The industry The video game had its commercial debut in the early 1970s, when manufacturing costs for electronic devices were much more manageable. But since the late 1950s there have been precursors in technological institutes and universities, such as "Tennis for Two" (1958) or "Spacewar!" (1962), considered non-commercial pioneers of video games, since they required sophisticated machinery for the time, such as the oscilloscopes. However, with a version of "Spacewar!" for a PDP-6 / PDP-10 computer, the first ever video game championship was held in 1972.
Every video game is a software entertainment, content on discs or some type of physical support and executed on an electronic or computer device, which can be a traditional computer, a tablet, a smartphone or a home video game console, that is, a game device that connects to the TV screen and receives instructions from the user through different types of knobs or controls.
At the end of the 20th century, the video game industry went from being a rarity to occupying a very prominent in the commercial entertainment sector, especially in industrialized nations. Its total sales in 2010 are estimated to have been around $ 22.4 billion, in the United States alone. The global video game market is controlled by the
oligopoly of its three main developer companies: Sony (13% economic participation in the sector), Microsoft (12%) and Nintendo (12%). However, there are many other "indie" companies, that is, independent ones.
Video games, in general, offer a gaming experience based on multiple sensory stimuli. They combine visual animation with music and sound effects, plus vibration from controls or force feedback, in some cases. Its purpose is to provide the player with some kind of interactive story or situation, through the use of artificial intelligence.
Originally, video games were marketed on their own small electronic device, that is, to change the game you had to buy an entirely different device. Later, video game consoles appeared, in which it was possible to alternate between one game and another by inserting the cartridge, disk or device that contained the game. And then came computer games, which required installation on a personal computer. The most recent trend in this regard has to do with video games on-line, that is, they are played on the Internet and require more than a fast connection than a physical medium, whether on computers, computers, telephones or tablets.
The long-term effects of video games on childhood have always been a controversial topic. Many times the industry has been blamed for the violent behavior of some young people or even for the appearance of epilepsy. Today we know that video games are no more dangerous than other forms of entertainment, but that many times they are lights and visual effects they have can trigger epileptic or photosensitive people, episodes dangerous.
Video games constitute at the beginning of the XXI century one of the forms of entertainment most consumed by the population youth, although there is also an audience of adults between 30 and 50 years old. Its popularity and acceptance have been such that formal championships have been held since the late 1990s. e-sports, that is, electronic sports or cyber sports.
Many video games are considered forms of narration close to art or properly artistic, with an aesthetic, sensitive and human content comparable, for example, with that of the literature or the cinema. In the first decades of the 21st century, many industrialized nations characterized in their laws the videogames as “cultural assets” that merit legal protection and that are part of the cultural legacy of the nations.
One of the biggest health concerns around video games has to do with gambling or gambling addiction, especially in children or young people. This phenomenon can hinder the academic, social and even intellectual performance of people, just as any other form of addiction could. There is, however, debate about what would be a healthy amount of video game exposure time.
When it comes to classifying video games, playability is usually taken into account, rather than visual or narrative differences. Thus, we can distinguish between:
It is important to note that these categories are not mutually exclusive, so we can play a role-playing game and strategy, or combat simulation, for example.
References:
"Videogame" in Wikipedia.
"History of videogames" in Wikipedia.
"Video game industry" in Wikipedia.
"Video game genre" in Wikipedia.
"Electronic sports" in Wikipedia.
"History of videogames" in Retro Computer.
"Some curious facts about videogames" in Puniat.
"Electronic game" in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.