The Video Game Explosion

Hook:

In 2008, Mark Wolf, author of “The Video Game Explosion,” traced the beginning of video games back to 1958, to William Higinbotham’s Tennis for Two experiment. He notes that, “The experiment demonstrated interactive control of on-screen game play.” Because of today’s standards, however, most people do not consider this to have been a video game.

Preview:

Gaming has come a long way since the 50s, but its high entertainment value has secured its success and popularity for the last 60 years. The history of video games can be divided into three eras: the era of theory, the transitional era, and the era of pop culture.

Point 1: (Era of Theory)

Today, video games are a large industry with many competing developers. In the early 50s, however, computer gaming was just a theory. While many people regard SpaceWar!, a game developed in 1962 by MIT students, to be the first computer game, Earl Carey writes in 2005 for his book “Retro Game Programming,” that Noughts and Crosses, developed by A.S. Douglas in 1952 preceded it by 10 years. Noughts and Crosses played similarly to tic-tac-toe and, while simple, it was revolutionary for its time. Followed 6 years later by William Higinbotham’s previously mentioned Tennis for Two program, the 50s marked a time of inspiration for computer gaming, and the first steps toward video games becoming popular in culture. It would just take a little more time for them to become mainstream.

Point 2: (The Transitional Era)

According to Michele Jeurgen in “A Brief History of Play,” written in November 2010, Nolan Bushwell programmed the first coin operated video game, Computer Space, in 1971. This would mark the beginning of the arcade era. And with it, the start of commercial gaming. Nick Montfort supplied in 2009 for his book, “Racing the Beam,” that shortly after the release of Computer Space, the first arcade console, Pong, was released in 1972. Built by Atari, Pong acted as the first stepping stone for arcade gaming. But 1972 had even more to offer. That same year, the first home gaming console was released to the public. Known as the Magnavox Odyssey, it was not capable of displaying color, emitting sound, or recording the player’s score, but it was the start of something big. Arcade games like Pong were

increasing in popularity, but they were played by inserting coins, and the machines were far too large and expensive to be owned in common households. The Magnavox Odyssey changed this by allowing people to play video games at home at a much cheaper cost. Video games were now more than a theory: they were a business.

Point 3: (The Era of Pop Culture)

With the success of the Magnavox Odyssey, more home consoles soon followed. Because home consoles were affordable and had high entertainment value, they began appearing in more and more homes. Developers had seen the potential for profit, and soon newer models with improved features were being released. Over the next few decades many