Gifts For Teens – What Should You Buy As Your Next Video Game Console?

The great thing about owning a video game console is that it will be able to provide your teens with a compelling gaming experience, especially with the high tech video game systems and graphic designs currently on the market. It offers a brand new way for teenagers to play and bond with each other.

Video game systems today are now equipped with some of the best processors available and it also offers a totally different gaming experience as it can let you play online with your friends. Whatever country you are in, you will be able to play with people all over the world provided that you have an active internet connection.

It is not really a question of what video game system you should purchase and what is the most expensive video game console available, it all comes down to knowing what you want in a video game system. So, the question that you should ask and answer yourself is what are you looking for in a video game system?

First of all, before answering this question, you have to remember that there are basically three popular video game systems available on the market today. They are: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and the Nintendo Wii. These three are the latest and the most advanced video game systems available. If you are planning to buy a video game system that provides plenty of fun and excitement as well as one that offers the latest titles in game titles, you should get one of these game consoles.

You need to remember that each of these mentioned video game systems have unique features that will enhance your gaming experience. It is important for you to find out which feature appeals most to your preferences.

For Microsoft Xbox 360, you will see that it emphasizes online gaming. Whatever game you are playing, you will notice that the way you connect to the Xbox Live is the same. Although the online feature is also available on PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 features a more user-friendly online gaming interface. And, it also offers the Xbox Live Marketplace where you will be able to download game add ons, as well as games. Another great thing about the Xbox system is its wide selection of games library. With hundreds or even thousands of game titles available for Xbox 360, you will virtually never run out of games to play with. Xbox 360 is perfect for people who love playing with other people. With the impressive online feature of Xbox 360, you can even communicate with other players via voice chat with headsets and microphone while playing the game.

Sony PlayStation 3 is basically an all-in-one multimedia device. This particular video game console offers amazing graphics and it is also able to play high definition DVDs as well as the latest Blu-ray discs. You can view pictures from your USB flash drive and even play MP3s with this video game system. Because of these features, you can easily tell why this is the most expensive video game system of the three. Other than that, PlayStation 3 also provides a large library of game titles. The great thing about PlayStation 3 is that it offers a lot of accessories which can be wired in to the system. You can connect camera and remote to maximize your gaming experience while playing online.

Another great game console system is the Nintendo Wii, this is probably the most interactive of the three popular systems available in the market today. The awesome feature from Wii is that it has a motion sensitive controller. In the past, everybody thought that video gaming was just about sitting down and pushing a bunch of buttons on their joystick or game pad. However, this wasn’t the case for Nintendo Wii. You will actually be physically active when you play with Wii system. It will get your entire body involved when playing the game. For example, if you play a tennis game in Wii, you will actually swing your hands and move your body as if you are actually swinging a tennis racket. The same goes for playing golf in Nintendo Wii.The main feature of Nintendo Wii is its remote control. Known as the Wii Remote or the Wii-mote, this particular feature will not just let you play with your favorite games conventionally but it will really take you inside the game itself. It is the finest motion sensitive gaming available today. In addition to that, Nintendo Wii isn’t just for gaming, many people also take it as a fun workout tool. In fact, you can practice Yoga with Nintendo Wii. The great thing about Nintendo Wii is that this is the least expensive of the three. This is also preferred by people who want to get their family and friends to join in on the fun. If you are wondering what the future holds for the video game industry, you may want to take a look at Nintendo Wii. This is considered by many as the start of a great future in the video gaming industry thanks to the unique gaming experiences it offers.

These are the things that you need to keep in mind when you plan on choosing and buying video game systems for your teens. By following these tips, you will be able to get the best video game system to entertain your teenagers and their friends in the comforts of your own home.

Who are the hardest people to buy gifts for?

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Video Games Tester – Do You Have What It Takes?

There are some fundamental characteristics that are exhibited my most successful testers that help them do well in this job market. If you are looking for video game tester jobs it certainly helps to enjoy playing these kinds of games, and in most cases the time spent in gaming activities has improved your eye-hand coordination to the point that you have good gaming skills and an understanding of game play beyond the average person.

Unfortunately most “want to-be” game testers fool themselves into believing that a love of video gaming and some talent is all that is required to be successful at game tester jobs and get paid to play games all day long. Should you be fortunate enough to be hired under this false sense of understanding, you will be in for a rude awakening, and in many cases not last long in any game testers jobs.

