The first ever computer game, ‘Spacewar!’ was developed at the Massachusetts institute of technology in 1962. Since then video games have become ever more sophisticated giving rise to a billion dollar creative industry. They have been a popular form of entertainment and will continue to be during the 21st Century and beyond. They have influenced art, film, and music, and characters such as Mario and Lara Croft have become modern cultural icons. This essay will show a brief history of the video game and how they have dramatically changed, not just technically, but how they’ve influenced people in society over the years.
The first commercial game was known as Computer Space and was developed in 1971 by Nolan Bushnell. The game was not a success, but its existence lead to further development of future games. The next year, Bushnell set up a company known as Atari, who released a game known as Pong, which was a computerised version of Ping Pong. These games could only be played in arcades and targeted the teenage male.
Another top selling video game of all time was ‘Pac Man’ released in 1980 my Namco. It was popular with both males and females alike. The game involves a character shaped like a pizza with a slice taken out of it, who ran through a maze, eating little dots, being chased by aliens and scoring points. 300,000 copies of the game were sold worldwide and more than 100,000 were sold in the United States alone
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Whilst the world went to war and suffered from famines, video games were continuing to be developed and became an alternative form of entertainment and escapism.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, video games were making their way into the family home on consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Sega Genesis and on Portable Systems such as the Nintendo GameBoy.
In the mid 1990s, 3D graphics were being introduced in to video games. The Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn were two of the first consoles to support 3D graphics and were also the first to use CD ROM based software instead of traditional game cartridges.
The new era of video gaming started in 2000 when Nintendo and Sony both planned to release new consoles. A new player in the video game scene was the multi million dollar computer company, Microsoft, who planned to release their first ever video games console known as the Xbox, which was able to play games, play audio CDs and DVDs and play games via a broadband internet connection. Nowadays, it is possible to see space invaders being played on mobile phones. Wireless gaming is getting broader and deeper with each new iteration. The beta testers who are working on the next generation of games are aspirational like the technical wizards before them who sought to turn computer language into a universe of fun and excitement.
One major difference between video games and other forms of media such as newspapers, radio, television and film is that, in most games, the player follows set instructions which determine the outcome of the game.
The types of electronic games have changed dramatically over time. Today, shooting aliens and rescuing princesses from a magic castle, guarded by some sort of dragon, is considered old fashioned. Instead, hitting the streets in Miami, Florida in a stolen car, robbing banks and running away from the law or creating a virtual relationship between two people are more common. There have been certain games that appeal to adults, and social changes mean that it is no longer ‘geeky’ to play games into adulthood.
The average age of a PC gamer today is 29, and statistics show that 40% of PC gamers are over 36. Many adult gamers play games such as The Sims or Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Although children can enjoy this kind of entertainment, games usually contain adult material such as violence or sexual references. These games can be a bad influence on children who play them, thus making them more violent and aggressive. According to Dr. Jeanne Funk, from the Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, a study was carried out on high school kids who played these types of games and found that 49% played games involving violence, 29% played sport games (which may contain some sort of violence) and 2% preferred to play educational games. This demonstrates that over 80% of gamers interviewed played violent games, but this does not mean that everyone who plays these games will become violent. Games come with a rating of Teen 13+, Mature 17+ or Adults Only 18+ from the Electronic Software Rating Board, which prevent minors from purchasing or playing these games. These ratings are used in a similar way by television programs and movies. Professor Mark Griffiths states that the gaming market has indeed matured and is considered a social phenomenon. For example, online games, the older people who play these games are more interested in the co-operative elements rather than competition.
The adult generation has a much larger disposable income, meaning that the budgets in today’s games are extremely high and production costs run into tens of millions of dollars. Today’s games offer a wide range of realistic scenarios, which present this audience with social and ethical challenges.
Video games have indeed changed over time, and will continue to be developed for new forms of technology and enjoyed by everyone for the years to come.
On the down side, according to Jonas Salk, video games are a mindless entertainment and create a wisdom deficit. It is not uncommon for children and adolescents to sit at a computer or a console playing games for hours as an alternative to physical excersise. This is said to be contributing to obesity and health problems. Also, if taken to extremes, video games can be socially isolating.
Weighing up the pros and cons of this recent technology, like all good things, should be taken with consideration and in moderation..
The Video Game Revolution, PBS
Retrieved May 5 2005 from HYPERLINK "http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/" http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/
Hatcher Gabriel, Colin (1998). Violence and Electronic Games. SafetyEd. Retrieved on May 4, 2005 from HYPERLINK "http://www.safetyed.org/help/electgames.html " www.safetyed.org/help/electgames.html
Herman, L. Horwitz, J. Kent, S. Miller, S. GameSpot Presents: The History of Video Games GameSpot. Retrieved on April 28, 2005 from www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov
Grown up Enough to Play? (April 4, 2004) Times Online. Retrieved from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2103-1061575_1,00.html
Masuyama (2002) Pokemon as Japanese Culture? Game On p34-43
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