Video Games Impact On Our Society

Improved Essays
The History of Video Games and the Impact on Our Society from 1950-2000

Video games have had a large impact on our society over the decades. It has become one of the most popular interactive mediums in recent human history. Many people either have a home console or computer that they play video games on in their leisure time. The global video game industry today is now worth $99.6 billion, and is projected to be worth $118.6 billion by 2019 . How have video games become this popular? What allowed this industry to become the economic juggernaut that it is today? The beginning of video game history can be traced back to as early as the early 1940’s. In the 1940’s computers were in the process of being commercialized by companies such as IBM.
…show more content…
Video game icons such as Mario or Sonic, as well as the companies they were created by, Nintendo and Sega. They have also affected a whole generation of kids, noticeably boys. This wasn’t always the case however, since video games were initially marketed as something that the whole family could play. This changed though because of “the 1983 video game crash”5. Many factors played into this crash of the gaming market, one of them was because there was a flood of low quality games that made an effort to cash in on the previously booming video game industry . This forced video game companies to rebrand their products. So instead of being in the video game section of stores, they would be put under the toys section instead. Because the toys section were divided between boys and girls, companies had to choose one to market to, and they ended up with boys. This is why the majority of console video game players are male, making up 60% of the user base . Under new branding companies were able to recover from the video game crash, but at the sacrifice of narrowing down their target demographic in the process.
Video games have only been introduced to our society only less than a century ago, but has made an enormous impact on our society today. With the technological advancement of computers, the very first video games could be developed, although not intended for public use. Video games came into their own after they were able to place themselves in arcades and especially household around the world. This triggered the exponential growth of video games and popularized them in our society, and has let them become the medium that it is today that almost everyone can

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    The reading Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, by Tom Bissel addresses change within video games and how these games have changed and how they affect the author. Video games have gone through a major change within recent times and have evolved from simple button mashing games with very uncomplicated themes and narrative to something much more complex. Modern technology has allowed video games to vastly improve storytelling and visuals by allowing much more content to be stored in medium; therefore, video game developers have much more creative freedom and can develop deep and interesting worlds. The technological limitations of past are consistently being surpassed and this is good news for all gamers.…

    • 1372 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Just One More Game…: Angry Birds, Farmville, and Other Hyperaddictive Stupid Games,” written by Sam Anderson talks about the demand for video games. The invention of the Japanese game-making Nintendo was spread across the world in 1989. A hand-held, battery-powered plastic slab was created called the Game Boy. The Game Boy came with one cartridge known as Tetris which was a game that had a goal for people to rotate falling blocks – over and over – to build walls that would eventually disappear when the vertical or horizontal across the screen was completely full.…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Video games have been around for ages. Almost every american household has a gaming console. Video games have become a daily thing to do for most of the youth today. The simulated violence in these games have been said to have negative effects on the youth. There are always people who have blamed video games or games with simulated violence for school/mass shootings and other tragic events.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Video Games: A Misunderstood Medium For many years children and adults have enjoyed a special form of entertainment that provides experiences like no other, the video game. These electronic toys have been on the market since the 1970’s, a recent development, and history has shown that new trends are often targeted as a scapegoat for problems of the time. Currently, the ever growing industry of video games has been the source of such controversy, and is frequently blamed for many of the modern world’s misfortunes. Yet, despite what the media may say, these electronic distractions may actually be better for humanity than previously imagined.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Cultural Artifact Speech

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Computers didn’t play much of a role at first in the gaming culture. At first the gaming industry was dominated by gaming consoles such as the Xbox, PlayStations, and the many Nintendo consoles. The popularity however, did not last long as companies began developing games for the Personal Computer (PC). The creation of games for the computers allowed for innovations that console gaming couldn’t provide. The main innovation being how computers allowed for the connection to the Internet which allowed people to play online games together.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Before you would see people or children outside playing, socializing but now you see somebody and they are on their phone playing games or they are at home playing video games. Instead of exercising, trying to live a healthier life they are at home, making their avatar work out. It was proven that spending too much time watching television or any device could hurt your eyesight, but that does not matter anymore nor being healthy. So much money is spent on video games something that will never be a reality, so video games are not for the better they are truly affecting us in many ways.…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As Games became popular; it…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Much as our choice of books and music does now. They allow us to express ourselves, meet others and create things that we can only imagine. They enable us to share and combine these creations and build vast playgrounds. Now more than ever, games will be visible external amplification of the human imagination. One reason why I believe society has a negative view of video games is the affect on our youth.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why have video games become a big success? Back in the early 1900s, people didn’t have video games, they had simple games such as checker and chess. These two games are still widely played, but when computers and televisions started becoming a normal necessity, virtual games became more apparent. The concept of video games started with the first computer game. This game was a version of tic-tac-toe, created in 1952 by A.S. Douglas, a Cambridge university doctoral student (Hile)…

    • 2069 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Video Games Video games have two sides that can have a large effect on society. My 10 year old step brother plays video games, the choices of video games are both positive and negative. He can be okay while playing Football, Minecraft, and Animal Jam, but when he chooses to play killing games he tends to become disrespectful to everyone in the household. Although the media often associates video games with violence, this common stereotype is often defunct by the countless amount of educational games provided to children. Not all video games can be looked down upon because they may be used as creatively.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For gamers like me, playing is an escape, an adventure the real world cannot give us. For those of us who can’t ski down the steepest slope, fight off a zombie invasion, or play in the NFL. Video games give us a chance to experience these kinds of things for ourselves. You won’t want to miss out on how our gaming technology will be changing in the future. It is definitely one of the most captivating industries in the whole…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Video games: Good or Bad? Since the last decade, video games – in the public eye - have been considered as a negative impact to our society. Government officials, news reporters, and parents alike have all pointed the finger at video games and their developers for — in one way or another — poisoning the minds of their children. However, recent studies have shown that video games is actually not a bad influence to our kids, and on the contrary, it could be the tool to develop their skills.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Video games are electronic games played using computers or special game players such as the Xbox or PlayStation. Xbox and PlayStation are dedicated computer sets that work with television sets. Video games represents a society and reflects the belief or value of that society which are portrayed through personalities, social class, beliefs and value of those who created and designed the game. Video games are characterized by entertainment, rules, locations, competition, unreal, genres and cheating. There have been controversies over some video games because it is said to promote the ideas of female sexuality, gendered violence and racial dynamics; an example is Grand theft auto.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gaming today is widely known as part of our cultural scene. Computer and video games have come a long way since the days of Pac-Man, Frogger, Tetris, Super Mario, Angry birds and Tic-Tac-Toe, and so have those who have played them. Nowadays, games are enjoyed by all type of players and backgrounds and parents are more involved in making sure that the ones their children plays are age-appropriate. Although, the initial concern on playing video games is that it is not an active way for children and adult to spend their time, even though nearly 70percent of American households play video games. The evolution of video games has evolved over the years; the odyssey game was primitive, displaying only spot of light on the TV screen, and it required…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Video Gaming, a Global Phenomenon Technology is a key element in our society and it is here to stay. Preconceived notions have been made about whether or not our pop culture may act as a hindrance in our world. One of the most positive points that can be made by this was through the use of kids playing video games. Children playing video games acquire important skills such as academic success, decision-making and creativity. Video games, although they were fun, weren’t necessarily used for either algebra or English.…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays