Technology and Games

Many of the gaming consoles today carry it a lot easier for us, the online gamers to play online and video games. Most people choose to Play Car Racing Games and Play Driving Games. They produced innovated and improved controllers, joysticks and other buttons which are necessary while you Play Driving Games. One particular type of game which individuals play quite often online is driving games. There are many Free Car Racing Games online and people are flocking to these sites and try their hands on them. Even Racing Games For Kids are also available online.

Driving games are an exciting and entertaining style of online game and due to their mass popularity there are a wide variety of driving games to settle upon from when looking to play a driving game online. Games get been very logical to us especially when we are feeling lonely and bored about our monotonous life. When you Play Driving Games you are able to forget about your worries and concentrate for a brief period of time on the adrenalin rush of Free Car Racing Games.
From hot rod fanatics to street car collectors, those who are interested in these vehicle types love to play hot rod oriented adrenalin rush game online. There are countless driving games which permit hot rods as their car of choice and one who plays this type of driving game is sure to reach the finish line a happy individual. It is important not to leave out those driving games which appearance monster trucks as the vehicle of choice.

Whether one is romping over other vehicles or racing alongside monster truck competitors, an individual who has an interest in this type of driving game is sure to be pleased with the wealth of options they will consult in the monster truck genre. Play Driving Games are so explicit but the enjoyment and excitement that it brings is undeniable. That is why hordes of us need for to play driving games. Even just for a while make us take some time to relax and escape from our worries in life. For those gamers who covet to put involved in an off-road race, they will foretell that there are multiple dirt track racing driving games which they can play online.

As opposed to the speedway racing, dirt track racing provides entertaining races which are a little more rugged for those interested in these types of leisure entertainment. Configuration of vessel and vehicle settings is just easy because best of the download sites actually carry the gamers meet their own car. Though the forms of vessels and vehicles may be different, but still the goal for all driving games is only one. And do not forget those Racing Games For Kids because they can be fun too for adults.

These Free Car Racing Games are often packed with action and fantastic system especially the racing games handy in the Nintendo Wii are full of exciting and creativity giving you real-life experience at the comfort of your house. You considered yourself a diehard driving and racing games fan then become a member of a serious arcade games website, you will have a hard time mastering all the games there. Whether you are interested to Play Car Racing Games or Play Driving Games, these are all full of excitement and fun.

Board games have a very long history, having been around for centuries; however, they have become a popular past time among the middle class sometime during the 20th Century. Many of the more classic games on the market today got their start during World War II.

There are many of today’s board games available that have become one of the many exciting games offered in computer format. Computer games can be played in single or multiplayer versions. In single player games, you will find that your opponent is the computer. For Multiplayer games, you will play the game against other players who love to play the game. Many computer games got their start as a very complicated board game. The reason many board game designers have made computer games available, is because it is easier to learn the rules, because the game will point them out as you go, and it is also saves the player in set up time.

Many board games use other components, in addition to its normal pieces, such as, CD’s and DVD’s. The games played on these components are easily transferable and interactive. You can play on your computer, and in some cases you can play the game on your television set. It is interactive, as the game has may features that allow you to answer question and make decisions. Through these components, a new player will learn the rules faster because they get hands on experience in playing the game.

The board game industry has created many thousands of board games. These players can be played by single players who play against themselves; they can also play in multiplayer and play against another person and even team play where one team of player is pitted against another team of players, such as trivia type games and some of the many acting games and drawing games. There are also children’s games, teen games, and games for young adults. In addition some of the games are geared towards the boys and there are some just for the girls. Board Games offer many variations for the people who play them.

You will also find that a great deal of imagination was put into creating these board games. Games such as Monopoly, Go, Risk, and Scrabble have been designed with intricate rules and strategies to keep any player happily playing the game. Chess brings with it very complex detail and complicated move patterns that make a person have to use all of their mental processes. Monopoly teaches its players important real estate and banking strategies that will teach its player how to budget for the investments they want to make while playing the game. Each game comes with its own concept and its own rules but all of them offer players and exciting gaming experience.

Some games depend totally on your ability to come up with strategies, build on your previous strategy, and create more advanced strategies. Chess games require you to think on your feet, and to modify your strategy every time your opponent makes a move. There are some board games that require no decision making skills, these depend on luck, and are usually children’s games such as chutes and Ladders or Sorry. Adult gamers prefer games that make them decide on something and prefer games where the manufacturer designs the game to depend on both luck and strategy, such as Monopoly and Risk. While there are many other considerations, when choosing your board game, but each game was made to keep you entertained so you can play any games.

Article by Sammie Dennis

Spyware has become the number one threat to all internet users in our world today. Time is not a factor since they operate ahour software which makes it possible for different users to join in at their time and leave at their convenience. Free online games are a good way of letting the young ones think more strategically. Free online games are available to all regardless of which of the world’s continent they reside in. It has been found that arcade games, shooting, board games and quiz games are the ever green classics when it comes to online games. Another popular choice are sites offering online casinos that permit players to play poker without having to risk money of their own to play the games. For finding free online games, certain aspects need to be considered as follows. It can be any game-arcade game, shooting game, quiz game, adventurous game, action game or a board game.

Now in its ripening stage and is opening up various new opportunities for the people. Play Free Online Games with These Helpful TipsIf you enjoy video games, then this article is for you. These kinds of games allow the players to use their imaginations and are also good or design students trying to improve their skills. Third: Stop Pop-upsBe sure to open a new game window on your browsers window before you begin playing each new game. Part of the appeal is that the players actually play the sportsmen in the game, becoming one of the players in the game, and a lot of the time giving the option to play online against other real people also playing the game instead of just having to play against the computer. Because you also download these for free, it only depends on the capacity of your hard disc to store many programs.

Parents also these days allow their children to explore the online domain and enhance their creativity. Graphic-based games – the first noteworthy example of this is Pong. Of course, you can earn prize money through free online strategy games too.The beauty of online war strategy games lies in the freedom of a person to choose his or her favorite game. While internet games may encourage obesity given you require sitting most of the time, they are particularly useful during such periods as winter when you are confined in the house. This type of game used the internet, but was not necessarily an “online game.” As internet technology advanced, new developments like Adobe Flash were released which opened up a whole new realm of possibilities. In fact, in 00, the Entertainment Software Association stated that computer game sales have reached a high of $ .

The online flash games need to be mentioned here. It is widely known that online sport games are becoming popular through the course of time. They allow users to plan the floor plan, choose the tile or other flooring materials, design the landscape garden and many other things. But the level of excitement is equally satisfactory while providing the players with some opportunity to think of better means to respond to some of the challenges. One does not need to have any specific programming knowledge to enjoy these games. One just requires to pay for the Internet connection and the rest comes for free.However, there are certain demerits that comes along with the free online flash games.

Memory was still at a premium and webmasters had to use their resources wisely.But soon, as the internet became even more accessible, you could find collections of online games on a single website, in many different genres, including single player, multiplayer, racing, action, adventure, castle defense, sports, and of course, classics like chess and poker.Today, online games are at an all-time high in popularity, with people choosing to play them for a variety of reasons, whether having a hardcore competition against their friends (or themselves) for the high score, or just to pass some time at work in between meetings, or on the train on the way to work. With free online games, you can be sure that your children are spending their free time in the house without getting bored or feeling the need to destroy other things. If anyone wishes to play online games with someone else, internet gives them the alternative of interactive games by which, one can play with unidentified players from anywhere in the world as well. The rules were simple, but the game was fun, and revolutionary for the time. Games Games Free Online Games

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Article by Lane-Edgar

Gaming has travelled time must faster than human evolution and has changed the face of entertainment a million times. Centuries back the games were limited to court board games or field games, the bets were real, losses were real, winnings were real and injuries were real too. So much that if you werent riding that streak of luck, destiny to write you off in one single blow of bad chance or make you a king in the other.

If you

What is it like to work as a video game programmer? It is considered by many game-playing children to be a dream job. Is it actually as good as it sounds? It certainly is an interesting life. However, as with anything else on this planet, there are both positive and negative sides to working as a video game programmer.

For the last 7 years I have worked as a video game programmer at three development studios: Activision/Treyarch, Visual Concepts and DiscoPixel. I have published titles for the Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo consoles. This article is a summary of some of the perks and pitfalls that I have experienced through my work at these companies.

Perk #1 – Make Games!

