Show Notes:

• Brief History of Video Games

  • The first game system designed for commercial home use – the “Brown Box,” in 1967. The “Brown Box” was a vacuum tube-circuit that could be connected to a television set and allowed two users to control cubes that chased each other on the screen. The “Brown Box” could be programmed to play a variety of games, including ping pong, checkers and four sports games.

  • The “Brown Box” was licensed to Magnavox, which released the system as the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. It preceded Atari by a few months, which is often mistakenly thought of as the first games console.

  • 1970s – Roots of multiplayer in chain restaurants around the US. The first example of players competing on separate screens came in 1973 with “Empire” — a strategic turn-based game for up to eight players — which was created for the PLATO network system. (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operation)

  • Too many gaming consoles, and too few interesting, engaging new games to play on them, eventually led to the 1983 North American video games crash

  • Fifth generation game consoles began bringing back popularity in the 90’s with The Playstation (1995) and the Nintendo 64 (1996)

  • Multiplayer gaming over networks “LAN Parties” took over in the 90’s with Pathway to Darkness (1993). LAN – Local Area Network

  • Microsoft entered industry in 2001 with the release of the Xbox and exclusive games such as Halo: Combat Evolved

  • Online video gaming became possible with the internet by the late 90’s and common features by the early 2000’s

  • 2003 – Valve launches their PC gaming service called Steam as a digital video game distribution service

  • 2007 – Smartphones and app stores hit the market – gaming goes mobile

  • 2016 – At least 230 companies are developing Virtual Reality related products and VR games are already on the market

• Future of Gaming

  • Are VR games the future of the industry or just a part of the pie?

  • Where are consoles going to go from here?

    • They won’t ever be able to keep up with PC’s but will they still be a vital part of the industry?

• • What’s the future look like for narrative driven games when free to play games are becoming more popular?

Sources:

• The History Of Gaming: An Evolving Community
• Home Video Games Consoles Timeline
• The 10 Biggest Changes of the Last 10 Years in Video Games
• 5 facts about Americans and video games
• Gaming Disorder – World Health Organization
• You won’t find the new pop stars in movies. You’ll find them on Twitch.
• Video Games Aren’t Why Shootings Happen. Politicians Still Blame Them.
• Can Video Games Actually Teach Kids Empathy? New Study Says Yes
• Virtual reality – Wikipedia