Component One Section B: Industry and Audience
The videogame industry is a specialised industry.
History of Video Games:
The typical definition of 'video game' is a video signal being transmitted to a cathode ray tube (CRT Television for example).
There are main categories or the original videogames from the 1950's Training and Instructional Programs (like flight or war simulators), research programs, and demonstration programs. It is very difficult to pinpoint the exact first video game because many were being produced at the same time, and all of these use the original technical term.
The first 'video games' were just basic coding feats achieved by computer scientists and M.I.T. students, these were games like digital chess, tic tac toe.
Spacewar! - First widely available video game, was a simple game and does exactly what it says on the title.
The first released home console was the Magnavox Odyssey
In 1972 arcade games became more and more popular, Pong being one of the first and most popular arcade games to this date.
The Japanese Arcade Boom:
After video games became more commercialised with the Odyssey, they started to become more and more popular, the company Atari was formed and was largely heralded as one of the pioneering companies of the video game industry, bringing it into and out of the golden age of video games. In Japan, the popularity of 'medal games' were becoming more popular, as a form of gambling the survived through a loophole that allowed players to cash out the medals in form of actual currency (This still exists today in the market of Pachinko). Arcade plazas became massively popular in Japan post WW2, video game cafes started to open and going to the arcade was more of a social activity. Periscope and Space Invaders were massively popular. Space Invaders (1978) came after Star Wars, and this only served to help its popularity.
The Arcade Boom Of America:
Arcade became even more popular in America as its popularity spiked in Japan in the 80's, production began to increase and many different 'classic' arcade games were produced in this time frame. Some of these included Asteroids, Galaxian, Galaga, Tempest, Defender, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Q*bert. As well as home consoles were becoming more popular (but the games were still quite rudimentary and the home consoles were quite costly), so a lot of the people who couldn't afford this would go to the coin-operated arcades. This was a big money maker.
Bedroom coders and UK Micros:
In the U.K. scene, people would use home computers to make their own games, using the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, these games could be sent off.
Videogame Crash of 1983:
In 1983, thousands of low quality games were produced and released for the Atari 2600, many of these being low quality shovelware titles. With many of the consumers being dissatisfied with these, they stopped buying as many games. Arguably, the straw that broke the camel's back was the atari 2600 game E.T. Being released for the Christmas season and production being rushed as the hit film had recently been released, the game released in a confusing and borderline unplayable state, having relatively nothing to do with the film. The game was sent back by many customers and even more refused to buy it. This led to a massive product recall and a mass dump of the game in the desert. Following this crash, many developers, such as Magnavox, pulled out entirely from the industry as the bubble burst.
Regional Differences Between Japanese Games and the Rest of the World:
In Japan, a lot of the popular games were JRPGs, which focused much more in depth on story rather than hi-scores.
In Japan, many of the games carried different themes, the games often had very stylised and sexualised characters, and the games were generally darker. Examples of this could be Silent Hill and The Fatal Frame series. In the rest of the world however, especially America were much more censored. This is due in part to the games Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, both of which were gory / sexualised and led to censorship laws being put in place. Games were often still seen as a child / teen thing everywhere else but in Japan, where games were more made for adults.
Controversies Surrounding Representation:
Sexualisation:
R. Mika's ass slap was censored in the latest Street Fighter.
Tracer's suggestive pose in the early versions of Overwatch was removed.
Battlefield V female representation - Should females be included and the game still claims to be historically accurate.
History of Video Games:
The typical definition of 'video game' is a video signal being transmitted to a cathode ray tube (CRT Television for example).
There are main categories or the original videogames from the 1950's Training and Instructional Programs (like flight or war simulators), research programs, and demonstration programs. It is very difficult to pinpoint the exact first video game because many were being produced at the same time, and all of these use the original technical term.
The first 'video games' were just basic coding feats achieved by computer scientists and M.I.T. students, these were games like digital chess, tic tac toe.
Spacewar! - First widely available video game, was a simple game and does exactly what it says on the title.
The first released home console was the Magnavox Odyssey
In 1972 arcade games became more and more popular, Pong being one of the first and most popular arcade games to this date.
The Japanese Arcade Boom:
After video games became more commercialised with the Odyssey, they started to become more and more popular, the company Atari was formed and was largely heralded as one of the pioneering companies of the video game industry, bringing it into and out of the golden age of video games. In Japan, the popularity of 'medal games' were becoming more popular, as a form of gambling the survived through a loophole that allowed players to cash out the medals in form of actual currency (This still exists today in the market of Pachinko). Arcade plazas became massively popular in Japan post WW2, video game cafes started to open and going to the arcade was more of a social activity. Periscope and Space Invaders were massively popular. Space Invaders (1978) came after Star Wars, and this only served to help its popularity.
The Arcade Boom Of America:
Arcade became even more popular in America as its popularity spiked in Japan in the 80's, production began to increase and many different 'classic' arcade games were produced in this time frame. Some of these included Asteroids, Galaxian, Galaga, Tempest, Defender, Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and Q*bert. As well as home consoles were becoming more popular (but the games were still quite rudimentary and the home consoles were quite costly), so a lot of the people who couldn't afford this would go to the coin-operated arcades. This was a big money maker.
Bedroom coders and UK Micros:
In the U.K. scene, people would use home computers to make their own games, using the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, these games could be sent off.
Videogame Crash of 1983:
In 1983, thousands of low quality games were produced and released for the Atari 2600, many of these being low quality shovelware titles. With many of the consumers being dissatisfied with these, they stopped buying as many games. Arguably, the straw that broke the camel's back was the atari 2600 game E.T. Being released for the Christmas season and production being rushed as the hit film had recently been released, the game released in a confusing and borderline unplayable state, having relatively nothing to do with the film. The game was sent back by many customers and even more refused to buy it. This led to a massive product recall and a mass dump of the game in the desert. Following this crash, many developers, such as Magnavox, pulled out entirely from the industry as the bubble burst.
Regional Differences Between Japanese Games and the Rest of the World:
In Japan, a lot of the popular games were JRPGs, which focused much more in depth on story rather than hi-scores.
In Japan, many of the games carried different themes, the games often had very stylised and sexualised characters, and the games were generally darker. Examples of this could be Silent Hill and The Fatal Frame series. In the rest of the world however, especially America were much more censored. This is due in part to the games Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, both of which were gory / sexualised and led to censorship laws being put in place. Games were often still seen as a child / teen thing everywhere else but in Japan, where games were more made for adults.
Controversies Surrounding Representation:
Sexualisation:
R. Mika's ass slap was censored in the latest Street Fighter.
Tracer's suggestive pose in the early versions of Overwatch was removed.
Battlefield V female representation - Should females be included and the game still claims to be historically accurate.
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