How Have Video Games Changed Over The Years

The video game industry is always changing. New tech and software sprout new opportunities for game studios to take advantage of and make game better. We are going to look how much video games have evolved over the years, trends that have occurred in the past and currently that have affected video game development, and what may happen to the industry in the future.
It is believed that Physicist William Higinbotham was the first to create a video game called Tennis for Two. It was similar to the game Pong which was created in the 1970s. Higinbotham made his game so people could have something to interact with when they came to his exhibits. “Most of the existing exhibits were rather dull. Higinbotham thought he could better capture visitors’

“Today, video games make up a $100 billion global industry, and nearly two-thirds of American homes have household members who play video games regularly.” (Staff, History.com). The first games OXO, Tennis for Two and Spacewar! Were played on computers. Later consoles were being invented giving more people to have the opportunity to play video games. The home console was the first steps to the growth of the video game industry. Arcade gave gamers a place to gather and play games with your friends. As time progress more, consoles were being released. Nintendo invented and produced the Gameboy which gave gamers the opportunity to play anywhere at any time. The rise of 3D gaming occurred when computer technology improved. This spawned new opportunities for developers to created new experiences for gamers. Sony dominated the gaming market for good amount of time. “Sony dominated the video game market and would continue to do so into the next generation. In fact, the PlayStation 2, released in 2000 and able to play original PlayStation games, would become the best-selling game console of all time.” (Staff, History.com). In 2005 and 2006 Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii kicked off the modern age of high-definition gaming. New devices were being introduced like the Microsoft Kinect, a state-of-the-art motion capture system that offered a different way to play video games.

Today there are lot of positions that video game studios offer. It is common for people who had no intention or degree in game development to work in the industry. For example, writers are offered to write stories and direct character development for games. It is important for people who are looking to enter the game industry to work on games as much as they can, so they learn what is needed to create a game. Making a game is also the best teacher if you want to learn new things. However, you want to decide what you want position you want to focus on whether it be animation, level design, concept art, modeling you want to hone your craft on one thing so you can stand out from the other competitors. Updating and working on your portfolio is also another thing that will help people to stand out in the crowd. There are game engines that a free for the public to create games. Unity and Unreal are the popular ones that give you countless amount of resources to make video games on your own. Making games take a lot of work and a lot of money. Games have become very expensive to make and this has changed the way developments team design their games. There are a lot games that offer microtransaction where you can purchase in game content. Most of the money that the player invests in is on microtransactions (Shown in the graph below). This should surprise people who play games because development teams design their games, so they