Changes in lifestyle and the arrival of technology in human life changed many things; for example, play and the tools associated with it underwent a striking transformation. One of these transformations was the arrival of video games, consoles and so on in the life of people today.
The change and evolution of video game tools over time
In 1970 Computer Space entered the arena of video games; a machine that a few simple chips controlled. In those years no one even imagined that a machine with only one display screen and a few simple keys could bring about such a transformation in the world of gaming. The image below shows a view of the evolution of the video game industry over the past half-century.
Pong; the firsts
Two years later, in 1972, the video game Pong came into operation. Pong is the first online video game of that period and was inspired by tennis. This game was able to become the first successful coin-operated machine and took the first step in earning revenue through video games.
Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man; born in Japan
Only a decade later, in 1980, the Japanese game Pac-Man with a circular yellow character joined the ranks of video games. This game quickly became popular and broke the record of more than 1 billion dollars in revenue and even earned more profit than that year's Star Wars box office. The impact of this game on arcade machines, which are in fact the fathers of home game consoles, was abundant.
Another achievement of this game was the entry of women into the world of gaming. Toru Iwatani, the designer and creator of this game, repeatedly stated in his interviews that his most important goal in making the second version of Pac-Man, namely Ms. Pac-Man, was to attract women to the world of gaming, because games for women in the world are few. This game can be considered the point at which game-makers paid attention to women and felt the need to expand the audience of digital games.
Color TV-Game; a compatriot of the Pac-Man family
Among other transformations in the world of video games, one can point to the arrival of the first game console Color TV-Game in 1977, which belongs to the Japanese company Nintendo. Color TV-Game was the first step in turning arcade machines into game consoles.
The years when video games had a bad run
Despite all the strengths and attractions of video games, this industry too, like other industries, suffered a recession in the period from 1983 to 1985. Among the important reasons for it, one can point to market saturation and the use of low-quality equipment.
Nintendo's efforts; another birth
The Nintendo company continued its efforts in those years and was able in 1989 to bring its first handheld console, named Game Boy or Atari, to market. It was not long before the world warmly welcomed this small handheld device that had only one free game named Tetris. Atari was able to achieve global sales of 75 million units.
Mobile games and a new form of them
As decades passed, the form and appearance of video games changed enormously, such as the arrival of the first Sega device, PlayStation, and mobile games in the world of digital games. The main use of mobile phones until the mid-90s was making and answering calls. With the arrival of famous Nokia phones in people's lives, everything changed; the famous game snake was unveiled for the first time in 1997 on famous Nokia phones and added a new category to digital games.
The new millennium; games we had never seen before
With the arrival of the new millennium, the games industry experienced a noticeable growth. The Sims, the life-simulation game, gained a large audience around the world. The first XBOX console was released in 2001, and in 2002 the first online multiplayer game subscription service (XBOX LIVE) came into being.
In 2004 World of Warcraft or WOW was unveiled for Windows and was able to attract 14 million subscribers. This game is in the category of video, online and multiplayer games and still has many fans. In 2009 the studio Riot Games with its game named League of Legends, which was in the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) style, was able to become the world's largest electronic sport.
The transformations that mobile games brought with them
We said that the arrival of mobile phones in human life transformed video games, and the beginning of in-app purchases shook the world of games. The first type of this game was Candy Crush which was released in 2012.
Pokémon players
The arrival of mobile games based on augmented reality was another major transformation; for example Pokémon Go in 2016 was able to attract the attention of the digital games industry audience and register the record of 500 million downloads in a year in its name. According to a report by The Independent newspaper, this game had put users' lives at risk and caused accidents for a number of players. People who were finding their Pokémon suddenly found themselves in the sea, on a car roof, on train tracks, or even falling from a window or a cliff edge.
Machine-translated from Persian by Namafar; the Persian original is authoritative. Read the original in Persian