This one is pretty obvious, but the biggest perk of working at a video game studio is that you will be MAKING games. You will be helping build the next great game that potentially millions of people will play and enjoy. There’s an amazing satisfaction that stems from knowing that you helped make something big.

Perk #2 – Play Games!

In addition to testing and improving your current game every day, you’ll also be playing games made by other companies. There are few jobs out there where sitting down and playing a newly released console title is considered research. Companies definitely want you to stay on top of the technology and features of new games, and the only way to do this is by playing lots of games. At the companies I’ve worked at, I’ve never seen anyone get reprimanded for playing video games during the day.

Perk #3 – Independence

A great aspect of working as a video game programmer is the independence you are given. It is rare that you’ll have a manager breathing down your neck or double checking everything you do. To get hired into a development studio you need to already have excellent programming skills, so you are given a lot of freedom to make many decisions yourself. You may be assigned a general task to complete, but how that actually should be done, as well as how long it should take, are often up to you.

Provided that you can get your work done, the companies I have worked for generally seemed to be very willing to let me work on my terms. When I was tired or bored or lazy I could go play a game or relax somewhere without anyone complaining. Happy employees with improved morale make better games.

Perk #4 – Fun Office Environment

Everybody that works at a video game studio has one thing in common: they love games. If they didn’t love playing games they would never have been hired to make them. Because of this, the office setting often has fun or quirky things anywhere you look. Many people bring strange new objects to show off or play with during the day.

Most video game studios have lots of games and toys lying around to keep its employees entertained. A few things that I have come across at various studios: Arcades with free coin-op games, foosball tables, ping pong tables, razor scooters, board games, action figures, puzzles, daytime basketball games and giant stuffed animals.

Coming to the office still means you’re going to work, but there’s no reason why it can’t also be fun.

Perk #5 – Free Soda + Snacks

This perk is maybe not important to everyone, but it’s nice to know that you won’t go hungry working at a video game studio. I’ve never met a video game company that hasn’t offered free soda and snacks as part of the benefits of working there. I suppose being loaded up on caffeine and sugar helps boost productivity. During long days at the office, companies will typically provide free dinner as a thank-you for staying late. One company I worked for served fully catered meals from assorted restaurants every night for many weeks.

Pitfall #1 – Long Work Hours

Making video games is a lot of work. The amount of time needed to make the latest game seems to be growing exponentially. Development teams continue to get bigger and bigger every year, yet somehow the amount of work per person doesn’t seem to get any smaller. Games are very complicated. Also, the nature of games is that they must be fun, which is not always so easy to accurately pencil into a schedule. A lot of experimentation is needed, especially with new game concepts.

Before a milestone and especially a few months before a game is released, the work day will be very intense. The work has a way of very quickly piling up. New features and old bugs suck away all of your time. Working long nights or weekends is not uncommon. Fortunately, employees generally care about the games that they are making, and their passion helps energize them through these occasional long shifts.

The stress can get overwhelming, too. At one company I had a giant stack of bug reports waiting for me on my chair when I came into the office. I would work all day, scrambling to fix the bugs as quickly as possible, working on full blast all day and night. I’d go home for a couple hours of sleep, but when I’d return to work there would be a new, even larger stack of bug reports waiting for me.

Typically after a project has shipped there will be a period of downtime where the employees can get a chance to relax and recover. The work load will suddenly significantly reduce. One company gave bonus vacation time after a project shipped, and another put employees “on call” for about a month, in which they only had to come to the office if there was some kind of problem. It’s nice to know that your long work hours do not go unnoticed.

Pitfall #2 -Choosing What to Work On

Working on your own video games in your free time is a lot of fun. You get to choose exactly what game and tasks you want to work on, focusing only on the fun stuff. Anything boring can be safely ignored since the only audience is you. Unfortunately, this is not the case for large video game studios. There are many tasks to be completed, some of which are not too glamorous. Fixing console manufacturer standards violations or building data tools is not very exciting, but it still needs to be done by someone in order to ship the final product.

These tasks typically are given to people who are just starting out in the video game industry, perhaps as a rite of passage, but probably just because nobody else wants to do them.
In addition to the possibility of working on less glamorous tasks, you could be assigned a project that you are not fully interested in. Typically the company will let you work projects that interest you, but this is not always possible. A particular project could be falling behind schedule and it needs a few more employees to fix some bugs or add some new features. Or, the project you are interested in already has enough workers.

