The Evolution of Video Game Hardware
After four or five hours of playing outdoors in the sun, my friends and I would go back home and play FIFA 18 for hours together. We’d joke around and have dinner together before retiring for the day. Some of my fondest memories of my friends were made in front of that TV. Video games mean a lot to different people. They are great stress busters and are great at improving your hand-eye coordination and escaping reality for a little while. With this blog, I’d like to show you how video games have evolved since its commercialisation in 1972 with the classic, Pong.

The Beginning:
In 1972, the first home video game system, Atari was created. They had some games on the system like Computer Space, but the game that propelled the Atari to fame by selling 150,000 units was Pong. The game was a simple table tennis game that consisted of two sticks that would represent the players on either side of the screen and a dot in the middle that would represent the ball. The players would have to pass it back and forth making sure not to miss it. This simple concept made the company bucketfuls of money. The Atari system got an upgrade in 1977 with the Atari 2600 and its cartridge system. They enjoyed great success for many, many years with timeless classics such as Mario Bros, Donkey Kong and Doom among a lot more.

Nintendo:
In the summer of 1983, the Japanese company, Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System or the NES. The NES was a smashing hit and was soon present in almost every household. Ever since their US release in 1985, Nintendo has been at the top of the video game market with consistent product quality and a loyal fanbase. The NES introduced us to many classic characters such as Mario, Link and Zelda, Samus, Kirby and so much more. The company stayed in the market with other consoles such as the handheld Nintendo GameBoy in 1989, the Super NES in 1991, the Nintendo DS in 2004. Nintendo still has its presence in the 21st Century with the Nintendo Wii and the recently released Nintendo Switch which instantly became a fan favourite with titles such as Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the Switch.

Tetris:
In 1985, a Russian programmer by the name of Alex Pajitnov created the PC game, Tetris. The game is a classic and has had countless iterations over the years. Tetris is almost synonymous with video games at this point and is still played to this day. The game was ported to many platforms such as the NES and the Sega System 16. It won many awards and is even played professionally to this day.

Sony:
Sony released the PlayStation (Commonly known as the PS1 or the PSX) which became an instant phenomenon and became a competitor to the SNES. It ended up selling 20 million units in 1997 which made it the largest selling console of the year. Sony is still a major contender in the video game business. Over 20 years they have released three more gaming systems — the PS2 in 2000, the PS3 in 2006 and the PS4 in 2013 with a vast multitude of games. Each system is a technological advancement in itself with all of them boasting superior processing power and graphics output for their time. The PlayStation hosts some great flagship titles such as Uncharted, God of War, Infamous, Ratchet and Clank and Grand Tourismo among so much more.

Microsoft:
Looking at the success of Sony with the PlayStation systems, Microsoft released the Xbox 360 which offered “The most powerful gaming experience ever”. The main feature of the console was the Xbox Live Voice Chat feature that enabled players to talk to each other in real time while playing the game online. This feature paired with the online multiplayer experience of the Halo games had players addicted to the console. There have been many stories of people finding some close friends over Xbox Live and them only feeling alive while playing on the XBox with these friends. The console was succeeded by the Xbox One which was released in 2013 as direct competition to the Sony PlayStation 4. Some of the iconic games on the Xbox were Halo, Gears of War, Forza, Cuphead and Quantum Break among others.

PC:
The PC hardware for video games has also significantly improved allowing computers to support games with complex animations and life-like graphics. We have 4K monitors, superior GPUs and peripherals (i.e. keyboard, mouse, headset etc.) made for the sole purpose of playing video games. The GTX 1080Ti boasts 11 gigs of VRAM and is the best GPU that is commercially available in the market right now. It indeed is the golden age of video games.

Video games have evolved from a few pixels moving on a screen to controlling a lifelike person walking through a thriving city. Virtual reality is slowly becoming the next big thing in video games especially with big companies like Sony, HTC, Oculus etc. cashing in. There is a video game for everyone these days. We have the shooters for the people who’ve had a stressful day or who want to have a fun time, we have puzzle games for people who like to exercise their grey cells, and we even have educative games for children so they can learn the alphabet or maths. Video games provide an escape from reality and its problems. Its a great way to relax with friends and family and just to have fun. Nothing wrong with a little fun, yeah?