Since the late 70’s, video games have captivated more and more of an audience on a regular basis. From the old 80’s style arcades we have grown to a society that has literally limitless power in the set top box that fits in your entertainment stand directly beneath your TV. Video games have come a long way and certainly have even further to go than the technology that is at our fingertips today.
When video games first came into light we often had to go to a local arcade to play even the simplest games like asteroid and breakout. Controls initially consisted of a single joystick with one, maybe two, buttons that were usually used as some sort of trigger for the game. As we stepped into the late 80’s and early 90’s, we saw the release of Nintendo, which triggered a nearly worldwide obsession with video games that stretched far beyond the early days of Atari. Super Mario Brothers may very well have been the first sign as to just how far video games had come and how much further we had to go. By today’s standards, 8-bit graphics usually don’t do much for someone, but back in the day that was modern technology at its finest.
16-bit technology showed the public just how far we could take video games and their technology in a short amount of time. The release of the SNES and Sega Genesis put games like Sonic the Hedgehog on the map. 64-bit technology wasn’t far behind with the release of the Playstation and Nintendo 64, with its square design. Games like 007 and John Madden began to take the forefront of video game sales.
Today video games aren’t just about the graphics, but about the technology that a gamer or user works with to operate the game. With devices like Kinect from Microsoft, a player is able to control what happens in a game simply with the motions of their body, all in real time and graphic rendering that looks more realistic than ever. No one can successfully predict exactly what consoles will take over the next evolution of video games, but we certainly look forward to seeing what companies can do with the latest round of video game technologies.