It is vital that we make an important distinction between being paid to test video games and video game beta testing. Game beta testing is done by volunteers, who usually test the full version of the game just before the release date looking for any last minute problems to report. No payment is generally involved for game beta testing other than getting to play a new game before the general public sees it. This article focuses on the actual job where people get paid to play video type games in the role of testers.

Welcome to the “real world” of being a paid video games tester. Your job is very important despite the fact that you are often making only minimum wages as an entry level games tester. The fate of the gaming development company is on your shoulders since you are the ones who must find any problems or “bugs” within the game so they can be fixed or eliminated before the game can be sold to the buying public. No game development company can afford to have a “lemon” or seriously flawed game released to the public. It could cost them millions of dollars in research and development and destroy their reputation in the competitive game marketplace for a long time.

Game testers jobs may require you to work on many repetitive tasks such as playing the same level of the game numerous times, switching the gaming device on and off over and over, checking and rechecking in-game messaging capabilities, and the list goes on. Close to the release date of the game, you may be requested to work extended hours to ensure any and all potential problems with the video game have been identified by your team of video game testers and still be fixed in time.

So what kind of job qualities do you need to be a successful paid video games tester? Given the kinds of work that you will be required to do, especially as an entry level tester, the following qualities will serve you well.

Are you…

willing to do the same task over and over again looking for potential problems?
a patient person who understands that some testing tasks may take a great deal of time and cannot be rushed through to get done as quickly as possible?
very deliberate and meticulous in your approach to finding problems and solving problems?
not easily bored as you may required to do video game testing tasks that are very dull and repetitive?
a team player, as most often you will be part of a group of video game testers working on different parts of the same game, so you need to relate and get along well with others.
capable of following explicit directions about a task and not prone to trying to “do your own thing”?
tenacious in your approach to successful accomplishing your game testing tasks and not one who gives up easily if things are not going well?
able to effectively communicate both verbally and in writing very detailed information concerning any “bugs” in the video game you discover so that they can be fixed?
flexible with respect to being “on call” for possible shift work or having to put in extra hours if required by your development team leader?
able to deal with job pressure and stress effectively, especially when given job deadlines to meet?
capable of “keeping job secrets”, since as a paid video game tester you will be required to never discuss your testing work outside the testing site or face instant job termination and possible criminal charges if you do.
These job qualities are certainly not “written in stone” as the only ones that matter to be a successful games tester, however they do provide a good starting point for your own self-analysis as to whether or not you could be successful in game tester jobs. Do you have what it takes to be a video games tester?

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Benefits of Gaming – PC and Video Games

New PC and video games are not only capable of providing fun and excitement for everyone, but they can also give certain benefits and advantages.

With the help of advanced technology and popularity, the gaming industry has advanced and expanded rapidly over the years.

If we are looking for categorization of videos games, they are broadly divided into eight major categories:

Action

These are fast paced and may contain a large amount of violence due to this. Action games are usually inappropriate for children. Such games fall under the category “M” (mature-rated). Examples are Halo, Star Wars, Jedi Knight and Enter the Matrix.

Adventure and Role Playing

These are normally not as graphic as action games and can take the player into surrealism and fantasy. Though adventure and role-playing games often contain violence, it is not found to be as intense as the violence in action games. Examples of this category are Borderlands 2, Final Fantasy, Legend of Mana and Billy Hatcher.

First Person Shooters

As the name implies, it is a game in which the player sees the action through the eyes of the character he is representing and involves the use of pistols or rifles to kill the enemy. Due to the violence involved in this genre of games, they are not suitable for young children. Examples of these games are “Half-Life, “Half-Life 2″, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” and so on.

Construction and Management Simulation (CMS)

As the name suggests, in the games belonging to this genre, the players are expected to build, expand and manage imaginary projects and communities with very little resources. Examples of this genre include, “SimCity” and “Harvest Moon”.

Strategy

Here the accent is on strategy rather than on violence and these games are slower which gives the player time for strategic thinking, resource management and planning to achieve victory. Most are warfare based and so violence is not completely absent. These games are not suitable for children. Some examples are Advanced Wars I & II, Civilization V and Crusader Kings II.

Simulation

These are video or computer games that simulate real world situations under game settings. In this category, the three well-known games are Racing Simulators, Flight Simulators and Sims. There are lots of games in this class to entertain children. Some examples of simulation games are: Football Manager, Farming Simulator 2013, The Sims and Evil Genius.

Platformer

The Platform Game or Platformer is consists of jumping between suspended platforms of varying heights or obstacles and sometimes both to move forward in the game. Some examples of Platformer are 40 Winks, Abuse, Action 52 and Adventure Island.