I think that the passion of the employees working at a video game studio is crucial to the success of that game. If you are not excited about what you’re working on, it will show up in the game you’re creating. To avoid any misunderstandings or letdowns, before deciding to work at a particular company, it’s important to find out what game you will be working on in addition to what tasks you will be assigned.

Pitfall #3 -Pay Not as Good (Maybe?)

I’ve heard from a few people that the pay working as a video game programmer is not as good as the pay working at more conventional companies. Business database programmers, for example, could be earning more money. This could be true. However, choosing your profession is not just about the pay. You spend a large percentage of your life at your job. Money is not everything. Choosing something that you enjoy is important, too.

I thought the pay at the companies I have worked at was very reasonable. There is also a large potential upside from royalty checks coming from a game that sells well, which has sometimes turned out to be significant. You will definitely not be living as a pauper if you get a programmer job at a video game company.

Conclusion

I hope that this article has been helpful towards learning a little bit about working as a video game programmer. As with everything in life, there are pros and cons to this profession. If what you have read sounds good to you, I hope you find that dream job making the next great bestselling game.

Article by Manuel Woods

1. Working as a Video Game Clerk. Working at video sport store or rental place – either permanently or temporarily – has to be a teen gamer’s desire. In a single position, employees have access for the first games and game systems hot journey market and they’re privy to peek inside magazines hot journey press before anyone in addition. If that wasn’t ample, gaming clerks get a discount of what would otherwise be too expensive (games, game methods, and game accessories) to even look at buying. Sweet!

2. Working as being a Game Tester. Before an activity hits the market, it has to undergo extensive testing and if you feel the programmers behind the action test their own stuff, think again. The gaming industry is incredibly sensitive about what it thumps out into the public. To help remain competitive, it must make absolutely sure that the games it produces act as intended. This is in which testers enter the photograph. But it isn’t easy to turn into a game tester. Becoming a sport tester requires a minor inside help but once you’re in there, you’ll not only get access to games that no one else knows about, you’ll also have an opportunity to shape the game into an experience that you and your own comrades prefer.

3. Working being a Game Designer. Do you’ve got good artistic skills? Could you whip out a character faster than it is possible to say, “I drew that”? If so, you may be able to obtain a career designing video games. Today’s video games exude the most beautiful graphics ever seen and when you have a good imagination, are able to use one of the most advanced graphics software software programs available, and can stick to instructions, you could see your own artwork over the following popular video game.

5. Working as a Activity Critic. The gaming industry is obviously looking for good content and should you have a flair for writing coupled with a love for video games, you could write pertaining to game magazines like Game Informer or you could potentially write content for a highly popular gaming website.

5. Working as being a Game Programmer. Not a career for everyone, a good game programmer is actually in demand. As player preferences change and fresh technology is developed, someone with the right programming skills really needs to be there to fill the particular gap between what avid gamers want, and what the particular gaming industry can source. Becoming a game programmer requires extensive lessons in several different development languages – so if you don’t have a clue as about what we just said, skip this profession and look into a lot of the others.

The great news about all of this is that the game playing industry shows no sign of disappearing whenever soon. Even colleges are receiving in on the gaming craze since they fill their course ebooks with game programming instruction and game design curriculums. There will always be an opportunity that you can blend your love for games using a steady paycheck as long as you remain dedicated to looking for these opportunities, and you seek to stay abreast of what’s happening from the gaming world.

Check the employment portion of your local paper regarding more, or visit the nearest college to find out what classes and training are offered.

