I, video game (2/2)

I didn’t have any inkling that such childhood experiences in digital games would someday be a part of a collective engagement with technology that would be critically studied, and will form one of the many perspectives from which to view today’s society and culture.

This perspective was taken by Discovery Channel when it made in 2007 a documentary presenting a comprehensive exploration of the past, present and future of games and gamers. ‘Rise of the Video Game ‘ (or I, Video Game) is a five-part documentary that presents a historical and critical account of games: how it represents society and how society is now imitating games. I’ve seen the first part and trying to download the rest.

The first part — aptly called ‘Level 1’— is a must-see for anyone who would want a better understanding of games and its socio-historical dynamics; and the larger view of the people, ideologies and technology that gave birth to this ever-evolving cultural phenomenon.

Level 1: Games as by-products of war and societal changes
The Cold War’s promise of mutually assured destruction resulted in a disquieting standoff, which drove computer technology to create missile simulations — an important process in predicting the effects of a nuclear war. This same computer technology was used to create games such as the ‘Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device’ in 1947, which involved aiming missiles at a target, and was inspired by the radar displays used in World War II.

Keywords: history,of,games,first-generation,video,games,war,cold,war

I, video game (1/2)

I often wonder how my eight-year old nephew really experiences video games.  He has Playstation, PSP and Wii, which he shares with his brothers and nephews. Every now and then, he also plays games on his mom’s laptop. He’s growing up amidst a revolutionary time for games and the gamer.

When I was his age, my brother and I didn’t have any game consoles or personal computers. Our first experience with digital games came about a year or two later in the form of ‘Pyramid’ a built-in game on a black Casio digital watch. It was a gift from our Tito (Uncle) Alex working in Saudi Arabia (all nephews and nieces got one). I was thrilled not because it was ‘imported’, but because I was challenged to score higher than my brother and cousins. Yep, it was exciting for me to be able to catch the little triangles falling and make sure if all fell nicely in place to form a big pyramid. I had no idea then that Tetris existed and that I would be addicted to it in the future. Anyway, I guess the first signs of my obsessive nature started to reveal itself as it became my daily goal, wherever I was — bathroom no exception — to top the previous day’s score. I was also very pleased with myself when I discovered that pressing a hidden button gave me more chances allowing me to play longer.

Then came Nintendo’s ‘Game & watch’, handheld electronic games that were simply fast and fun to play. I can still see very clearly in mind the words, ‘GAME A’ and ‘GAME B’. These were pretty much the level of difficulties, but that was enough.  

My first ‘Game & watch’ was the game, ‘Chef’. Chef had to catch the food in his pan, while a cat did its best to steal it, and a smug mouse took the food Chef spilled on the floor. The shapes of the sausages, chicken drumstick falling so fast are still imprinted in my mind, but most especially the panicky expression on the very simple and yet memorable illustration of Chef. Again, my inquisitive mind took over as I found out that if I pressed the ACL button long enough, I could get the highest score of 999

Keywords: games,history,of,games,first-generation,games