The History of Gaming
Overview
This project is constructed around data that has to do with the sales of video games and video game consoles since their inception. As technology advances, so do the capabilities of consoles and games, so with each major advancement, a new generation of games/game consoles are created, thus we separated the games/consoles into different “generations.” As the years have passed, videogaming has grown in popularity, and certain trends have emerged as to the popularity of certain game genres and consoles, and this project looks at those trends.
Data
References
"Japan Platinum Game Chart". The Magic Box. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
Sellers, John (2001). Arcade fever: the fan's guide to the golden age of video games. Philadelphia: Running Press. p. 51.
"Corporate Strategy Meeting" (PDF). Square Enix. 2009-04-22. p. 15. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
"Consolidated Sales Transition by Region"(PDF). Nintendo. 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
Matthews, Matt (2007-08-13). "The 30 defining moments in gaming". Next-Gen.biz. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
"Statistics". Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
http://kcgd.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/history-of-gaming.jpg
Sellers, John (2001). Arcade fever: the fan's guide to the golden age of video games. Philadelphia: Running Press. p. 51.
"Corporate Strategy Meeting" (PDF). Square Enix. 2009-04-22. p. 15. Retrieved 2012-07-03.
"Consolidated Sales Transition by Region"(PDF). Nintendo. 2014-01-28. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
Matthews, Matt (2007-08-13). "The 30 defining moments in gaming". Next-Gen.biz. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
"Statistics". Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
http://kcgd.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/history-of-gaming.jpg
Questions
1. What percentage of games that sold over 1 million copies in the 6th generation were in the Adventure genre?
Answer : 36.1%
2. What percent of the market did portable consoles make up in the 4th generation?
Answer : 44%
3. There have been 740 games (As of generation 7) that have topped the 1 million mark in sales. If you were to choose one game at random, what is the probability that it would be an RPG?
Answer : 34.8%
4. Using the above information, what is the probability of that when choosing a game at random it would be a 5th generation fighting game?
Answer : 0.8%
5. If you choose any console at random (portable or otherwise) what is the probability that it will be from the 2nd generation?
Answer : 2.75%
6. The Game Boy Advance sold 81.51 million consoles. If you were to select 3 people who owned portable consoles what is the probability one would own a GBA?
Answer : 8.9%
7. The Playstation 2 sold 155 million consoles. If you were to take 8 people who owned home consoles at random, what is the probability AT LEAST one would own a PS2?
Answer : 47%
8. The Xbox 360 sold 83.7 million consoles as a generation 7 non-portable console. At the time of the data, there were three home consoles being sold commercially in the 7th generation. With that information in mind, find the mode number of consoles sold per major competitor. Do the 360’s sales fall above or below this line? As a result, what is the Xbox360’s market share?
Answer : The average number of consoles sold per competitor was 282.9 million. Because of this, it can be derived the 360’s market share was 29.5%
Answer : 36.1%
2. What percent of the market did portable consoles make up in the 4th generation?
Answer : 44%
3. There have been 740 games (As of generation 7) that have topped the 1 million mark in sales. If you were to choose one game at random, what is the probability that it would be an RPG?
Answer : 34.8%
4. Using the above information, what is the probability of that when choosing a game at random it would be a 5th generation fighting game?
Answer : 0.8%
5. If you choose any console at random (portable or otherwise) what is the probability that it will be from the 2nd generation?
Answer : 2.75%
6. The Game Boy Advance sold 81.51 million consoles. If you were to select 3 people who owned portable consoles what is the probability one would own a GBA?
Answer : 8.9%
7. The Playstation 2 sold 155 million consoles. If you were to take 8 people who owned home consoles at random, what is the probability AT LEAST one would own a PS2?
Answer : 47%
8. The Xbox 360 sold 83.7 million consoles as a generation 7 non-portable console. At the time of the data, there were three home consoles being sold commercially in the 7th generation. With that information in mind, find the mode number of consoles sold per major competitor. Do the 360’s sales fall above or below this line? As a result, what is the Xbox360’s market share?
Answer : The average number of consoles sold per competitor was 282.9 million. Because of this, it can be derived the 360’s market share was 29.5%
9. Calculate the total number of Shooter games that sold over 1 million copies for each generation and graph it. What is the correlation of the graph, positive or negative? Based on the correlation, what can be said about the future of Shooter games?
Answer : The data does correlate positively, which illustrates a definitive upturn for Shooter games’ popularity over the years.
Answer : The data does correlate positively, which illustrates a definitive upturn for Shooter games’ popularity over the years.
10. Graph the number of handhelds sold each generation. Is this rate of growth going to continue? Is it sustainable? Why or why not?
Answer : This rate of growth is sustainable for the foreseeable future as the number of consoles sold has begun to exponentially increase. However, this is not a sustainable in the long term as an exponential function, since the rate of growth will eventually come to a plateau, due to the lack of a need for consoles after a certain amount of time. While the number of consoles sold could CONCEIVABLY outnumber the amount of people on Earth due to every person having their own console and consoles breaking/ people owning duplicates, it is highly unlikely as most people who DO own consoles (A small minority of ALL people) tend to share consoles with family and have no need for more than 1 per 4 or 5 people.
Answer : This rate of growth is sustainable for the foreseeable future as the number of consoles sold has begun to exponentially increase. However, this is not a sustainable in the long term as an exponential function, since the rate of growth will eventually come to a plateau, due to the lack of a need for consoles after a certain amount of time. While the number of consoles sold could CONCEIVABLY outnumber the amount of people on Earth due to every person having their own console and consoles breaking/ people owning duplicates, it is highly unlikely as most people who DO own consoles (A small minority of ALL people) tend to share consoles with family and have no need for more than 1 per 4 or 5 people.