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For those of us who love everything equine, horses and games make a great entertainment combination. Creating a horse-themed card game is hard work and requires a lot of careful consideration. This article talks about the early days of discovery for the developers at Funleague Games as they embarked upon the journey of designing their very first card game called “Perfect Stride: Cross-Country!” Naturally, as with many things, the game started out as an idea. We wanted to create a fun horse game that was fanciful and stylized, yet still stayed somewhat true to the experience of riding a horse. Representing the idea of racing at high speed across country on horseback through a card game presented its share of challenges. We experimented with a lot of ideas and several times we experienced moments of “aha! This is it!” and away we’d go full-steam…only to discover a problem. The gameplay logistics were the main sticking points. We were cutting some new ground with this card game; it wasn’t closely based on any other specific game so we didn’t have a tried-and-true template to work from. Rather, we referenced bits and pieces of gameplay elements from other games we’d played and from our own vision of how we thought things should work considering the experience we were trying to emulate. Two other resources that have definitely been invaluable are Board Game Geek and Board Game Designer’s Forum. Thanks to everyone there who has posted such excellent info! Here are some examples of things we had a tough time figuring out: Our card game is essentially a race across country on horseback. You jump obstacles along the way…how do you represent that? Do you use tiles? Do you lay the cards out all at once, or one at a time? Face-up? Face-down? That kind of thing. Another element we struggled with was how the rider order was represented during the course of the race.

If you were in first, but then dropped back to third, how would you know? We tried a bunch of things such as using charts, placing a token amongst the jump cards, etc. After a lot of trial and error, we eventually figured out a system that wasn’t confusing (unlike our earlier versions). We also struggled with trying to inject some strategy into the gameplay. We definitely didn’t want this game to be all about “luck of the draw”. We wanted the players to have to evaluate each situation and choose a best course of action. Strategy does add depth to a game, but on the flip side of this, a bit of chance can really spice things up and keep you wondering as you draw that next card. As this was a racing game, we didn’t want the players to get too bogged down pondering their options. That would detract from the idea that you were all moving at high speed over terrain in a dash for the finish line. Those were just some of the many things we needed to figure out as we developed our initial idea into something fun, functional and richly thematic. After emerging from the idea phase, we entered a stage of development where we needed to examine more practical business considerations: How big should the deck be?

That has proven to depend upon a few things such as number of players, how many variables we were prepared to deal with, printing costs and art costs. We wanted the deck to have substance, yet still maintain some kind of control on the budget.
What should we price the game at?

Now that one is ongoing. Naturally we need to make some sort of profit as a reward for our hard efforts and the main way to estimate what kind of pricing is involved is by breaking down the “per-unit costs”. For example, we make an initial assumption that the first print run might be about 5000 copies. Therefore, we would get a printing quote for 5000 copies of the game. And then add to that the cost for artwork creation. And legal fees. And advertising. That sort of thing. Add all those costs together, and divide by 5000. That will be our per-unit cost.

How should we package and present the game?

We need to look at a couple of key things here. One is; what kind of presentation will be most appealing to people? We want the theme to be immediately recognizable and we want to convey the message that this is a quality game. A game where it’s a high-calibre entertainment experience made of durable materials that will be a pleasure to handle. The other consideration is how much will the packaging and materials cost? Printing/manufacturing costs are arguably THE most expensive part of creating a board or card game. And the quotes will vary widely with each print shop we approach.

Legal stuff?

A board or card game is a creative product. It’s art and entertainment, meets commerce. There’s intellectual property, copyright, trademarks and other basic business considerations. We recognize that it’s a good idea to protect our hard work and ensure that all communication is organized and in writing. Legal stuff is not only about protecting what’s ours; it’s also about being clear about obligations when engaging in business with another party. When it comes to hiring artists to create artwork for a game, copyright ownership is one of the biggest key factors. It’s important to ensure clarity about who owns the art. Paying an artist to create artwork doesn’t necessarily mean we actually own it. It’s essential to have an “Artist Agreement” in place. This is a legal document that details the rights and obligations between Funleague Games and the artist. Artists work hard to do what they do best (we know this firsthand…Jeff and I are both professional artists) and naturally will want to be clear about all the details involving the work they do.

What kind of art style am I looking for?

This is an important thing to figure out, but it can be a tough one. The style of art is heavily influenced by the style of the hired artist(s) working on your project. It’s important to choose carefully who will be creating the visuals for the game. Arguably good art will sell more copies of a bad game than bad art on a good game. People like things to look “cool” or “beautiful”. Make sure you deliver in spades in this area by having a strong vision for what your game should look like and by only hiring artists who have an art style compatible with that vision. Art style should also take into consideration the target market your game is aimed at. In the case of Perfect Stride: Cross-Country!, I’m going for a style that is distinct from other games on the market. I also want the style to be inclusive and appealing to the full range of my target audience. For example, I need to avoid an art style that is too “young” as my target audience are people ages 7 and up. I want to feature artwork that has a fun innocence to it, but at the same time possesses enough refinement to appeal to a more mature audience.

