Video games today just aren’t what they used to be back in the day. The history of video games dates all the way back to the 1940s. In 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Man filed a US patent for an invention in which they described as a “cathode ray tube amusement device.” However, video games didn’t reach the popular culture society until the 1970s and 80s when the arcade video games, gaming consoles, and home computer games came into existence, (wikipedia.org).
Video games have evolved so much over the years, we can now fight our way through realistic war zones, and chose NBA and NFL players and make them look realistic as possible, and the effects that have been incorporated into the gaming system and games today are awesome. However, I can’t help but to feel like the video games today are just not as fun to play as they were back in the day. Let’s reflect back on some the games from the 80s.
Donkey Kong (1981), a loveable ape who kidnapped Princess Peach was going around collecting bananas, animals and tokens and it was your job as Mario the plumber to climb these steel grinders and dodge fireballs and flying barrels to save the princess.
Tetris (1986), created by a Russian scientist named Alexey Pajitnov, he developed the first version of Tetris on and Electronica 60. In 2007 Alexy Pajitnov received the First Penguin Award at the Game Developers Conference. Tetris is still a very popular game and has been recognized as the game that gave birth to the causal gaming industry, (tetris.com).
Frogger (1981), this was another game that hit the arcades and gaming consoles in the 80s. This game seems simple but is actually very challenging. The goal is to make it back home but the catch is you have to dodge the cars and there are disappearing turtles and floating logs you have to maneuver your way through.
Centipede was one of the original hits at the arcade, I remember going to the arcade playing this game for hours. This was a true 80s favorite with the blip blop sounds and the awesome graphics.
And let’s not forget about Pacman, an all-time favorite that still lives on today. I remember growing we had a mini pacman arcade game, it was the greatest!
Another all-time favorite is Super Mario Bros. Mario and his brother Luigi travel through Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue the princess, simple concept, but it was harder than you think to save the princess.
