Video Games in Popular Culture: an Exposition Essay

Would it not be awesome if we could do the things one can only dream of doing? Imagine a world where you can be a running back in the NFL, a powerful sorcerer, and Batman, all in the same day. This world does exist and its the world of video games. Video games allow us to escape reality and the stress that comes with it. It is a world of infinite possibilities with something for everyone. You can slay huge aliens with your friends in a virtual reality, harvest the crops from you very own virtual farm, or even run your own country! In the world of video games, you can do whatever your heart desires! But video games have not always been this way and have not always been around. It has taken a

The very first ‘Video Game’ was invented by Edward U. Condon in 1940, At first it was a simple game called ‘Nim’. In nim players try to avoid picking up the last match. Thousands of people played it, although the computer won at least 90% of the games. Around ten years later in 1950, a new computer program was created by Claude Shannon for the game of chess. In autumn of 1972 the first gaming console was released by ‘Magnavox’ and they called it the Odyssey. Three years later, the next big gaming console arrived when Sears sold the first ‘Atari Pong.’ This was the beginning of a long partnership between Atari and Sears. This relationship lasted multiple years, and Sears sold several successful games. Multiple years later in 1985, Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System. This new gaming console dominated the Gaming Industry and grew Nintendo’s Company. Nintendo created several gaming console legends, such as the Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advanced, Nintendo Gamecube, Gameboy Advanced SD, and Nintendo DS, all of which made a huge impact on everybody’s childhood from 1985 to 2005. In the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century Playstation and Xbox also started releasing consoles. They are still to this day making successful Gaming Consoles, and individual games, as well as Xbox and Playstation.

Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them.

Although, seeing as video games are increasingly popular today, not everyone met as unfortunate of a fate. Today, many could credit this to the video game development corporation known as Atari, which arose in 1972 and continuously flourished until about 1982. In 1972, Atari came out with PONG, the first electronic arcade game, and it was an enormous accomplishment that exploded into what is now called the electronic gaming revolution. As time passed, Atari managed to triumph over its competition time and time again, but that is not to say that each of the failed corporations did not feature something that is used today. In fact, a couple of the failed organizations contributed something original to what is common today. For instance, Fairchild Camera and Instrument creating the first system that could play several different games, rather than just one. Another aforementioned group, RCA, was the first to produce and utilize keypad controllers instead of paddles or joysticks. Other consoles that came along, such as Intellivision and Vectrex, sported better graphics than the Atari’s consoles and games, but they still did not manage to gross the amount of money that Atari did because Atari was still on top of collecting all of the most entertaining and enjoyable games of their time. Keep in mind what attracted the masses to video games in the past: fun and addictive gameplay, not how good they looked. Now that the principal eras of gaming have been

The first console was called the Brown Box and was mad by a TV maker, Ralph Baer. The Brown Box was made in 1967. Nolan Bushaell bounded Atari in 1972. Atari then had its first big hit with the infamous Pong. In 1980 Mattel releases the Intelivision which is the first challenge against Atari’s rule. Nintendo wasn’t always the video game we know, it was originally a Japanese playing card company. In 1985 Nintendo releases the Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment System, Wow what a creative name that is. Then in 1989 they released their second smash hit with the Gameboy, to compete with other companies such as Atari, Who released their Atari 2600. It included the newly released Tetris which would grow to become a massive hit to top off the huge sales of the Gameboy. In 1991 the super Nes is released. Then the original PlayStation is released in 1995 becoming extremely popular. To combat this popularity Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 in 1996. It includes favorites such as Mario 64, Zelda, and Metroid. The PS2 is released in 2000 marking the beginning of a new era of game consoles. It is the first console to include 128 bit graphics. A problem with original game consoles such as the Atari 2600 is they had little memory. With such little memory Graphics could only be up to 160 by 228 pixels. The normal today is 1925 by 1080 pixels. Some of the earliest adventure games used text instead of images to create the world you’re in. The first of these “text” games was

World 's first commercially sold coin-op video game was called “Computer space”. It was created in 1971 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Unfortunately it wasn 't successful due low marketing, the complicity of game play and difficulty of controls. But creators of “Computer space” didn 't

When video games were first being introduced to the general public, they weren’t all that exciting. Most gaming took place in arcades and most arcades didn’t have many game cabinets due to their being very few games to begin with. However, all of this changed when the Atari 2600 was released. At the time, Atari was known for their home computers and their hit arcade game “Pong”. Though the Atari 2600 might not have been the first video game system, it was definitely the most successful at that time and a great success for Atari’s first attempt at a home video game console. Thanks to the success of the 2600, video games began to take off and arcades started popping up all over the world with hits like “Pac-Man” and “Donkey Kong”. These would be the

Video game effects are relatively new in modern society. Even though these games are often entertaining, the content of the game has been increasingly more and more violent as technology becomes more prevalent. The popularity of violent video games has caused an increase in controversy. Parents and experts feel that some games are just too violent and they demand the government to regulate the sales of these games. However, violent video games do not cause an increase in aggression, in adolescents. The forceful plan by the government is caused by an exaggeration of the effects of violent video games and this plan are indeed pointless.