Who’s our audience?

This is important right out of the gate (now there’s a theme-appropriate expression

. Even at the earliest design phase it’s important to know our demographic. For example, if we designed a game to include a lot of deep and subtle complexities or tons of arithmetic, chances are that kids under 7 years of age could find the game too difficult. As for Perfect Stride: Cross-Country!, I feel that this will be a game that can be enjoyed by almost everybody, but the primary audience will likely be people who love horses. And as there is an element of strategy to the game, the very young may struggle with some of the gameplay concepts.

Marketing?

This is SOOOOoooo important. If Jeff and I never bother to get the word out about our really cool game, how are we going to sell it? Entire books (and even university degrees) are devoted to the topic of marketing, but suffice it to say it’s important that we learn a little bit about how to promote our product. Not only will we not sell any (or very few) copies, but so many people will never get the chance to enjoy a super-fun horse-themed experience! As our game is very strongly based on a specific theme (or niche) one of the first things we’ll do is seek to get the word out at places where the horse-loving public like to visit such as horse-themed websites, tack shops, equestrian magazines, etc.

As you can see, we have our work cut out for us, but the creation of this card game has been a wonderful journey so far. We look forward to the time when the game is complete and ready to be enjoyed by many!

A baby is a much loved member of any family. Not only the parents and relatives, but even unknown persons are seen to be attracted by babies. Since the baby is so much loved, it is customary for well wishers to shower gifts on the baby. A popular gift item that babies tend to receive is baby games. The games are an integral part of any childhood. Babies grow along with these games and they help in developing the intellect and basic senses of the baby. There are a large variety of baby games available in stores in today’s age.

Mind Games: Leading game makers like Leo, Baby Einstein and Fisher Price make such games which cater to all age groups from zero to five. The age group can be referred to as the baby group in the terms of the game makers. The mind games can be of any type. They might be musical, card games, picture puzzles or similar types. All that they have in common are the features which aid in improving the child’s recognition and motor skills. These games are attractively designed and are ideal gifts for a baby.

Disney games: A classic favorite with both baby boys and girls, these consist of a set of any cartoon character related puzzles or blocks. The games come with audio visual aids which help the babies learn well. The Disney games are hugely popular. Little mermaid, Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse sets are eternal favorites. The games come in attractive boxes that create additional interest in the baby. The Disney games develop the thinking power and the interest of the baby to learn new things. Sometimes these games have soft toys inside them as a freebie.

Internet Games: Though introducing a baby to the web world does not seem a very good idea, yet babies can play internet games form the age of three. These games improve their sensory responses and arm the babies with speed and can aid in faster grasping of concepts. However, these games need to be played under strict parental supervision. The most popular internet games for small babies are Moving squares and images, Skipping box, Color Matching, Mathematical games and so on. These games can be put to educational use as well. Basic letter recognition and math can be taught with the aid of these internet games.

Playhouse and Board Games: There are a large number of playhouse games which find appeal with girl babies basically. The playhouses can be branded, as in the Barbie ones or simple, with dolls of any make and model. The playhouses teach babies cooperation and organization skills. The board games are a hit with both boys and girls. For babies, the board games are pretty simple with flash cards and similar things which assist in the learning development and mental growth of the baby. These games can be fun yet educational in nature.

There are hundreds of party games for kids and these are the ones documented. Where games are, children will be found also because they provide a simple way of interaction between themselves and other children. Games are almost like another language which is widely spoken by children and adults alike. Party games for kids will be found on the internet and from many other sources. Creativity plays a major role to ensure that a particular game is ranked among the best. Games to play will be determined by the particular party being held. This means that many people go for themed party games to make the occasion even more special. Party games come with rules that should be followed carefully so as to make the game as fair as possible.

Party games for kids are popular and new ones are constantly being added to the already existing ones daily. This provides a great opportunity for kids and people who generally feel they have a creative edge when it comes to creating games. You will find sites where you can submit your ideas for games, and get to see what the general reaction will be. Examples of new games include the following ‘balloon go away’, ‘balloon challenge’, ‘British Bulldog variation’, ‘easy easy’, ‘head band game’ and the list is endless. It is vital to understand how a game is played so that you can be entertained by it fully at a party. There are several aspects of a game that you should be familiar with and they include the following.

