Wah~!~! Lyf 0f tey n00b...Talkin' about them video games

"All your bases belong to us"

Sound familiar? How about:

"Your Princess is in another castle"

or

"The cake is a lie"

"Jackpot"

"Snake? Snaake? Snaaaaaaaake!!!!!"

If not then you're obviously not immersed into the culture that is gaming.

Gaming is something that has swept the nation ever since the creation of arcades and games like Pong, Frogger, King's Quest, and Donkey Kong. The ability to interact with your entertainment appealed to many people, especially since it was the "new high tech thing" after the computers came out.

User's Manual -- a history of modern gaming

Everyone knows that games started out as simple things, but over time they evolved into amazing combinations of visual and oral story telling. Most people don't head into arcades anymore, and those who do are usually only looking for the experience of being seen and recognized in the gaming community. Gaming now a days takes place in one's own living room, and this amazing feat is all thanks to the original Atari.

The Atari brought a surge of home consoles which led into the creation of such memorable systems like the Dreamcast, Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System(NES), etc...etc... Many fond memories were brought which each release for the new electronics. Games such as Pac-man, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Duck Hunt, and many more started to capture the attention of a younger generation. But with limited graphics capablilites and storage space, video games would not be considered as something completely mainstream in society.

As the years progressed so did gaming. Soon gone were the days of the 8 bit graphics, the flat figures who could only move forwards and back. Out came the new era of gaming, the era of graphics and writing development. It was during this time when Nintendo released what would become one of the most memorable consoles on the market. Of course, this gift from the "gaming Gods" would be called the Nintendo 64 (N64). The N64 still used the large clunky cartridges but they offered some new and improved graphics and storage capabilites. It also offered something completely new to Western gamers. The rumble feature. To contend with the new powers of the N64, Sony made a bold decision which would win them a spot in gaming history. They moved away from the well known cartridges and entered the world of CD games. The new CD games would be able to hold more and their system, the Playstation, would offer better graphics capabilities than any other console on the market at the time.

During the rein of these two console giants many games were released in order to try and one up their competition. It was then when two true master pieces and cornerstones of gaming history emerged. The first was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the N64, and the other was Final Fantasy 7, for the Playstation. Both of these games shocked the gaming world to its core; both gripped the players with their amazing graphics and epic storylines which were both different yet appealing in their own ways. The two games were able to immerse their respective audiences into the world of the game and carry on living for years after their players had grown up. It was with the release of these two games that "gaming" really became mainstream.

After reaching the pinnacle of their success, the console gaming industry seemed to be in a decline. Games weren't living up to the standards now expected but still the community held strong. Eventually the patient were justly rewarded with the release of the 6th generation of gaming consoles. The Nintendo Gamecube (GC) and the Playstation 2 (PS2) were both unveiled to the general public along with trailers for all the new games to be featured on them. The major hook at this point in time was graphics, gaming had proven that it could create a realistic world with a fantastic history, but could it show us that world as realistically as possible?

It was at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) of 2000-2001 that the newest games were shown. The announcement of the newest Legend of Zelda title (Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) shook the house, the use of more toonish cell shaded graphics stunned the Zelda hardcores who were expecting a more realistic graphics turn. But this did not hinder the success of the game on the fledgling system. With the PS2 the release of the latest Final Fantasy (Final Fantasy X) it really seemed like there was no where for gaming to go but up.

Gaming Today - 

Gaming has now embedded itself into our societies. Almost every household in the Western world owns some type of gaming system. Games have been made in order to simulate our real life experiences and because of that many people can live out their dreams virtually. In our new age technological world video games are a major influence on us. That is why many rules and regulations have been put in place so that age appropriate games are given to each person.

Video games, being the newest media form, are quickly criticized by governments. Many elder people believe that video games and such have instilled in the younger generations a sense that violence is okay and that killing is perfectly acceptable if it helps you reach your goals. But unawares to them many studies have been conducted which have proved that the violent tendencies of certain individuals is not solely the responsibility of the video games they played.  It is to be noted that all studies involving video games have proven that those who take the violence to an extreme already had underlying issues/mental problems.  

Note: Video games are labelled for everyone to be aware of their contents. Certain games are not suitable for younger children, and it is the parents/guardians responsibility to screen what their children are playing. Also note that video games (nor television) should be left as "baby sitters" for you children.

Ending credits -

Overall it could be asked: Why?

Why do we play video games?

Why do we obsess over them?

What draws us to the expensive equipment and disks?

And to answer that is impossible. Every person on this Earth has their own reasons to play video games. They're like books, each with their own story to tell. But the difference between a good book and a good video game is that in the video game you have more control. The world doesn't have to just be the world of the character. The world can grow and expand, there can be alternate endings to your story, you have some influence. It is this sense of control which could be the base hook of video games. It could be attachment that one feels to the characters, it could be many things. But in the end, I'm not qualified to answer for the whole of generations Y, Z, and i.