PUZZLES

Puzzle video games are a class of games that require puzzle solving. The kinds of puzzles that need to be solved can involve many problem solving skills such as using logic, word completion sequence solving, strategy and pattern recognition. Some examples of Puzzle Video Games are Mario, Bejeweled 3, Cradle of Rome 2 and Hidden Objects.

While on the subject, let’s not forget Sports games such as NHL 13, and FIFA Soccer 13 and Arcade games such Chicken Shoot 1, Toy Story Mania and Angry Birds to name a few.

Nowadays, video games are enjoyed by a wide cross-section of our society, from toddlers to grandparents and these have been accepted by everyone as a good manner of entertainment and seen to be better than watching TV as it requires the viewer’s participation and interaction.

The general feeling is that video games do not provide any benefits to the player and especially so in the case of children.

Contrary to this belief, there are many benefits in allowing children to play certain types of games. Most important of these benefits is the development of:

· Cognitive thinking skills

· Fine motor skills

· Real-time decision-making abilities

· Hand-eye coordination

· Cooperative playing skills

Keeping video games out of the reach of children can only deprive them of these benefits.

A child’s imagination can be stimulated through role-playing and adventure games. Even if some of these games can seem tasteless due to its graphic nature and violence, they can play a positive and important role in a child’s development by promoting teamwork, building confidence and improving motor skills. Playing such video games will only provide a child with a healthy means of expression.

Certain video games are believed to teach children high level thinking skills which they would benefit from in the future.

Now that we have looked at the benefits for children, let’s look at what benefits video games hold for the rest of us.

Research into the pros and cons of video games are being conducted by various bodies including universities in some parts of the world and the result is that the pros outweigh the cons in respect of benefits.

When playing video games, you would need to react quickly and take split second decisions in order to succeed in the given task. It is believed that this kind of practice would provide benefits in real life where you would be able react with speed and take quick decisions.

Brain scientists have discovered that a certain driving video game, created by a research and development team at the University of California in San Francisco could improve the short-term memory and long-term focus of older adults.

It was found that immersion in a game distracts the mind from pain and discomfort. Due to this reason, some hospitals have started to suggest that children and others undergoing painful treatments play games to reduce their distress and anxiety.

Some video games have provided improvement in “Cognitive Flexibility”, which is the ability to switch quickly from one task to another.

Researchers from North Carolina State University found a link between playing video games and mental well-being among the elderly. They found that those citizens who played video games, even occasionally, experienced a state of well- being and happiness.

Gaming can also improve family relationships, as some of these games can and should be played together.

According to some studies conducted at the University of Rochester, people playing certain titles of video games have shown improvements in tests in the following areas:

• Multitasking

• Attention

• Accuracy

• Vision

The only thing a video game player or his or her family needs to ensure is that it does not become addictive in any way. A video game player shouldn’t end up spending hours on end playing games and losing track of time and place and while neglecting duties, personal chores and responsibilities.

Another thing that the parents of minors need to ensure is that their kids get access only to educational or similar games which are suitable for their age group and the good news is that there’s a huge selection of games available that are appropriate for all ages.

A video game content rating is a system is available in many countries and they are used to classify video games into suitability-related age groups with respect to its contents which, if followed, will help to limit the negative aspects of some of the games.

Finally, if video game players are able to play in moderation, and stick only to the categories of games suitable for their respective ages, they can derive a number of benefits as cited above.

These are some of the benefits of playing video game

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Internet and Video Game Addiction – 5 Essentials For Preventing Stimulus Addiction

Video games have become the number one choice for screen entertainment, surpassing TV/DVD viewing and movie-going. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 99% of boys, ages 12-17 and 94% of girls in the same age range play video games. Eighty percent play five or more different genres, with racing, puzzles, sports, and action being the most common. (1)

What they play, of course, determines whether the game is harmful or helpful to their developing minds and spirits. When kids play action-packed, fast paced, or violent video games, in particular, they increasingly need more powerful images in order to respond emotionally to the game. This is called stimulus addiction. The term “stimulus addiction” describes the habit that is formed as kids seek out more and more stimulating games to hold their interest. Instead of playing in their natural world, kids are spending more and more time playing in the artificially constructed world of video games.

