Gaming is an incredibly popular way to spend your free time. It is something that has been enjoyed across the generations, from Gen X’s and millennial’s to the youngsters in Generation Z, while the technology may have advanced and game design developed, gaming remains the same fun and exciting pastime that it has always been.
The global gaming market has been estimated to be worth a cool $151 billion US dollars, and while $36.9 billion of this revenue comes from the US, gaming is now activity that is enjoyed on every continent.
Research has suggested that by the year 2025, the worldwide gaming industry will be worth almost $260 billion dollars. This significant growth rate is likely due to the improved access to technology, including smartphones, particularly in emerging countries in Africa and Asia, as well as online innovations being developed, such as cloud based gaming.
So, what games have found popularity over the decades and how has gaming changed?
The Seventies
The 1970s saw the birth of the video gaming industry. This era is famous for its arcade games, as well as the development of the first commercial video consoles. In 1972, the Magnavox Odyssey console was released and was soon followed by others including the Telstar and the Atari 2600.
On the Atari, the game Combat was a hit in ‘77. Based on the earlier arcade game version, Combat included a number of games that featured tanks, biplanes and fighter jets. Other popular video games were Battlestar Galactica, D&D, and Apollo space mission inspired game Lunar Lander.
On the computer, the Oregon Trail was released. This educational game was played in schools and helped to teach children about the life of the pioneers.
Games in this generation were usually 2D, drawn using simple concepts like dots and lines and lacked were often black and white.
Arcade games were all the rage during this time. The release of Space Invaders in Japan actually caused a shortage of the 100 Yen coin.
The Eighties
The 1980s is when the arcade game industry really began to prosper. Pac Man was released and after proving itself to be ridiculously popular, it was developing into a game for the Atari console. Ms. Pac Man soon followed and became the best selling arcade game of all time.
Other famous arcade games included Tron, Street Fighter, Double Dragon and Balloon Fight.
Donkey Kong was released on Nintendo and featured ‘Jumpman’, who later became the world famous Super Bros character, Mario.
The James Bond shooter style video game series went on sale and educational-entertainment games such as Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? became popular.
Multiplayer games also started to take off, with the space themed game M.U.L.E having a big impact. Role playing games also found their way into mainstream gaming and Legend of Zelda was released on Nintendo.
Towards the end of the decade, Nintendo introduced the world to computerized handheld gaming with the Game Boy.
The 1980s was a competitive time in the gaming market. Nintendo was rivaled by SEGA in the console market and console game developers struggled to compete with PCs as computer graphics became much more advanced.
The Nineties
By the 1990s the video gaming industry had well and truly established itself across the globe. This decade saw the rise of games made with full 3D graphics. Arcade gaming began to see a decline as console and online gaming increased.
The nineties is famous for the World Wide Web, which made gaming online widely accessible. A new type of gaming began to emerge as the internet became popular, with the first online casino websites popping up. The first casino emerged in 1994 and by 1997 there were over 200 different sites live on the web. At this stage, these sites were fairly primitive and featured basic, arcade style games. Online sports betting also began to take off at this time.
The famous Sonic The Hedgehog game was developed for the SEGA Genesis in 1991. There was also a rise of first person shooter games, which prompted concern over the amount of violence that gaming was exposing children to. The game Mortal Kombat triggered a Senate hearing in the United States regarding violence controversy.
Lara Croft made it to consoles in the game Tomb Raider in 1996 and Sony bought out online game Everquest.
The Noughties onwards
At the turn of the millennium, simulation game The Sims was released on PC. This was the most popular computer game for female players and is one of the best selling PC games in history.
The first Xbox console made its way to the market, a few years later the Xbox 360 took the gaming world by storm with its advanced graphics and online gameplay capabilities.
The Nintendo DS came out in 2004 and impressed users with its two screens and multiplayer capabilities. This was followed by the Nintendo Wii console a year later. The Wii was considered unique in the fact that it encouraged players to be active and move around, whole families could get involved with the gaming experience.
Then, with the rise of the smartphone, social gaming became a thing. Mobile games such as Angry Birds and Candy Crush kept people entertained while on the go.
In the past few years, gaming technology has made significant advancements. New innovative consoles such as OUYA and the Oculus Rift were developed with the help of crowdfunding campaigns.
We are now entering a new decade, with augmented reality gaming and cloud based gaming beginning to take off. As tech giants fight to stay ahead and pour money into developing new gaming systems, we can expect the 2020s to be a revolutionary time for this industry.
