History of video games

According to UKIE, the video gaming industry is constantly growing and is estimated to be worth $180.1 billion by the end of 2021. Honestly, this doesn’t come as a surprise as the gaming industry – especially the eSports scene – has really made a name for itself in mainstream news in recent years. Just take the 2019 Fortnite World Cup where a young boy from Pennsylvania won $3 million; the competition and its winner were featured by news channels around the world.

The question is: how did we reach this point? In this post – this very, very long post – we’ll be covering the history of video games – from when it all began to what it could become.

History of video games

Video games are said to have come into existence in the late 1950s/ early 1960s, however, there is some disagreement over this. Spacewar has been dubbed by many as the first video game in existence, by academics such as Steven L. Kent (2010). However, Steven Russel, Spacewar creator, has pointed out that there were two interactive programmes that existed before Spacewar but “they weren’t very popular because, as games, they weren’t very good” (Kent, 2010). Both of the pre-Spacewar programmes were created in the 1950s and were extremely simple with one being an on-screen version of tic-tac-toe.

Looking at the games we have today, it’s obvious that there have been many developments since the days of old. Even within the development stages of the first games such as Spacewar there were several things added and adapted to improve the game and make it more realistic. For example, the sun in Spacewar was given a gravitational pull that could help or hinder a player depending on how close they got. They would either, like Icarus, fly too close to the sun and die, or get just close enough to be able to use the suns gravitational pull to help it speed up and beat your opponent.

Although Spacewar is seen as the first entertaining game, there were many in the industry, such as Ralph Baer and Bill Rusch, who wanted to improve the entertainment and “fun” factor even more (Kent, 2010). They together created ping pong, which they later developed into a hockey game, using colour to enhance the gaming experience and make it more hockey-like. In the 1970s video games were moved off the computer and onto the television. This was done originally in order to make money. Magnavox, the TV company who originally had the rights to the first TV gaming console, originally overpriced it. Ralph Bear wanted to price it at $19.95; they sold it for $100. This was the beginning of a trend of overpricing consoles, which is continued to this day. Magnavox made the leap to allow gaming at home on a TV screen. The next big leap could be argued to be Channel F; the first programmable home game to use cartridges. This meant that you could buy the different cartridges from the same company and also meant you didn’t have to buy multiple consoles to play more than one game. Even though this cut down on costs for gamers as you only bought one console, it did mean that you had to stay loyal to one brand and buy the games that were compatible with their specific consoles. An issue we still face today.

Fun fact:
Did you know? Grand Theft Auto wasn’t the first game to spark controversies regarding its depiction of violence. Released in 1976 by Exidy, the arcade game known as Death Race is the world’s first scandalous game. Protests over the game and its incitation of violence were reported on the news in the US.

The 1980s was a good time for video games. Nintendo began its rise to prominence after releasing the Gameboy in 1989. Iconic games such as Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy and Tetris were developed and released by Nintendo around this time. This is when the development of both games and consoles really picked up. The 1990s also saw some timeless iconic games (particularly Pokémon Red and Green versions in 1996) being released along with the merger of companies; resulting in Sega controlling a lot of the market for the first few years of the 90s. Nintendo retaliate by releasing another Donkey Kong game and take back control pretty effortlessly. Despite the continuous discussion regarding issues surrounding video game violence – with hearings occurring in the US – the boom in popularity for gaming continued with Nintendo selling it’s billionth cartridge in 1996. In 1997, Bandai release Tamagotchi. Although it may not seem like a very big mile stone in the world of video gaming, it allowed players to carry around a gaming system in their pockets for a relatively small price. It was child-friendly and opened up the idea of mini handheld consoles that can be easily used by young children, making the already thriving market even bigger.

Game development wasn’t just limited to game portability and variety, it also occurred in the game visuals area. In 1987 we got the Handy Game by Epyx which later became the Atari Lynx in 1989; it was the first handheld gaming console in colour. This allowed companies to attract customers based on visuals as well as the quality of the game.

By the early 21st century, the popular game consoles that we have today had been released; PlayStation and Xbox. Considering that that was two decades ago, it is impressive that both Microsoft and Sony still have such a big hand in the market, especially as they didn’t start out as gaming companies. During the 2000s, we watched the rise of online, PC and mobile gaming. Video games are accessible on almost every device we use today.

Along with gaming moving onto various platforms, there were numerous developments in the equipment and accessories needed to play the games. Regarding equipment, the controllers no longer had to be plugged in with consoles and have evolved into wireless, directional pads with two joysticks and directional buttons. Of course, Nintendo took a different route by making their games more interactive and physically engaging as shown in the Wii remote. The motion control aspect meant players were no longer confined to sitting in one spot and could move around and experience games differently. In terms of accessories, we have headphones with speakers, protective cases and charging docks at our disposal.

Regarding game portability, Nintendo and Sony took portable gaming up a notch with the Nintendo DS and PSP. The hardware and software of these portable consoles were instantly worlds away from the first handheld consoles.

Then we reach the 2010s. Virtual reality (VR) gaming is something you can have in your living room; augmented reality (AR) gaming brought the virtual world to the real world; and the Nintendo Switch made it possible to have a TV gaming console and a portable gaming console all in one.

Video games today

Today, there are technological advancements and game developments galore. But what has the late 2010s brought to the gaming world? Well, it can be largely argued that the advocacy for social change is a major development that has been expressed through games such as PC game Rust. Newman, one of Rust’s developers, talked about the backlash they received for randomly allocating gender and race (2016). He talks of males complaining of not being able to connect to the female characters and accusing them of forcing feminist political agenda on them. Considering that women make up 50% of the gaming audience but only 10% of games have female characters (according to Sebag-Montefiore, 2017), it’s not surprising that Newman mentions that they got far fewer complaints from women. He points out that they have been forced to play as white men for years and so connecting with the character they play as isn’t as high on their agenda. Rust is just one of many games released in the 2010s that point out social inequalities and try to be more inclusive.

It’s not just societal changes and opinions that have affected games. Diving into the aforementioned point of technology advancements, the 2010s saw the introduction of augmented and virtual reality into the gaming world.

What does the future hold for video games?

Where will the 2020s take us? Naveet Alang (2019) argues that like other forms of media video games are going digital. Instead of buying a game and owning it for life, we will instead play free games with in-game purchases, such as Fortnite, and subscribe to monthly services, such as the Game Pass. Alang argues that, like other media industries, this is detrimental to video gaming. He believes that the multibillion-dollar industry will decline in worth and it will mean creators are not paid sufficiently for their work. It would also mean that those in the console development industry will be out of a job as games will just be streamed. Alang goes on to point out that although traditional console games are in decline, mobile games are on the up. Games such as Pokémon Go did extremely well and other companies are taking note; with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite using the same AR and location technology.

Regarding AR and VR in games, this technological advancement could be the beginning of our road to a futuristic immersive gaming experience. Think of the popular anime Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale – augmented reality plays a major part in that world’s gaming scene as well as everyday life. If that were to happen, I imagine games would begin to feature real-life minigames or side tasks to advance in the game.

Beyond the technologies already in development, it is difficult to say where video gaming will go for certain. Gaming has come so far since its inception and still has a long way to go in some areas, such as representation. However, it has a very captive and ever-growing audience that doesn’t seem to be dwindling anytime soon.