Often kids start out with simple non-violent video games and move into increasingly violent games because violent games are the most stimulating. They require the part of our brain that reacts, rather than reasons. Violent video games focus on the constant need to destroy in order to stay in the game. Violent images increase arousal levels of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that excite and entice kids to keep playing. Video games today display more horrific violence, with sharp images and realistic graphics. Words, ideas, and images of brutality not ever imagined to be “entertainment” ten years ago currently fill up much of our kids’ leisure time, habituating them to hyped stimulation in the process.

Although the fast pace and emotionally vivid images of manufactured horror are definitely habit-forming, even nonviolent games can become addictive.

Gamer addiction is a real tragedy of our times. Recently two parents expressed major concerns over too much time spent with video games:

A dad of a fourth grader overheard his nine-year old in conversation with a friend:

“I’ll finish her off by ripping out her heart.”
“No, cut off her head instead.”
“But I want to rip her heart out.”
“I want to see her head fly off.”
“Oh, all right, let’s see her head roll. There! Look at all that blood. Cool.”

They were excitedly playing a video game they had just downloaded. This father felt lucky to overhear his son, disturbing as it was. He was able to steer the boys to non-violent games, more appropriate for their age and more in alignment with the family’s values.

A mom of a fifteen year-old felt hopeless about what to do about her daughter staying up until two in the morning playing video games and not being prepared for school the next day. By coaching this mom to take the appropriate steps her daughter got back on track-with better grades and a much better attitude. It was a process that took a lot of will power on this mom’s part. She stayed with it, despite difficulties, learning through the PCI™ Coaching to reinforce positive behaviors and open up more appropriate possibilities for her daughter.

Online gaming, in the lives of too many high school and college students, takes precedent over academics, sports, hobbies, art, dance, and other forms of self-expression. researchers have found that a survey of 1500 teenagers indicated 25% were compulsive video gamers. Fifty per cent of those surveyed used the word “addiction” to describe a friend’s gaming behaviors. Because excitement becomes the reward for playing and because the games are set up to reinforce behavior intermittently, they are extremely habit-forming, and even potentially addicting.

It’s easy to get lost in the fantasy worlds of screen technologies. Now with hand-held video games children as young as four years old are playing video games-despite experts warning that this could be a very detrimental habit leading to dangerous life-long problems.

Parents, the good news is that there are focused strategies you can take to prevent stimulus addiction in our ever encroaching digital culture: Think carefully and act consciously. I will personally guarantee that these five seeming simple strategies are simply powerful. They can help your child or teen in profound ways.

Five Essentials for Preventing Internet and Video Game Addiction:

1. Keep kids curious about non-screen reality.
Game playing and web surfing often stems from boredom. Kids who don’t know what to do end up in front of a video game console or a computer. Yet, if there were other things to do, he or she may easily choose an alternative. Keep a list handy of age-appropriate activities, including lots of books from the local library. By enticing kids to turn to other activities when bored, chances are they won’t get into a video game habit. They will know how to entertain themselves without the need for hyped stimulation. Make your home an enriched environment for all sorts of creative and artistic endeavors. Do what fires you up, too–you light a spark in your children every time you enhance and use your own creativity!

2. Give kids more control through appropriate decision-making.
Responsible autonomy means that kids make decisions and feel a sense of control over regular daily decisions. Video games tap into kids’ need for control. If they only feel in control when they are playing these games, then they will naturally want to play the games more often. Give kids decisions in which you can live with either choice. An example for a young child might be: “Do you want to wear the blue of yellow shirt today?” Both have long sleeves and will keep the child warm. An example for an older child or teen might be: “When is a good day for you to help me with dinner this week?” You acknowledge that the child’s schedule is in his/her control-giving over this decision when you can be flexible about the outcome. The more your child or teen makes, values, and sees the effects of his/her decisions, the less likely he or she will be crave external stimulus to feel pleasure. Mindful activities will become more pleasurable as your child develops a strong sense of self through internal control.

3. Broaden kid’s sources of excitement.
In video game play, the excitement is the reward. The “high” of reaching another level, killing off enemies, or quickly pushing the right button at the right time engenders a rush that feeds on itself. Direct reinforcement multiplies the excitement and pleasure. If video game playing is the only source of a child’s or a teen’s excitement-then other activities will go by the wayside. Gamer addiction happens because there are few opportunities in which the young person feels that level of excitement brought on by a video game. When children and tees are excited about a pursuit such as sports or art, music or academics, community service or church then they have other avenues in which to feel excitement about the outcome. One of the major jobs of parenting in a media age is for moms and dads to broaden opportunities for kids to use their skills and talents. The excitement of living and creating must become the reward.

