The history of video games can be traced back to the 1940s when Thomas T. Goldsmith requested that a “cathode-ray tube ray tube amusement device” be created. However, it is not until the 1970s when these “video games” became really popular. This is when arcades, computer games, and consoles were created. If we look at the history of games timeline, in the 1940s to the 1960s, the video games then were only enjoyed by a few people. There were no real “platforms” for these video games then. Video games in those times were created on custom machines, which can only handle one kind of game.

The History of Video Game Consoles

The very first video game console in the history of video games was created in 1970 which was called Magnavox Odyssey, created by Ralph H. Baer. Magnavox Odyssey can be considered a successful video game console due to Atari’s game “Pong.” Pong is the game which made people took notice of video games. Video game consoles then were made built-in games until VES (Fairchild Video Entertainment System) was created in 1976. The VES was the first video game that made use of “cartridges” which made it possible to play games other than what is stored in the console itself. There have been some video game crashes in 1977 and 1983 where sales for consoles have gone down because of poorly made console games. However, upon the release of Family Computer (Famicom) by Nintendo in 1983, the video game console industry received rejuvenation. The Famicom was able to produce more detailed graphics and have more engaging game play with changing sceneries. The Famicom was brought to the US which was called Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. From there, the video game industry continued to grow as more engaging games were created and new consoles were developed. New consoles by Sega, Sony, and Microsoft appeared years later.

The History of Violent Video Games

According to the history of video games, the very first violent video game was Death Race. It was created in 1976 by Exidy. Death Race is about running over stick figures (gremlins) to get points. The more run over the player makes, the higher their score will be. This video game made parent feel concerned about the effects of video games in the minds of their children. There were petitions made in those times, but the video game industry continued to grow. Another violent video game that raised the anger of parents was “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” for the Atari 2600 which featured decapitations of body parts.  In 1992, Mortal Combat was released, which also made headlines because it contains brutal violence that shows cruel ways on how to kill people in one-on-one fights to the death.  There were many petitions made in the Congress about video game violence. However, the violence in video games was not stopped. A rating system was created to address the concerns of parents about the violence of video games to let them know which games contain violence and gore and which games can be played for certain age groups. Up until today, video games have been more and more violent.

As technology and the quality of video games increases and become more realistic, the video game industry continues to grow. There is no stopping the creation of new and better video games by video game creators and all the games we are playing today will one day be included in the history of video games in the future.