The first aspect of party games for kids is the objective. Every game will have a certain goal which the kid will seek to achieve. When this goal is achieved, kids will either earn points, qualify for another level or win the game. A game has to be ranked in a certain category for example games for kids, teenagers and others. Another aspect of games are different types. There are two main types of games for kids and they are active games and silent games. Active games require more energy because there is a lot of movement involved while silent games will be more quiet and passive. Many kids are never stationery and they go for more active games rather than silent ones.

Party games for kids will require several things or items to make the game possible for example if a game has to do with balloons, then there will be necessity of the the balloon. Most games are played with the requirement of several items. All games need players to participate in making the game what it is. Finally, all games have rules which are followed to the letter. An example of a game is the ‘balloon go away’ game whose main objective is not to end up with the balloon at the end of the music. 6 players are needed and they form a circle where a balloon is tossed. When the music in the background ceases, you should not have the balloon with you or close to you because you will be voted out. The last kid standing wins. The balloon should be kept in the air at all times.

As an avid retro-gamer, for quite a long time I’ve been particularly interested in the history of video games. To be more specific, a subject that I am very passionate about is “Which was the first video game ever made?”… So, I started an exhaustive investigation on this subject (and making this article the first one in a series of articles that will cover in detail all video gaming history).

The question was: Which was the first video game ever made?

The answer: Well, as a lot of things in life, there is no easy answer to that question. It depends on your own definition of the term “video game”. For example: When you talk about “the first video game”, do you mean the first video game that was commercially-made, or the first console game, or maybe the first digitally programmed game? Because of this, I made a list of 4-5 video games that in one way or another were the beginners of the video gaming industry. You will notice that the first video games were not created with the idea of getting any profit from them (back in those decades there was no Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Atari, or any other video game company around). In fact, the sole idea of a “video game” or an electronic device which was only made for “playing games and having fun” was above the imagination of over 99% of the population back in those days. But thanks to this small group of geniuses who walked the first steps into the video gaming revolution, we are able to enjoy many hours of fun and entertainment today (keeping aside the creation of millions of jobs during the past 4 or 5 decades). Without further ado, here I present the “first video game nominees”:

1940s: Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device

This is considered (with official documentation) as the first electronic game device ever made. It was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. The game was assembled in the 1940s and submitted for an US Patent in January 1947. The patent was granted December 1948, which also makes it the first electronic game device to ever receive a patent (US Patent 2,455,992). As described in the patent, it was an analog circuit device with an array of knobs used to move a dot that appeared in the cathode ray tube display. This game was inspired by how missiles appeared in WWII radars, and the object of the game was simply controlling a “missile” in order to hit a target. In the 1940s it was extremely difficult (for not saying impossible) to show graphics in a Cathode Ray Tube display. Because of this, only the actual “missile” appeared on the display. The target and any other graphics were showed on screen overlays manually placed on the display screen. It’s been said by many that Atari’s famous video game “Missile Command” was created after this gaming device.

1951: NIMROD

NIMROD was the name of a digital computer device from the 50s decade. The creators of this computer were the engineers of an UK-based company under the name Ferranti, with the idea of displaying the device at the 1951 Festival of Britain (and later it was also showed in Berlin).

NIM is a two-player numerical game of strategy, which is believed to come originally from the ancient China. The rules of NIM are easy: There are a certain number of groups (or “heaps”), and each group contains a certain number of objects (a common starting array of NIM is 3 heaps containing 3, 4, and 5 objects respectively). Each player take turns removing objects from the heaps, but all removed objects must be from a single heap and at least one object is removed. The player to take the last object from the last heap loses, however there is a variation of the game where the player to take the last object of the last heap wins.

NIMROD used a lights panel as a display and was planned and made with the unique purpose of playing the game of NIM, which makes it the first digital computer device to be specifically created for playing a game (however the main idea was showing and illustrating how a digital computer works, rather than to entertain and have fun with it). Because it doesn’t have “raster video equipment” as a display (a TV set, monitor, etc.) it is not considered by many people as a real “video game” (an electronic game, yes… a video game, no…). But once again, it really depends on your point of view when you talk about a “video game”.