4. Teach children how to go inside themselves.
When kids know how to meander in their internal landscapes, they are more self-directed. They can entertain themselves more easily. Give children and teens time to just sit and think-even if for only five or ten minutes at a stretch. Just a tiny practice starts the bud blooming. Kids will come to need this kind of “inside time.” Before asking a question you can say, “Before you respond honey, I want you to take a minute to think about your answer.” Consciously giving “think-time” provides a powerful model that it’s important to take the time necessary to carefully consider an idea. Most video games are fast. They do not grow that part of the brain that is used in thoughtful reflection. This takes time. It’s not a quick decision. By encouraging children and teens to do some slow pondering inside themselves, parents counter gamer addiction.

5. Help children stay connected to the 3-D world through lots of physical activity.
When Play Station commands: “Play in Our World”-you better believe they know what they’re doing. This is a well-thought out phrase to make children and teens believers that the video game world is the best world to play in. As illogical it may seem to most adults, youngsters do not have the thinking capacity to understand the long-term ramifications of this ad on attitude formation and the manufacturing of a need. To be “cool” a person better “play in their world.” Playing video games with our kids can go a long way to modeling proper use of this great tool for a fun time-out for the real-world. But like anything else, it’s a question of balance. If kids aren’t getting enough exercise outside, for instance, their lives are out of balance in favor of the screen-machine. If kids don’t find their competence in various 3-D world activities, they might as well be tethered to the 2-D world. Parents who take a breather to kick or toss a ball, bike or hike, model for kids the value of life beyond a small screen. By nurturing our children’s innate propensity to explore the natural world, parents move kids out of the world of video games and give them the know-how and the spirit to create a better world-a world we will all enjoy playing in!

Copyright, Gloria DeGaetano, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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History of Video Games – The First Game Ever Made?

As an avid retro-gamer, for quite a long time I’ve been particularly interested in the history of video games. To be more specific, a subject that I am very passionate about is “Which was the first video game ever made?”… So, I started an exhaustive investigation on this subject (and making this article the first one in a series of articles that will cover in detail all video gaming history).

The question was: Which was the first video game ever made?

The answer: Well, as a lot of things in life, there is no easy answer to that question. It depends on your own definition of the term “video game”. For example: When you talk about “the first video game”, do you mean the first video game that was commercially-made, or the first console game, or maybe the first digitally programmed game? Because of this, I made a list of 4-5 video games that in one way or another were the beginners of the video gaming industry. You will notice that the first video games were not created with the idea of getting any profit from them (back in those decades there was no Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Atari, or any other video game company around). In fact, the sole idea of a “video game” or an electronic device which was only made for “playing games and having fun” was above the imagination of over 99% of the population back in those days. But thanks to this small group of geniuses who walked the first steps into the video gaming revolution, we are able to enjoy many hours of fun and entertainment today (keeping aside the creation of millions of jobs during the past 4 or 5 decades). Without further ado, here I present the “first video game nominees”:

1940s: Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device

This is considered (with official documentation) as the first electronic game device ever made. It was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. The game was assembled in the 1940s and submitted for an US Patent in January 1947. The patent was granted December 1948, which also makes it the first electronic game device to ever receive a patent (US Patent 2,455,992). As described in the patent, it was an analog circuit device with an array of knobs used to move a dot that appeared in the cathode ray tube display. This game was inspired by how missiles appeared in WWII radars, and the object of the game was simply controlling a “missile” in order to hit a target. In the 1940s it was extremely difficult (for not saying impossible) to show graphics in a Cathode Ray Tube display. Because of this, only the actual “missile” appeared on the display. The target and any other graphics were showed on screen overlays manually placed on the display screen. It’s been said by many that Atari’s famous video game “Missile Command” was created after this gaming device.

1951: NIMROD

NIMROD was the name of a digital computer device from the 50s decade. The creators of this computer were the engineers of an UK-based company under the name Ferranti, with the idea of displaying the device at the 1951 Festival of Britain (and later it was also showed in Berlin).

NIM is a two-player numerical game of strategy, which is believed to come originally from the ancient China. The rules of NIM are easy: There are a certain number of groups (or “heaps”), and each group contains a certain number of objects (a common starting array of NIM is 3 heaps containing 3, 4, and 5 objects respectively). Each player take turns removing objects from the heaps, but all removed objects must be from a single heap and at least one object is removed. The player to take the last object from the last heap loses, however there is a variation of the game where the player to take the last object of the last heap wins.

