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The Life of Video Games
Video games have been widely known and loved since the 80s and are still a big part of life to
many. These games have gone through many different stages of evolution with increasing amounts of
work put into each game, making sure they are built as well as possible. Although games have always
been very popular, it hasnt always been for good reasons. Some games receive great amounts of
controversy for the content within them, sparking debate on banning or censoring some games. Video
games have played such a big part in the growth of todays society and its important to learn what has
made them so popular.
From Pong to Halo, video games have always been changing and improving, going from
simplistic, 8-bit games to advanced gameplay and stories with graphics better than life. The earliest
game ever made was called Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device and was made in 1947 by
Thomas Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. It used a CRT light beam which was controlled by a knob
for trajectory and a button for firing and it simulated firing a missile at an airplane. In 1971 Ted Dabney
and Nolan Bushnell made the first commercially sold and coin operated video game Computer Space
and it is also considered the first true video game (McCall).
Games soon reached households in 1972 with the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey.
Also in 1972 was the release of the game Pong which was extremely successful and started the video
game industry (Poh). In the early 80s, games started advancing greatly with the releases of games such
as Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man, Final Fantasy, and Zelda. These games were critically
acclaimed for being creative and are considered classics.
Consoles and games soon started using cartridges rather than being built with games in them.
1983 was the release of the NES, an 8-bit gaming console made by Nintendo and was considered the
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The Life of Video Games
best gaming console of the generation as well as the first successful 8-bit console and introduced a new
business model of licensing third party developers to produce games for the NES (OConnor). The
NES and Sega Master System soon became the dominating video game consoles of the generation, and
the competition between the two companies led to the creations of the SNES and the Sega Genesis
which were more advanced with improved gameplay and 16-bit graphics.
During the 90s, games and consoles made a gradual change from cartridges to compact discs
and were able to switch to 3D graphics due to the larger storage capacity. The very first console to use
compact discs was the Phillips CD-I which was poorly received. In 1994, the Playstation released
which was was a 32-bit, disc based console that utilized 3D graphics. The Playstation was highly
regarded as the first successful CD based console and is the best selling console of all time (OConnor).
In 1993, the Atari Jaguar was released and was the first console to use 64-bit graphics and in 1998, the
Sega Dreamcast was released and was a pioneer in gaming for its capability of online play.
Now in the 2000s, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the main competing companies with the
Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii for their advanced gameplay, graphics, and innovation (Poh). Video
games have been improving since the beginning and even though they have nearly reached perfection;
they continue to get better.
Making video games requires a lot of time, effort, and resources, but when the use of all three is
done correctly, it will pay off greatly. As usual, all games start from a concept and a rough idea for a
story. The production of all games is led mainly by the lead game designer and the game writer(s). The
game writer will work on the narrative of the story and what/who will be in it such as characters,
creatures, abilities, environment, and most importantly, story. The lead game designer will work on core
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The Life of Video Games
mechanics and gameplay to make sure the ideas of the game writer are implemented properly as well as
designing the characters, items, usable objects, and character abilities. Games are designed to be one of
multiple story styles, types of narratives, and types of conflict. Both the gameplay and story are changed
many times and have different variations such as rewriting key elements of the story and how the
gameplay is structured. The writers will create a beat chart which will be used to set and idealize the
events that happen throughout the story and within each level. They then flesh out the player character
as well as other characters and NPCs and how they all react to each other. There are level design
templates and dramatic level templates that are also designed to how each level plays out as well as the
story events that happen within them. Most games are also given special story or gameplay hooks to
attract gamers and get them to purchase it (Dille and Platten 104). After all is done, the players then
design the play mechanic, figure out what technology to use, and start fleshing out the core game
concept.
There are four departments in a development team when making a game: design, programming,
art, and production. Concept art for all characters, creatures, levels, and items are drawn out before
getting to technological design. These concept arts can have many different designs or drafts before a
final design is chosen. After the concept art is sorted through and picked, the cinematics, startup screen,
and levels are finally created and added to the game. The developers also work on control configuration
as well as implementing the character effects such as health, damage, armor, and power ups. After the
main game and options are finished, it is then localized for other game markets with edits to things like
text, language, and speech (Dille and Platten 110). Video games require a lot to make and can be a real
challenge at times, but when care and effort is put into it, it can be a true classic.
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The Life of Video Games
Video games have been made for the entertainment of all, but these games are believed by
many to have negative effects on those players and they have been fighting to put regulations on most
games to keep certain games out of the hands of children. The main debate for these games are that
they affect the behavior of the people playing and that they grow desensitized from violence as well as it
steals time from other important activities. It is also believed that video games can lead to addiction due
to the increase of dopamine levels when playing. Video games are also rumored to cause people to
make reckless decisions based on the events that happen within those games. It has been since
debunked with many saying that there is a small number of people who have a hard time separating
reality from fantasy. Video game supporters say that they dont cause harm and that these statements
are unfair generalizations with little to no facts to support these claims. It is actually widely believed that
playing video games can be beneficial in moderation with benefits such as stress relief as well as
improved coordination and concentration (Parks 25). Many gamers also spend most of their lives
around games and are perfectly fine.
One of the bigger issues of this debate is the belief whether games cause violence or not with
protesters saying that violent games cause violence and make people commit crimes (The Impact).
These beliefs are made for video games and not movies because in games, the player takes direct
control of what happens within them rather than in movies and T.V. where you just watch the events
that take place within them. People that oppose this idea believe that games cannot take be the only
cause of violence but rather a mix of different influences. This is supported by a study that shows that
violence has decreased as games have become more popular. Games are also thought to reduce
aggression and are used as stress relievers to escape from reality and let out frustration. The solution
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made to keep violent games from younger gamers was the ESRB system. it is a rating system designed
to tell customers its recommended age and for what reasons. Whether you believe games should be
regulated or not, they are an important way to help out those dealing with stress and improve skills.
Many people all around the world love video games, but not many know much about the history
of video games. Few truly know how they started, the work that goes into each game, and all the bad
publicity many games must deal with before and after release. This is important for those making games
to know and interesting for players to learn and know more about.














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The Life of Video Games
Works cited
Dill, Flint, and John z. Platten. The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design. N.p. :
Lone Eagle Publishing, 2007.
McCall, Jeremiah. The Gaming Evolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2014
<Teachinghistory.org>
OConnor, Rebecca. From Pac-Man to WOW: the Evolution of Video Games. N.p., 16
Apr. 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2014 <tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com>
Poh, Michael. Evolution of Home Video Game Consoles:1967-2011. N.p., n. d. Web. 8
Apr. 2014 <hongkiat.com>
Parks, Peggy. Video Games. N.P. : Referencepoint Press, 2008.
"The Impact of Violent Video Games." The O'Reilly Factor. Fox News. 18 Sept. 2013. Web.
3 May 2014.