1952: OXO (“Noughts and Crosses”)

This was a digital version of “Tic-Tac-Toe”, created for an EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) computer. It was designed by Alexander S. Douglas from the University of Cambridge, and one more time it was not made for entertainment, it was part of his PhD Thesis on “Interactions between human and computer”.

The rules of the game are those of a regular Tic-Tac-Toe game, player against the computer (no 2-player option was available). The input method was a rotary dial (like the ones in old telephones). The output was showed in a 35×16-pixel cathode-ray tube display. This game was never very popular because the EDSAC computer was only available at the University of Cambridge, so there was no way to install it and play it anywhere else (until many years later when an EDSAC emulator was created available, and by that time many other excellent video games where available as well…).

1958: Tennis for Two

“Tennis for Two” was created by William Higinbotham, a physicist working at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. This game was made as a way of entertainment, so laboratory visitors had something funny to do during their wait on “visitors day” (finally!… a video game that was created “just for fun”…) . The game was pretty well designed for its era: the ball behavior was modified by several factors like gravity, wind velocity, position and angle of contact, etc.; you had to avoid the net as in real tennis, and many other things. The video game hardware included two “joysticks” (two controllers with a rotational knob and a push button each) connected to an analog console, and an oscilloscope as a display.

“Tennis for Two” is considered by many the first video game ever created. But once again, many others differ from that idea stating that “it was a computer game, not a video game” or “the output display was an oscilloscope, not a “raster” video display… so it does not qualify as a video game”. But well… you can’t please everyone…

It is also rumored that “Tennis for Two” was the inspiration for Atari’s mega hit “Pong”, but this rumor has always been strongly denied… for obvious reasons.

1961: Spacewar!

“Spacewar!” video game was created by Stephen Russell, with the help of J. Martin Graetz, Peter Samson, Alan Kotok, Wayne Witanen and Dan Edwards from MIT. By the 1960s, MIT was “the right choice” if you wanted to do computer research and development. So this half a dozen of innovative guys took advantage of a brand-new computer was ordered and expected to arrive campus very soon (a DEC PDP-1) and started thinking about what kind of hardware testing programs would be made. When they found out that a “Precision CRT Display” would be installed to the system, they instantly decided that “some sort of visual/interactive game” would be the demonstration software of choice for the PDP-1. And after some discussion, it was soon decided to be a space battle game or something similar. After this decision, all other ideas came out pretty quick: like rules of the game, designing concepts, programming ideas, and so forth.

So after about 200 man/hours of work, the first version of the game was at last ready to be tested. The game consisted of two spaceships (affectively named by players “pencil” and “wedge”) shooting missiles at each other with a star in the middle of the display (which “pulls” both spaceships because of its gravitational force). A set of control switches was used to control each spaceship (for rotation, speed, missiles, and “hyperspace”). Each spaceship have a limited amount of fuel and weapons, and the hyperspace option was like a “panic button”, in case there is no other way out (it could either “save you or break you”).

The computer game was an instant success between MIT students and programmers, and soon they started making their own changes to the game program (like real star charts for background, star/no star option, background disable option, angular momentum option, among others). The game code was ported to many other computer platforms (since the game required a video display, a hard to find option in 1960s systems, it was mostly ported to newer/cheaper DEC systems like the PDP-10 and PDP-11).

Spacewar! is not only considered by many as the first “real” video game (since this game does have a video display), but it also have been proved to be the true predecessor of the original arcade game, as well as being the inspiration of many other video games, consoles, and even video gaming companies (can you say “Atari”?…). But that’s another story, arcade games as well as console video games were written in a different page of the history of video games (so stay tuned for future articles on these subjects).

So here they are, the “First Video Game” nominees. Which one do you think is the first video game ever made?… If you ask me, I think all these games were revolutionary for its era, and should be credited as a whole as the beginners of the video gaming revolution. Instead of looking for which one was the first video game, what is really important is that they were created, period. As the creator of “Spacewar!”, Stephen Rusell, once said: “If I hadn’t done it, someone would have done something equally exciting or even better in the next six months. I just happened to get there first”.

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