Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Wow! I have a rough time believing it has been 38 years since I first sat
down at the tabletop Pong arcade game that had just been installed at Clara's Tap! That stupid
game drew me into the neighborhood bar almost daily to take on another
challenger! (Made Clara happy, though!) Little did I know, the excitement and fun of video gaming was just beginning!

The Beginning

Magnavox (late summer of 1972) and Atari (incorporated in 1972) came up with great consoles
like the Odyssey and the 2600. Although in the early days there was not an overabundance
of game choices, eventually that was resolved. By 1980, there were lots of
games available for all the platforms. You could get sports game cartridges
like baseball, basketball, hockey and tennis. The Odyssey also had space games like invasion and
interplanetary voyage. They even had a roulette game for the console.

The Bust

We saw the boom of video games designed by gaming companies like Atari, Magnavox, Mattel,
Activision, Imagick and others throughout the seventies and into the eighties. It brought us
the excitement of pong, pac man, space invaders, donkey kong, centipede and many others...
and then the bust in 1983. They couldn't give the game consoles away for a couple of years.

One game maker weathered that storm. Activision, which originally incorporated in 1979,
shrugged off the downturns that plagued the business throughout the years.
Through mergers, great game designs and astute management, they continually provided sought
after games for the most successful platforms. They went on to become a multi-billion dollar
company. Activision continues to provide games for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and the PC.
They appear to have a continued bright future.


 

The Future

The business has evolved into games that provide life like characters requiring mental gymnastics
that provide hours of gaming fun for all levels of players. Players with skill sets from the
novice to the hardened expert. And...it no longer matters if you have anyone to play with you
at your house. Now you can play the games with competitors throughout the planet...thanks to
the internet.

To reflect back on the past 38 years and realize how far we have come with video gaming,
leaves me believing the next 38 will be nothing short of astounding...Perhaps beyond anything
we can imagine today. If only I were 38 years younger so that I could be here to see it!