Blog Post #4

 The first ever video game created was called Tennis for Two. It was created by William Higinbotham in 1958 on an oscilloscope. It was meant to be a fun little party trick for people to see on an otherwise non fun device however, it would be the spark for an industry that would eventually become bigger than even Hollywood. 

The first ever computer designed for the sole purpose of playing games was the Magnavox Odyssey. It was created by Ralph Baer in 1967 and it was capable of playing very simple games and sold about 700,000 copies. One of those simple games was Pong. Pong was developed by Atari and obviously took inspiration from Tennis for Two. Pong was the first globally successful commercial video game and is what a lot of people think of when you think of "The First Video Game".

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/who-invented-the-first-video-game

Atari would be the king of video game development until the mid-80s when Nintendo would launch their own console, the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. Nintendo would develop higher quality games like Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt and would take over 80% of the market space until the late 90's. In the late 90's Nintendo would see some competition from Sega and their Genesis console but ultimately Nintendo would win and keep making consoles. Sony would challenge Nintendo in 1995 with their PlayStation console and it was such a success that Sony would stick around with their consoles until the present day. Microsoft would get into the video game console wars in 2001. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony would have a 3-way console market war until the present day.

Video Games can have negative effects. Spending long hours staring at a screen and only moving your hands is bad for your mental and physical health. You can end up not developing proper social habits if you stay inside and not talk to anyone just playing video games. You can end up with poor mental health if you do not get proper amounts of vitamin D and exercise. And speaking of needing proper exercise if you do not get exercise you will develop all kinds of physical health problems. 

Video games have provided a gateway for people to experience stories without relying on their imagination. You can see new worlds that you would never see in your usual day-to-day lives, you could experience stories that you yourself are influencing instead of watching, stories that you can experience without having to imagine what is happening. For me personally and a lot of designers, video games are a career. I use them as a way to express myself, I pour all of myself into the games I make and it is very beneficial to me as a person. 

Pictured here is me presenting a game that I made. Sure games can have negative effects, but just like anything, the negative effects can be offset with moderation. I put a lot of work into my game. I learned how to network and learned the inner workings of the business and marketing world all because of video games.