Video games in their many forms have steadily become a focal point of the world’s digital  entertainment fixation. Since their 1960s inception, they’ve evolved from a medium once reserved for a select few innovators to a means of on-demand fun available to just about anyone with a smartphone.

With this rapid revolution has come an ever-changing process of game design and development. The approaches, ideas and scopes have transformed alongside persistent technological advancements to expose new frontiers in adventure, immersion and interactivity. 

Let’s pick up the joystick and explore the reality and history of video game design!  

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A brief history of video game design

• 1970s – Arcade machines

In the mid 1970s, programmable microprocessors spearheaded the advent of the arcade machine – a cabinet-housed and usually coin-operated gaming device commonly found in amusement arcades. Arcade game design in these early days was restricted by 8-bit  central processing units that allowed for very simple graphics and sound. Even then, games such as Pong and Space Invaders saw great success and have since become household names. 

• 1980s – Home consoles

Home consoles sought to bring the arcade experience out of the arcade. They featured less powerful microprocessors than their arcade counterparts, but were able to be hooked up to home television sets and play numerous games housed in swappable ROM cartridges. The earliest commercially-successful consoles were the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). 

Platformer games dominated home consoles in their early years due to their technological limitations, namely Super Mario Bros. and Alex Kidd. They typically involve a character navigating a series of levels by jumping on platforms, overcoming obstacles and avoiding or attacking enemies. 

Now, home consoles such as the Good Design Gold Award Winner, Xbox Series X, are powerful enough to rival the processing and graphical power of home computers. This has made way for massive games of open-world design to be explored within the home. These games offer players the freedom to indulge in expansive virtual worlds, interact with various characters and complete objectives in any order they choose – sometimes for 100s of hours. Games such as Grand Theft Auto and Assassin’s Creed dominate this modern genre. 

• Late 1980s/early 1990s – Handheld consoles

Following the success of home consoles, game developers and designers strived to condense the gaming experience into an on-the-go format. This evolved into the handheld console, an even less powerful system than the home equivalent but with unrivalled portable potential. The Game Boy revolutionised the handheld field and gave rise to ongoing franchises such as Pokémon and Tetris.     

Role-playing games (RPGs) fit the comparatively weaker handheld systems perfectly in their early days. They describe a malleable genre where players assume the roles of fictional characters and engage in a variety of activities, such as exploring a virtual world, completing quests and battling enemies. In design, RPGs were less reliant on graphical power and instead focused on deep narratives and character development to tell rich stories. 

• 1990s – Dedicated PC gaming

While PC gaming has been around since the very beginning, the 1990s saw the medium skyrocket and a dedicated PC community evolve. At the time, PCs were markedly more powerful than home consoles and handhelds, which allowed for more complex, sophisticated games and ambitious games to develop. They were also commonly customisable, meaning gamers could swap and upgrade parts to augment their gaming experience. Good Design Award Winner, The OMEN by HP 45L Gaming Desktop, is a modern example of a capable, modifiable machine. 

The PCs online capabilities significantly extended the multiplayer game realm out from its previously split-screen limitations. This allowed game designers and developers to focus on real player-to-player interaction in-game, birthing classic titles such as Doom, Quake and Starcraft and paving the way for large-scale competitive gameplay now seen in games like Fortnite and Apex Legends.

With greater processing abilities, game designs based on procedural generation came to life. They implement algorithms to generate game content as you play, allowing the possibility of unique gameplay every time the game is played. Minecraft, the best-selling game of all time, is a stellar example of a procedurally-generated game.

• 2000s – Mobile gaming

As mobile phone technology developed, so did their ability to become capable gaming devices. While limited in processing and graphical power by their small size, their multi-functional capabilities and portability have led to their positioning as the most popular and accessible gaming devices in the world.

Casual games dominate the mobile game library. They are specifically designed to be played in short, casual sessions, with simple gameplay, straightforward mechanics and quick gameplay loops intrinsic to their success. These games have adapted to the mobile device’s buttoned beginnings and now to their touchscreen successors, with titles such as Candy Crush and Clash of Clans leading the charge. 

• 2010s – VR and AR gaming

The development of virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology in the 2010s has revolutionised the gaming experience and opened the doors to immersive and interactive experiences previously unforeseen. VR games transport players into virtual environments with specifically-designed headsets such as the Good Design Award-winning HP Reverb G2 and Oculus Rift, while AR games transform the real world into a virtual world usually using a mobile phone. 

