Gaming History: How Technology has Changed Gaming Industry over the Years

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(Newswire.net — March 19, 2018) —  In the entertainment industry, no one can deny the significance of gaming. It grew as one of the leading and highly profitable industries around the globe. Regardless of the age, almost everyone loves gaming and see it as a unique option to relax. Studies have shown that perfectly crafted games can help people to improve their skills, encourage physical activity, and more. The biggest influencer of the gaming industry is none other than the technology advancement over the years. As you know, the telecommunication advancements in the recent years brought gaming into the smart devices. Let’s see how the technology changed the gaming industry over the years.

The Early Days

The story of gaming and gaming machines started in 1940 when a machine was introduced in 1940. The game was developed based on Nim, an old mathematical game. When it comes to the first gaming machine for home use, it is none other than the Brown Box introduced in 1967, which had options to play checkers, ping pong, and more. Magnavox Odyssey was another gaming machine during those days that introduced in 1972.

Multiplayer and Home Gaming

Since the late 1970s, gaming machines equipped with multiplayer options became popular, and the chain restaurants in the United States grabbed the machines to capitalize the gaming craze. Interestingly, youngsters were actively taking part in gaming during those years. Home gaming consoles were another major development during that period.

The invention of the world’s first microprocessor by Intel led to the designing of many advanced games, including Gunfight of 1975. During the 1980s, Atari VCS integrated microprocessors into its consoles and introduced Atari 2600 console. It received a thunderous response in the market as sales crossed two million in 1980.

Personal Computers and Online Gaming Consoles

Since 1983, the growth of personal computers gave another leap to the gaming industry. As the home computers came up with more powerful processors, it offered a new level of complex gaming experience to the gamers. Integrated BASIC code program, LAN Party, and more were some of the technology developments that shaped the personal computer gaming in the early 1990s.

The 16-bit-era consoles introduced in the early 1990s made some real advancements in online gaming, especially after the internet became a public domain in 1993. Satellaview, a satellite modem peripheral, from Nintendo in the year 1995 was a new technology that allowed users to download games, cheats, news, and more to their consoles from satellites. The introduction of Sega Dreamcast in 2000 made significant advancement in online gaming from the slow internet days of the late 1990s. The PlanetWeb browser and 56 Kbps modem enhanced the gaming to further level.

Modern Gaming

The advanced computer processors and the improved internet capacities from the 2000s offered games with better visuals and graphics along with advanced consoles. It also made gaming more popular, and nearly 1.5 billion people enjoy video games, including online casino, by accessing the internet, per an industry report in 2015. Online storefronts such as PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace have encouraged the developers to come up with better games. Online multiplayer games also became a craze during the period.

Mobile Gaming

The introduction of smartphones and app stores have opened another playground for the gaming industry. It made an explosion in the gaming industry as gaming is no longer an affair of someone who is sitting inside their home or owning a console. Mainstream media also started celebrating the success stories of Pokémon Go, Clash of Clans, and more. The Virtual Reality or VR devices introduced since early-2016 made 3D gaming possible from even mobile devices.

Conclusion

The integration of gaming with technology is the single biggest factor that shaped the entire gaming industry and made it highly popular. Cloud gaming is regarded as the next major stop in gaming, and you can see more revolution on it in the coming years.