Follow the History of Full Sized Arcade Games to Now

Video games have undergone quite a transformation over the last few decades. Game mechanics, design, and theme have evolved for more complicated storylines and styles of play. However, people still like the simplicity of the past and often turn to full sized arcade games when they want a taste of childhood nostalgia. In order to understand where games are going, it is important to look back and remember where they came from. Video games have a long and rich history that developers can learn from as they move toward the future.

In order to learn the history of games, it is important to get some definitions straight. What is a video game? According to experts, video games are electronic, first and foremost. The game is displayed on a monitor with computer-generated images and these images are manipulated through game-play or viewership. In more technical terms, a video game must have a video signal which is transmitted to a cathode ray tube. This creates a rasterized image on a screen.

When arcade games became popular in the 70s and 80s, the video game industry really started to blow up on a large scale. However, video games were not always this big of a phenomenon. Video games started out as just an experiment, a way to test the technology of the time in a fun way. Bertie the Brain is one of the first video-game-like products created. In 1950, Josef Kates built a four-meter-tall machine to play Tic-Tac-Toe. This artificial intelligence was displayed at the Canadian National Exhibition. Then, in 1958, William Higinbotham created Tennis for Two. This was considered the first real video game, debuted at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The game used a small analog computer and controllers to simulate a tennis game. Fourteen years later, Pong would come into existence.

Since the invention of Tennis for Two and Pong, the world of imaginative electronic games opened up for the world. Video games were no longer some creative physicist’s hobby, they were a valuable product that was drawing paying customers. The spike of arcade games for sale in the 70s and 80s showed that regular people of all different ages were interested in video games. Young people liked video games because they allowed them to meet people and socialize in a fun and casual way.

After Pong, Atari became the widely popular gaming console of the day. Nearly every person in the 80s had an Atari in their household. Then, not far behind the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES became a popular gaming console to strike the masses. There have been golden ages and recessions for the video game industry but one thing remains certain: people like to have fun. Video games and full sized arcade games allow people to distract themselves from the stress and worries of their day-to-day. It’s a form of escape, much like movies or TV. In 2017, it’s estimated that the gaming industry generated around thirty-six billion dollars. This number continues to rise each year. People will continue to play games because they will continue to need a reason to unwind and have fun.