Video games 101

Video games 101

VIDEO games have their fair share of being unappreciated or scoffed at—from being blamed as a precursor to violence to being a cause of addiction.

Today, we set aside all of the negativity and celebrate the existence of video games on “National Video Games Day.” How did video games come to be so popular? Sit back and relax while we take you down memory lane.

Pong (1958)

This game started it all. This video game was a virtual rendition of ping-pong created by William Higinbotham. The rendition was made of simple moving lines and a dot as a ball. “Pong” was a big hit and started selling like hotcakes in the 1970s when video games in general started to become a hit. Who knew people actually preferred to sit down while playing ping-pong? Now, people prefer to sit down while doing almost everything.

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

Dubbed “the Nostradamus of video games,” Ralph Baer started the console type of video games. Magnavox is the first version of a home video game console. This was the inspiration for Atari and Sega which are the second and third generation of video game consoles, which were followed by the more popular Super Nintendo and then Sony Playstation. The industry then gave birth to more modern consoles like the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360, units which were able to detect users’ movements and then incorporate these within gameplay.

Arcade (Late '70s to '80s)

Then came the golden age of arcade games. This was the time when video games really got into business by luring kids to pay to play. This was the era when parents decided to regulate video games by unplugging consoles at home when it was time to study. In retaliation, children started to enthusiastically go to school only to stop by arcades to spend their lunch money.

Pacman (1980)

One of the earliest and most popular games in the arcade was that yellow blob who liked to eat and made weird chewing noises while being chased by ghosts. “Pacman” was created by Toru Iwatani in response to the violent type of video games prevalent in that period. “Pacman” was then followed by popular titles like “Donkey Kong” (1981), “Street Fighter” (1987), “Sonic the Hedgehog” (1991), “Mortal Kombat” (1992), “Tekken” (1994) and then finally “Metal Slug” (1996).

Personal computer

When personal computers (PCs) became more affordable, the trend shifted to PCs and games like “Minesweeper” and “Pinball,” which controlled people bored to death inside their offices. Then games like “Warcraft” and “Counterstrike” came to the rescue; in perfect timing for children who used to waste lunch money on arcades, but this time, they grew up and decided to invest money in internet cafes featuring these games instead. Of course, video games started to become more of a sport than just for fun. Now, players compete internationally for large sums of money as prizes. Who knew, right?

Mobile

Nowadays, there’s no need to stay in one place or connect wires to play video games because smartphones started to have bigger screens. Wi-Fi allowed video games to be taken anywhere and played anytime. It became more addictive but at the same time even more convenient, allowing other things to be done while one played. Popular mobile games include “Candy Crush,” “Angry Birds” and the more current “Mobile Legends.”

Happy Video Games Day! Which among these milestones do you miss or fancy most?

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