How the 1970’s Sparked the Video Game Industry

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How the 1970’s Sparked the Video Game Industry Would it not be awesome if we could do the things one can only dream of doing? Imagine a world where you can be a running back in the NFL, a powerful sorcerer, and Batman, all in the same day. This world does exist and its the world of video games. Video games allow us to escape reality and the stress that comes with it. It is a world of infinite possibilities with something for everyone. You can slay huge aliens with your friends in a virtual reality, harvest the crops from you very own virtual farm, or even run your own country! In the world of video games, you can do whatever your heart desires! But video games have not always been this way and have not always been around. It has taken a lot of innovation, creativity, and technology to get to where we are today. Back in the day, gamers would use dials and keyboards to move simple two-dimensional shapes across a tiny pixelated screen. Since then, forty years later, friends and family are able to play together in ultra realistic virtual realities. Games are no longer only played by geeky teenage boys spending the day at an arcade. Video games are now for men, women, boys, and girls of all ages. According to a survey taken by 23 participants at McHenry County College on April 22 2014, 96% of them have played video games before, 61% play video games weekly, and 9 of the 16 women surveyed currently play video games. These results show that not only are video games extremely prevalent in modern day life, contrary to popular belief, a good portion of women play them as well. Many different types of personalities play video games as well. Video games are no longer an activity only desired by introverts. Not since the internet has allowe... ... middle of paper ... ...nsoles, gaming hardware, and the uses of video game that were conceived in the 1970s. These innovative concepts have allowed the video game industry to improve to where it is today. The design of the gaming consoles from the 1970s have lead to the sleek, lightweight, video game consoles of today that act as home entertainment systems. The way computer hardware was first used in video game consoles from the ‘70s has paved the way for the small, powerful components we have today that allow better graphics, more interaction, and more complex controllers. Video games have been used for health treatment, education, and training all around the world thanks to the branching out of its uses in the 1970s. These events in video game history has dramatically shaped the way our world is today. A world where we can be ordinary people by day and orc slaying sorcerers by night.

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