Beat Saber is a popular example of a VR game, while Pokémon Go captivated the world with AR technology.

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What has fueled advancements in video game design and development?

The easy answer is rapid technological developments. In the past 60 years, gaming experiences have transformed from necessitating whole-room computer labs to simply requiring your everyday mobile device. The barriers to entry for game design and development have simultaneously decreased, with some of the most popular games available today a result of one person’s work.

But, to be more specific, development in the below areas has empowered gaming to reach incredible new heights and make the medium accessible to people all over the world:

• Graphics processing units (GPUs) and central processing units (CPUs)

CPUs are the computer equivalent to the engine under the hood of a car. Significant development in CPU technology has led to faster, more powerful and adaptable gaming computers, home consoles and mobile devices. Multi-core CPUs such as the Intel Core i7 and i9 series now allow clock speeds up to 5.8 GHz or 5800 MHz. In comparison, the clock speeds of the first generation of arcade machines and home consoles were 8MHz.

GPUs are integral graphical gaming performance. Constant advancement in GPUs have made way for increasingly complex and realistic graphics, higher frame rates and smoother gameplay. Dedicated GPUs, such as the Good Design Award-winning Nvidia GeForce, have brought digital realism to a whole new level. 

• Game engines

In the 1990s, game engines such as the Unreal Engine emerged as a popular way to create games. They provide developers and designers with pre-built libraries of code for graphics, physics and sound, allowing them to focus more on the game design and less on the technical details. Some game developers have even developed their own game engines to release incredibly detailed games like Stardew Valley – the result of one person at the helm of development, art, music, sound effects, story and dialogue.

• Game media development

The data of home and handheld console games were originally stored in read-only-memory (ROM) chips in swappable plastic cartridges. However, as game design became more ambitious, cartridges could no longer handle the data load. 

CD-ROMs quickly became the norm in the 1990s to circumvent this issue. These discs were cheaper to manufacture, held more game data and empowered the world of 3D graphics to be realised in-game. 

Now, discs have made way for fully downloadable games that require no physical media to play at all. The leading console of this current generation, the PlayStation 5, even has a variant without a disc drive to focus entirely on downloadable media. 

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Recognising video game design on a global scale

The Game Design and Animation sub-category of the annual Australian Good Design Awards strives to celebrate the video game designers and developers making waves in the ever-expanding space. With a focus on game, character and set design, this future-focused sub-category understands the incredible impact video games have on our modern world and their potential to uplift the excitement, immersion and fun of anyone – regardless of age and location. 

Make your mark in the video game space by entering your game design for evaluation by an industry-leading jury in the Australian Good Design Awards.

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The 2023 Australian Good Design Awards are open now

Submit your entry and make your mark on a prosperous future for all today. Submissions close 21st April, 2023.

ENTRY INFORMATION HERE

Gen Z encompasses individuals born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s. Also known colloquially as ‘Zoomers”, the population is soon to become the largest cohort of consumers and workers in our modern world. However young, Gen Z’s idiosyncratic, efficient and fast-paced characteristics are already impacting the way various industries operate, market and innovate. 

The design industry hasn’t been spared. The weight of the digitally-native generation is being steadily felt and the thinkers of older design generations have steadily begun to shift the goalposts in order to capture their attention. Now, as Gen Z enters the design workforce, the way we work is transforming too.

Is it for the better? Here we dive into the world of design through the eyes of Gen Z – decide for yourself.

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What design aspects resonate with Gen Z audiences?

Gen Z is the first generation that are true digital natives. They were born into a world thriving in tech­no­log­i­cal inno­va­tion – where infor­ma­tion is imme­di­ate­ly acces­si­ble and face-to-face socialisation isn’t the only option. Social media is a natural part of the everyday and on-demand everything is just about expected.  

The 8-second attention span generation is also more progressive, inclusive and sustainably conscious than all that have come before them. This has evolved a large group of shrewd consumers and innovators who are heavily influenced by first impressions, yet are prepared to look beyond face value before they engage with or create products, designs and initiatives. 

Translating these distinct characteristics into the design space, Gen Z has grown to appreciate:  

1. Mobile-first design 

Zoomers spend almost double the amount of time per day on mobile devices than the rest of the population. Whether it’s to doom-scroll through social media, watch videos or surf the web, the mobile focus of the generation is undeniably clear. For any design, whether it’s the actual project or its marketing, these habits must be reflected through website and app optimisation to best capture Gen Z’s attention. 