Today we see video games as a fun way to spend your time or a complete waste of time. Video games are sold and played worldwide. Video games were first used by scientist. In 1952, British professor A.S. Douglas created OXO, also known as tic-tac-toe, as part of his doctoral dissertation, which is a long essay on a particular subject, at the University of Cambridge. The first arcade video game sold commercially was Computer Space by Nutting Associates, which was introduced in 1971. In 1972, Atari offered a new video game called Pong. An interesting thing to mention is that Atari was created by Nolan Bushnell, the man who created Computer Space. He left Nutting Associates to create Atari. Pong was the first truly successful commercial arcade video game. It was a great hit when it came out.

Gaming has been around since the 1960’s and was nothing like the high definition games that we currently sitting in the living room, it was simply a game where a player controls a paddle and hits a ball back and forth similar to the more famous game the world knows as Pong. In 1970’s the very first arcade video games were being developed and by 1978 to 1982 also known as the golden age of arcade video games these coin hungry machines were easily found in a plethora of

“The colored TV series was only for sale in Japan”, Nintendo’s consoles basically followed in Atari’s footsteps with their own “Pong-style Games”. With every big named console release came newcomers at that time, but few actually made more than one console. Bally Astrocade came in 1977, it was very liked for it’s “superior graphic capabilities”. In less than a year Bally Astrocade was gone an a newcomer by the name of Mattel created their own console called “Intellivision” in 1979, which “actually intimidated the Atari 2600”. Coleco was still pushing out new consoles to try and out sale Atari 2600, “Coleco had consoles for playing shooting, car racing and pinball games”. through all of the new consoles between 1978 and 1980, the Atari 2600 stayed at the top, mainly for it’s “cartridge-based

The very first video game was founded in the late 1940’s games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. “The earliest example is from 1947—a "Cathode ray tube Amusement Device" was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U.S. Patent, inspired by radar display tech, it consisted of an analog device that allowed a user to control a vector-drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets, which were drawings fixed to the screen ”.Video games had no representational images or art they were moving blocks and simulations during the 1950s and 1960s. This all changed during the arcade era in the 1970s, with the creation of arcade games and the rise of the early Nintendo. Games such as Mario, Atari, Duck hunt, Mike

Through the decades, the video game industry has rapidly improved the technology to home gaming. Video games have become a real influence on the curriculum of the modern entertainment industry. Video game campaigns have a very strategized, but hidden way of luring people to buy their product. I believe that the way that they use social influence like Facebook or twitter to spread the word that their new video game is coming. Social influence is a huge way to advertise and seduce the video game obsessed population to purchase their product. They also seem to use perception and sensation during commercials as they show previews of the game and start the new upgrades to last year 's game. Furthermore, they show critics ' reviews in big bold letters to show the audience that these big name brands like Ubisoft, Konami, and Capcom who support the game. The advanced technology of vibration and action make it hard for young video game entrepreneurs not to buy the new game. People can also be influenced by stress and emotion.Video game campaigners use scientific studies on how video games affect psychological disorders and they make sure to state those studies in the commercials and reviews on the new games. As you can see psychology has a lot to do with our everyday lives, and with companies trying to attract their target audience.

Herman et all (2002) points out that history of video games begins from 1971 year, when Nutting association released 1500 machines with Spacewar video game. At the beginning it was too difficult to control the game process and playing machines had huge dimensions. But by the time with new technologies they become more compact and easier to play. According to the information given by Herman et all (2002), the period between the years of 1978-1981 is called ‘golden age’ of video game industry. In this period the arcade games ‘Football’ and ‘Space Invaders’ were released. All previously known sale records were broken by these two games with nearly equal wages. In this time interval great breakthroughs in the field of graphics were achieved,

The time around the new millennium offered new technologies and design capabilities. Here is when the idea of computer and online gaming really took off and has led to what we see in the gaming world today. Graphics and devices significantly improved which allowed for users to experience games in a more realistic, live way and to share that new experience with multiple players online. Like many other areas within technology, the computer and online gaming world started off simple and became more complex. In 1962 Spacewar! was one of the first games created for computer use. It was developed by a team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) using minicomputer and new display technologies in order to produce a space mission type of experience for its users. This initial major development led to developments of home game consoles which helped inspire bringing those games to personal home computers. The late 1970s and 1980s brought the development of these personal computer games made by Infocom, a major computer game developer of the time. Their games were based on role-playing and simulation plot lines that the user was able to control and influence. This led to many advancements in multiplayer capabilities. In 1989 another major development was made as the idea of virtual reality was explored. This presented the idea of using