Many students come home from school and toss their backpacks aside; they rush to their room and boot up their entertainment devices. Whether parents love it or hate it, youths love video games. It is the medicine for their sickness, or the reward for their hard work. But why are they so influential? How, when and where did video games start? 

Video games have shaped many people’s lives; from serving as comfort on a long day to bringing people together. It is something that has contributed a lot towards our world, which can be seen in a positive or negative way. But how have we come to a point in our lives where the games we play are so advanced, with unbelievable capabilities of AI and graphics? All great things start somewhere; and in this context, we need to go to the 1970s. This period of time in what seemed like a fun little work project would spark a whole gas tank of unborn innovations. 

In 1972, the first video game was published by a game company named Atari, called “Pong.” “Pong” is a very simple, two-dimensioned game where two players hit a moving pixel representing a ping pong ball and try to get one another out of the game. Originally, “Pong” was created by American pioneering engineer and computer scientist Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. But to his surprise, the quality of Alcorn’s work led to the mass production of the game.

After the success of “Pong,” other technology companies would later follow the great innovation that “Pong” made, and the influence it had on its audience. Through the decades, the world would see many consoles such as the Nintendo 64, Gamecube, the XBOX and much more. Countless see these consoles as memorable, fun and nostalgic. Along with these debuted gaming consoles, many iconic games have been released. Numerous games that came out on those consoles have a place in the hearts of many people, such as “Super Mario 64,” “Tetris,” “DOOM” to name a few.

Over the years of advancement and progression, the use of 3D graphics would soon be introduced towards the 1980s, along with general improvements in gameplay aesthetics. Technological advancements through video games would be the building blocks of the technology we have today, in a multitude of ways. Despite the ground-breaking technology we have currently, the old will always shine like gold.