Shoot, spy, slash or swear and it feels darn good!

While it may seem like a total waste of time controlling a developed character for numerous hours doing unimportant task—as you may call it—video games actually do have benefits. And they include mental alertness, improved motor skills, enhanced creativity, honing of social skills and improved language. Now it doesn’t seem like an inane recreational activity, does it?
Before anything else, let’s talk about how video games came about.

History of video games

Before there were the ‘Metal Gear’ and ‘Final Fantasy’ franchise, there was ‘Spacewar’, one of the earliest known digital computer games. The earliest being a missile simulator inspired by radar display from World War II played with a Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device. But let’s talk about games that are more ‘playable’, shall we.  

‘Spacewar’ involves two spaceships and the objective is to blast your opponent with torpedoes—though you can’t really tell because they are just strips of white lines—while avoiding the same from your enemy including the sun positioned in the middle.  You will be drawn towards the sun and your controls include clockwise and counterclockwise rotation, thrust, fire and hyperspace (functions like a reset button, but you will appear at an unknown starting position which is highly risky). The background is minimal where it is solid black with only some randomly placed white dots to represent starfield.

Then came ‘Pong’ which was released in 1972. It is like table tennis without the net and points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other.  It was the first commercially successful video game which led to the start of the video game industry.  And during this period, video games also diverged into different platforms: arcade, mainframe, console, personal computer and later handheld games.

The Golden Age of arcade video games

1978 was the Golden Age of arcade video games with releases such as ‘Space Invaders’ by Taito followed by Atari’s ‘Asteroids’ in 1979. Then came along ‘Pac-Man’ which marked the popularisation of coloured arcade video games. They were prevalent in shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants and convenience stores. In fact, you can still find these classic games online today.

History of video game consoles

The first home console was the Magnavox Odyssey. It used cartridges that mainly consisted of jumpers that enabled/disabled various switches inside the unit, altering the circuit logic. This provided the ability to play several different games using the same system, along with plastic sheet overlays taped to the television that added color, play-fields, and various graphics to 'interact' with using the electronic images generated by the system.

In the 70s and 80s, home computers evolved rapidly which allowed owners to program games themselves. To play most of the games, all they have to do is key in game codes available in computer books or magazines into the computer. Sounds complicated? Because it is. And thank God there were floppy disks, cassette tapes, and ROM cartridges that replaced the playing complication soon after.  

Video game genres

Personal computer games gained more popularity in the 80s, and that led to cost reduction due to mass production. This in return caused developers to create bolder, innovative games thus, came the dawn of different genres. They include:

Fighting games

As the genre implies, you basically beat the bejesus out of your opponent. They are mostly one-on-one close combat or versus and your controls include blocking, punching, kicking and counter-attacking. Special moves can be created by timing a specific movement of your joystick with a button or more.

Adventure games

Here, you are transported to a realm where the main character lives, whereby you will also play him or her. There is a storyline and you will grow emotionally with the character just like films. The genre could be mystery, fantasy, horror, comedy, etc.  They are usually puzzle-solving instead of senseless beating.

Racing games

Like all race competition, your objective is to finish the race in 1st position. Of course, that is easier said than done, with other racers trying to outrace you not to mention obstructing the road as well.  Racing games can be turned into hardcore simulations or simpler arcade games. They could be on air, road, sea or space with any type of vehicles.  

Platform games

This genre generally includes jumping and falling to a suspended platform. Timing and balancing is essential to survive. It is also possible to control your jump, fall from platforms or miss jumps. Due to the blandness of the gameplay, games in this genre these days usually incorporate other elements such as shooting, swinging and even RPG.