NIMROD used a lights panel as a display and was planned and made with the unique purpose of playing the game of NIM, which makes it the first digital computer device to be specifically created for playing a game (however the main idea was showing and illustrating how a digital computer works, rather than to entertain and have fun with it). Because it doesn’t have “raster video equipment” as a display (a TV set, monitor, etc.) it is not considered by many people as a real “video game” (an electronic game, yes… a video game, no…). But once again, it really depends on your point of view when you talk about a “video game”.

1952: OXO (“Noughts and Crosses”)

This was a digital version of “Tic-Tac-Toe”, created for an EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) computer. It was designed by Alexander S. Douglas from the University of Cambridge, and one more time it was not made for entertainment, it was part of his PhD Thesis on “Interactions between human and computer”.

The rules of the game are those of a regular Tic-Tac-Toe game, player against the computer (no 2-player option was available). The input method was a rotary dial (like the ones in old telephones). The output was showed in a 35×16-pixel cathode-ray tube display. This game was never very popular because the EDSAC computer was only available at the University of Cambridge, so there was no way to install it and play it anywhere else (until many years later when an EDSAC emulator was created available, and by that time many other excellent video games where available as well…).

1958: Tennis for Two

“Tennis for Two” was created by William Higinbotham, a physicist working at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. This game was made as a way of entertainment, so laboratory visitors had something funny to do during their wait on “visitors day” (finally!… a video game that was created “just for fun”…) . The game was pretty well designed for its era: the ball behavior was modified by several factors like gravity, wind velocity, position and angle of contact, etc.; you had to avoid the net as in real tennis, and many other things. The video game hardware included two “joysticks” (two controllers with a rotational knob and a push button each) connected to an analog console, and an oscilloscope as a display.

“Tennis for Two” is considered by many the first video game ever created. But once again, many others differ from that idea stating that “it was a computer game, not a video game” or “the output display was an oscilloscope, not a “raster” video display… so it does not qualify as a video game”. But well… you can’t please everyone…

It is also rumored that “Tennis for Two” was the inspiration for Atari’s mega hit “Pong”, but this rumor has always been strongly denied… for obvious reasons.

1961: Spacewar!

“Spacewar!” video game was created by Stephen Russell, with the help of J. Martin Graetz, Peter Samson, Alan Kotok, Wayne Witanen and Dan Edwards from MIT. By the 1960s, MIT was “the right choice” if you wanted to do computer research and development. So this half a dozen of innovative guys took advantage of a brand-new computer was ordered and expected to arrive campus very soon (a DEC PDP-1) and started thinking about what kind of hardware testing programs would be made. When they found out that a “Precision CRT Display” would be installed to the system, they instantly decided that “some sort of visual/interactive game” would be the demonstration software of choice for the PDP-1. And after some discussion, it was soon decided to be a space battle game or something similar. After this decision, all other ideas came out pretty quick: like rules of the game, designing concepts, programming ideas, and so forth.

So after about 200 man/hours of work, the first version of the game was at last ready to be tested. The game consisted of two spaceships (affectively named by players “pencil” and “wedge”) shooting missiles at each other with a star in the middle of the display (which “pulls” both spaceships because of its gravitational force). A set of control switches was used to control each spaceship (for rotation, speed, missiles, and “hyperspace”). Each spaceship have a limited amount of fuel and weapons, and the hyperspace option was like a “panic button”, in case there is no other way out (it could either “save you or break you”).

The computer game was an instant success between MIT students and programmers, and soon they started making their own changes to the game program (like real star charts for background, star/no star option, background disable option, angular momentum option, among others). The game code was ported to many other computer platforms (since the game required a video display, a hard to find option in 1960s systems, it was mostly ported to newer/cheaper DEC systems like the PDP-10 and PDP-11).

Spacewar! is not only considered by many as the first “real” video game (since this game does have a video display), but it also have been proved to be the true predecessor of the original arcade game, as well as being the inspiration of many other video games, consoles, and even video gaming companies (can you say “Atari”?…). But that’s another story, arcade games as well as console video games were written in a different page of the history of video games (so stay tuned for future articles on these subjects).

So here they are, the “First Video Game” nominees. Which one do you think is the first video game ever made?… If you ask me, I think all these games were revolutionary for its era, and should be credited as a whole as the beginners of the video gaming revolution. Instead of looking for which one was the first video game, what is really important is that they were created, period. As the creator of “Spacewar!”, Stephen Rusell, once said: “If I hadn’t done it, someone would have done something equally exciting or even better in the next six months. I just happened to get there first”.

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