derivations from influential works that have defined that genre, such as roguelikes from Rogue , Grand Theft Auto clones from Grand Theft Auto III , and battle royale games from the film Battle Royale . The names may shift over time as players, developers and the media come up with new terms; for example, first-person shooters were originally called "Doom clones" based on
16492-510: The uptake of the Internet in France. Despite reaching a peak of nine million terminals in the 1990s, there remained 810,000 terminals in the country as late as 2012. Resources within France Télécom were directed towards Minitel development, diverting attention from Internet-related initiatives. The sustained emphasis on Minitel by France Telecom did not significantly impact the adoption or advancement of internet-based companies in France. By 2018,
16625-422: The video game industry, following the first game hardware releases and through 1983, had little structure. Video games quickly took off during the golden age of arcade video games from the late 1970s to early 1980s, but the newfound industry was mainly composed of game developers with little business experience. This led to numerous companies forming simply to create clones of popular games to try to capitalize on
16758-683: The white pages, while establishing infrastructure for other entities to offer services. Minitel facilitated access to various categories including the phone directory (free), mail-order retail companies, airline or train ticket purchases, information services, databases, message boards, online dating services, and computer games. By 1985, games and electronic messaging accounted for 42 percent of Minitel traffic, with messaging alone representing 17 percent of traffic by 1988. The platform became particularly popular among young people, who would engage in late-night sessions playing text-based online video games . By early 1986, 1.4 million terminals were connected to
16891-423: Was a crucial element in the telecommunications sector of many industrialized countries, with numerous national post, telephone, and telegraph companies and commercial ventures launching pilot projects. It was viewed as a major force in advancing towards an information society. In 1978, Postes, Télégraphes et Téléphones (PTT) initiated the design of the Minitel network. By distributing terminals capable of accessing
17024-429: Was a key factor in the widespread adoption and success of Minitel. By providing a popular service on simple, free equipment, Minitel achieved high market penetration and avoided the chicken and egg problem that hindered the widespread adoption of similar systems in the United States. In exchange for the terminal, Minitel users received only the yellow pages (classified as commercial listings with advertisements), while
17157-468: Was allocated to service providers. The most popular service of the Minitel was the Annuaire Electronique. It garnered significant popularity, with approximately half of the network's calls directed on it in 1985. In May of that same year, a nationwide white pages directory covering all 24 million telephone subscribers was introduced, accessible through the phone number 11. Following the adoption of
17290-434: Was initially some confusion in the arcade industry over what term should be used to describe the new games. He "wrestled with descriptions of this type of game," alternating between "TV game" and "television game" but "finally woke up one day" and said, "What the hell... video game!" While many games readily fall into a clear, well-understood definition of video games, new genres and innovations in game development have raised
17423-427: Was rebuilt over a 12-year period from 1948 to 1960. It is a subprefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine . The commune of Saint-Servan was merged with Paramé, and became the commune of Saint-Malo in 1967. Saint-Malo was the site of an Anglo-French summit in 1998 that led to a significant agreement regarding European defence policy . The Gulf of Saint-Malo has an oceanic temperate climate. Temperatures are softened by
17556-522: Was the birthplace of: Saint-Malo is twinned with: Saint-Malo is one of the main settings in the 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr , and was a filming location for the Netflix miniseries of the same name . Video game A video game , also known as a computer game or just a game , is an electronic game that involves interaction with
17689-404: Was used by 25 million people out of a total population of 60 million. Developed by 10,000 companies, nearly 26,000 different services were available by 1996. Payment methods included credit cards for purchases and telephone bills, with rates contingent upon the websites visited. Initially, users subscribed to individual services, but adoption surged following the introduction of a "kiosk" model by
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