2. Personalisation

A desire for individualism, customisation, control and connection are intrinsic to Gen Z. Born into a more progressive system of beliefs that value self-expression and uniqueness, and a digital world full of ever-changing social media profiles, phone backgrounds and trends, a yearning for personalisation in design has naturally blossomed. Designs that can be altered or outstretch a means to reflect oneself are the ones that strike a chord with Gen Z.

3. Minimalism

Clean and minimalist lines, simple outlines and plans, smooth UI and UX, muted colours, and the unobstructed written word – that’s drawing the eyes of Gen Z in almost all areas of design. In a world where companies, products and services fight for the increasingly scarce resource of attention, these characteristics efficiently communicate functionality, viability and impressiveness from the get-go.

4. Authenticity and transparency 

Gen Z strives to connect with designs, designers and design processes that transparently reflect who they are, what they stand for, why they’re here and how they’re making a positive difference. This yearning for authenticity aligns with the generation’s progressive leanings and exposes a need for honest, human-centric and relatable design.

5. Diversity and inclusivity

As a socially-conscious generation that’s been coined the most diverse in history, Gen Z naturally values equality, inclusion and accessibility. They appreciate designs and brands that wear their progressive values on their sleeve and serve a true cross-section of society. They similarly look for design teams that encompass a diverse representation of individuals.

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How are Gen Z designers transforming the design industry?

Gen Z is steadily making their mark on the design profession. With them, they are bringing new design processes, methodologies and values that are already disrupting more traditional approaches to design.

The generation looks at design challenges through a personable lens, much in the same way they look for designs that speak to them and the world they are designing for.

Common characteristics of Gen Z design processes include:

1. Collaboration

With an overarching appreciation and familiarity with diversity, Gen Z designers see collaboration and teamwork as integral parts of the design process. They believe that diverse voices, experiences and insights empower designs that not only speak truly to their target audiences, but evolve a new kind of group-led creativity. Resultantly, Zoomers are often more willing to work in multidisciplinary teams and seek feedback from others.

2. Agility

Online trends come and go, influencers rise and fall, internet speeds rise and social feeds are continually crammed with information. It’s this kind of reality that has solidified a generation more capable than ever to work in fast-paced environments where rapid, iterative approaches are the norm and technology is readily available. Gen Z is therefore more partial to agile and malleable design methods that allow for more experimentation, feedback and close communication.  

3. User-centrism

Tying back into the resonant value of personalisation, Gen Z designers are highly focused on serving user needs and preferences. They design for a specific someone or something, prioritising market feedback to challenge pain-points from a consumer perspective and curate designs that speak with, not to, their users. 

4. Data-driven

Gen Z is intrinsically intertwined within the age of data. Data collection, use, selling and theft, data-driven and artificial intelligence technologies –  designers are comfortable with data and analytics and are more likely to use data to drive their design decisions. They often incorporate data analytics tools into their design processes to gain insights into user behaviour and preferences.

5. Sustainability

Born into a world in environmental disarray, Gen Z has become a sustainability-focused generation both in design and in consumption. This may explain why many Zoomer designers are committed to animating sustainable solutions through design or innovate with sustainable materials. It’s a focus they transparently share with all stakeholders.

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Gen Z is leading the future of design

Gen Z consumers and designers bring an unforeseen set of skills and values to the world of design. They are agile, conscious, collaborative, tech-led and willing to make mistakes as they innovate. They are tied to the internet, have little time to contemplate and want to see a reflection of themselves or their diverse population in the designs they engage with and create. We’re already seeing designs, design teams and design processes change significantly – and this is only the beginning. 

Good Design Australia is welcoming the transformation. That’s why the annual Australian Good Design Awards champions the young designers disrupting the design space and changing the world through the Next Gen Award category. Presented by RØDE Microphones Founder and Chairman, Mr Peter Freedman AM, the category works to foster a strong cultural groundwork of design, innovation and creativity, all while challenging the rhetoric that ‘innovation comes with age’.

In the last five years alone, the Next Gen Award has encompassed designers under the age of 30 that have developed rapid-bleeding control devices, education toolkits for young migrants, creative solutions tackling plastic toy waste and off-road wheelchair over-tyres. Watch this space. 

Gen Z – take it away!

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The 2023 Australian Good Design Awards are open now

Submit your entry and make your mark on a prosperous future for all – today. Submissions close 21st April, 2023.

ENTRY INFORMATION HERE