Video Games Essay - 4473 Words

Video Games I. The Video or Computer Game Industry The now multi-billion dollar video game industry starting slowly. In 1972, Atari developed Pong, a simple tennis-like game played on the television screen. Pongwas followed by Space Invadersin 1978 (Griffiths 223). Since then, thousands of games are available over the Internet, on CDROM for personal computers, hand-held units, and television console units like Playstation, Nintento, and Sega. Further, the market has developed beyond just entertainment, now providing educational games that make learning fun. Commercially successful titles sell around 350,000 copies and a few go beyond sales of one million units (Sanchez-Crespo Dalmau 3). Top selling games like Myst (for PCs)†¦show more content†¦Graphics images that are used repeatedly for the current game level or environment are stored in ROM (Read Only Memory) (Perry and Wallich 251). For instance, when the player advances to another level or chooses a new environment, a new set of bit-mapped images is loaded into ROM. RAM (Random Access Memory) is used to store bit-mapped graphics, statistics such as score, and a â€Å"scratchpad† for keeping track of â€Å"where the player and [virtual] opponents are in the simulated environment, or generating new, random obstacles† to challenge the player (251). Parameters, such as choice of character the user will play, vehicle, environment (setting or location, such as track, building, open area) and current location within the environment, weapons, opponent, and mission, are stored in RAM until the player either saves or saves to a file upon exiting the game. In either case, the parameters can be recalled by the user within a game session or upon reinitialization of the game, by selecting the game file name under which they are stored (which has a game file extension specific to the game). Once game play commences, the player undertakes challenges in order to advance. Typically, players are rewarded with points or advancement to more difficult or different levels missions in a serial game. Challenges can take the shape of puzzles, tactical, simulatedShow MoreRelatedVideo Game : Video Games1658 Words   |  7 PagesVideo games first entered into the world around the 1970s, while the violence started occurring in the games about 20 years later (Anderson and Bushman 354). Some of the first violent video games included â€Å"Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Wolfenstein 3D† which had amazing effects that were top notch at the time (Anderson and Bushman 354). Wolfenstein 3D was the first big video game that gave gamers the opportunity to shoot in the first person point of view (Anderson, Buckley, and Gentile 5). OverRead MoreVideo Game : Video Games1584 Words   |  7 Pagesviolent video games that are commonly played by boys and girls, young and old alike in t oday’s society. Many experts fear that this violence in video games increases violence in people in real life, causing people to act out as if they were in the video game, increasing aggressive behavior so much that it could actually escalate to shooting, stabbing, and killing people. There have already been many cases of these extreme examples of violence in the news that share a connection with video games. EricRead MoreVideo Games : Video Game1933 Words   |  8 PagesEnglish 132 9 March 2015 Video Games A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game means any type of display device that can produce two- or three-dimensional images. The electronic systems used to play video games are called platforms; examples of these are video game consoles and personal computers. Platforms can range from small handheld devices to large computers. Some video games can become popular andRead MoreVideo Games And The Video Game Industry2174 Words   |  9 PagesVideo Games and the Video Game Industry The video game Pong was introduced in 1972 and can be considered the beginning of the video gaming industry. Unlike the game Pong, the controversies surrounding video games today are not quite as simple. Certain media outlets often portray video games to be bad for individual’s health and behaviour. There are still some people in the world that believe video games are contributing to the decline of today’s generation. However, video games and their industryRead MoreVideo Games And The Video Game1301 Words   |  6 Pages The 2000’s and 2010’s has become the most transformative age for video games and the gamers who make them popular. Within the last 15 years the amount of gaming devices in homes has risen to eighty-eight percent. This is a large leap from where the original â€Å"Brown Box† console created by Ralph Baer in nineteen sixty-seven, but video games didn’t just go through a cut scene and magically appear in everyone’s home s. They have had it rough from lawsuits, heavy competition between companies, and evenRead MoreVideo Game And Video Games1905 Words   |  8 PagesINTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Involving human interaction with a user interface,a video game is an electronic game which generates visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor. The word video in video games traditionally referred to a raster display gadget, but it now indicates any type of display gadget that can form two or three-dimensional images. In allowing a video game to operate,platform refers to the specific combination of electronic components or computerRead MoreVideo Games And The Video Game917 Words   |  4 Pagesothers for the rest. When it comes the video gaming industry, companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have developed new ways for the population to enjoy new entertainment and hobbies. However, when these companies create new systems to be flawless, users always seem to find at least one problem. The problem is not the gaming consoles themselves, but the the violent video games that companies create for these consoles. Allowing children to purchase these games, are one of many reasons why the youthRead MoreVideo Game : Violent Video Games927 Words   |  4 PagesThe video game industry possible causing behavioral problems for people of all ages. Video game violence isn’t breaking news for years people have played games with murder and sexual innuendos. People ask why violent video games are so attractive, maybe it’s a way to escape from real life or even therapeutic. History shows us that human being like violence, in roman time gladiators killed people and animals for sport with huge number of people as an audience. Today the video game industry has foundRead MoreVideo Games And The Video Game Industry1290 Words   |  6 Pagesthe mainstream video game industry has seemed to operate under the same apparent assumptions: girls don’t play big action games, boys like the sexualization of girls in video games and won’t play as a female character unless she is heavily sexualized, and that girls play video games for the attention of boys. These assumptions are what allows the gaming industry to continue to focus on their male players, particularly young men, despite the fact that the number of women playing games today may somedayRead MoreVideo Games and Violent Video Games Effect1225 Words   |  5 Pages A video game is â€Å"an electronic game in which players control images on a television or computer screen† (Merriam-Webster). Video games have been entertaining and challenging gamers since the Game Boy to modern console games. Despite the simplicity of the definition of video games, a video game, especially ones containing violence can have a large effect on the gamer. Because of the realism and advancements in the video game industry, video games can influence the player, and can make the gamer