They're believed to be a type of art form that represent our beliefs, our attitudes, core questions we're struggling with, the world's passions and fears... and the struggle is how to read them because unlike a film making a statement, a videogame is subject to change depending on the player's choice. Speaking of choice, I found it interesting that videogame creators encouraged more free will and comfort with their employees, including less strict clothing choices and being able to decide when you'd work.
Reflects the times... today pushing a button could simply be a form of decision making or something in a game to do something specific. But in earlier times, it might've meant to end the world, like to release a bomb or something similar. It represents the times as well, because the games that were designed at the time were war games specifically. Many games can represent something more than itself or just a general idea of a game, it can have a bigger idea. I find it also interesting that later in the times, Tetris was made and helped break the international barrier between Russia's conflicts with the world
Women have better small muscle coordination than men do. So technically, women could play Pong better than men could. It was one of the first times that on "an equal playing field, they could quip a guy." Women would actually make money by beating guys in bars and such. Later on, Pac-Man was created to tailor towards women and couples and stray away from violent games, it was the first game with a protagonist and was started up by the theme "eating."
Pong was known as just an amusement with a simple mechanic. But game designers realized they had to connect with the player on a deeper level to be on the same level as films and books. This included characters you'd care about and get involved with, an emotional response. At first it was a struggle to explore how to use controls and combine a story with it. but designers realized that good story and exciting action is what drew people in. The story behind a game makes the player think the game is more interesting, and like television, people will have specific taste in genres, and I agree!
Nintendo of America established itself in Washington with the head CEO's son at the wheel. One of the first things they did was buy RadarScope machines and as they were dying out, make them into new games. He gave the concept to Miyamoto, an artist and aspiring storyteller, very new to game design. He wanted a game to have a feeling of light and wonderment and excitement that he had as a child exploring the world, along with anime and manga. Later on, he created Donkey Kong and it was one of the first games with a fleshed out character and a moral imperative. He resurrected the video game industry and Super Mario Brothers marked the birth of characters and narrative in video games. Legend of Zelda solidified this.
PCs were primarily for business purposes and later on, Sierra online was created and brought graphics and stories to the first personal computer games with such limited technology. Mystery House was created by the same company and sold 10,000 copies+, a success. SEGA was introduced to keep up with the times and age of people around, like Sonic, because it was more relevant to them. Sonic represented something new and mischievous, more fun, faster, not having to be something heroic but still remaining some selflessness. Next, Leisure Suit Larry was brought into the mix, introducing real characters and real scenarios, a stray away from space and medieval themes. Then Sony introduced PlayStation for a more mature and older audience to feel included. Over time, technology kept improving and included higher and higher megabytes.
Time passes and EA Sports comes out with motion capture so the movements seem more realistic. Within their game, they had everyone respond to a movement that you made., it put people in the game more. These environments and technology made games feel and look hyper-realistic.