Gaming History
The history of video games have probably been around longer than you think. From the “History of Gaming: an evolving community” article, they say that the first recognized “game machine’ was unveiled at the New York World’s Fair in 1940. Which is pretty incredible in terms of the technology then compared to now. But video games have become increasingly popular over the recent years. That same article says, “Since its commercial birth in the 1950’s as a technological oddity at a science fair, gaming has blossomed into one of the most profitable entertainment industries in the world.”
I wouldn’t consider myself a “gamer” but I have played video games pretty consistently since the playstation 2 days, so beyond that I don’t know a whole lot. But the history of gaming and watching how the technology and graphics/gameplay have evolved, as well, is pretty remarkable. The first gaming console, for example, was the “Brown Box” which was release in 1967. Later renamed to the Magnavox Odyssey, it did beat out the Atari system, which was thought to be the first gaming console. Like many know after this, Atari released the first video game, Pong. This is where the arcade games began.
As for multiplayer gaming, player had to play on the same screen until 1973 with the game “Empire”. The game was released by the “PLATO network system” and was limited to large organizations such as universities. “They represented one of the first steps on the technological road to the internet, and online gaming as we know today.”
The road to online gaming was a difficult one. Engineers attempted to use telephone lines to transfer information from console to console but they had problems with the cable companies and internet connection was too slow. We didn’t see the first internet ready console until 2000 with the Sega Dreamcast. Since then, the internet and its processing power have grown exponentially. Now, “3.2 billion people have internet and 1.5 billion people with internet access play video games.” Today, with online marketplaces you do not even need to buy video game discs anymore, you can just download them right on your console.
Another variety I did not even think about when it comes to the advancement in gaming is the mobile gaming experience. You really do not need a console to play video games anymore. They can be played right on your smartphone. This would have been unheard of back in the 70’s. With this and the new virtual reality advancement in technology, who knows where gaming can go. The next big thing will be the virtual reality experience and it will be interesting to see how far they can take that.
