Video Games

Video game

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"Computer and video games" redirects here. For the magazine, see Computer and Video Games. For PC games specifically, see personal computer game. For Console games specifically, see console game.

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A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device,[1] but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of display device. The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld devices. Specialized video games such as arcade games, while previously common, have gradually declined in use.

The input device used to manipulate video games is called a game controller, and varies across platforms. For example, a controller might consist of only a button and a joystick, while another may feature a dozen buttons and one or more joysticks. Early personal computer games often needed a keyboard for gameplay, or more commonly, required the user to buy a separate joystick with at least one button.[2] Many modern computer games allow or require the player to use a keyboard and a mouse simultaneously.

Video games typically use additional means of providing interactivity and information to the player. Audio is almost universal, using sound reproduction devices, such as speakers and headphones. Other feedback may come via haptic peripherals, such as vibration or force feedback, with vibration sometimes used to simulate force feedback.

Contents [hide]

1 History

2 Overview

2.1 Platforms

2.2 Genres

2.3 Classifications

2.3.1 Core games

2.3.2 Casual games

2.3.3 Serious games

2.4 Educational games

3 Development

3.1 Downloadable Content

3.2 Modifications

3.3 Cheating

3.4 Glitches

4 Theory

5 Social aspects

5.1 Demographics

5.2 Multiplayer

5.3 Benefits

5.4 Controversy

6 Commercial aspects

6.1 Game sales

6.2 Criticism

7 Video game museums

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

11 External links

History

Main article: History of video games

See also: First video game

Tennis for Two, an early analog computer game that used an oscilloscope for a display

Early games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947--a "Cathode ray tube Amusement Device" was filed for a patent on January 25, 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on December 14, 1948, as U.S. Patent 2455992.[3]

Inspired by radar display tech, it consisted of an analog device that allowed a user to control a vector-drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets, which were drawings fixed to the screen.[4]

Other early examples include:

The NIMROD computer at the 1951 Festival of Britain

OXO a tic-tac-toe Computer game by Alexander S. Douglas for the EDSAC in 1952

Tennis for Two, an interactive game engineered by William Higinbotham in 1958

Spacewar!, written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen's on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961.

Each game used different means of display: NIMROD used a panel of lights to play the game of Nim,[5] OXO used a graphical display to play tic-tac-toe [6] Tennis for Two used an oscilloscope to display a side view of a tennis court,[4] and Spacewar! used the DEC PDP-1's vector display to have two spaceships battle each other.[7]

In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially sold, coin-operated video game. It used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips.[8] The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green. Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the "Brown Box", it also used a standard television.[4][9] These were followed by two versions of Atari's Pong; an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975.[10] The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, spawning the video game industry.[11]

Overview

Platforms

See also: History of video games

The term "platform" refers to the specific combination of electronic or computer hardware which, in conjunction with low-level software, allows a video game to operate.[12] The term "system" is also commonly used. As well, newer video game platforms are also known as next "gen" consoles.

In common use a "PC game" refers to a form of media that involves a player interacting with a personal computer connected to a high-resolution video monitor. A "console

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