Sunday, October 21, 2012

Video Games Through Technology 1983-92

By: Cortney Norton

The gaming industry has further advanced right along side technologies of the time. The constant advancing in technology sets the standard for what is to be expected in the video gaming industries as far as graphics and interactions throughout each time period. Between the years 1983-1992 the video game industry was at it’s own stage of development, just beginning to break away from the overall development of technology as a whole.

Video games have become a staple of technology and has gone beyond just technology and become its own art form. Advances in programing and rendering are being  made available every day to create these works of art, a path of evolution that runs parallel with the evolution of technology and mirrors the growth and development of art itself. When humans create or discover a new medium generally, after all of the practical uses have been discovered, the devolvement of a new form of art and entertainment follows. “The real motive force behind the advance of the world has always been provided by ideas.”¹ Through many influences came our technology, as did the video game industry. For example: “Our modern world is largely an intellectual product of the Renaissance and a physical product of the industrial revolution.” ¹ It is through this mindset that video games are possible, yet they are also a product influenced by many cultural and technological influences.

Video game consoles were being introduced rapidly, companies were trying to butt into the market every day. Before the major video game manufactures we know today became mainstream, many other companies were joining the race of game development. Some lesser known developers helped set the stage for companies as we know them no w.  In 1983 the first video game to use laser-disc technology was established by Rick Dyer. Namco’s PV-1000 was introduced in Japan in 1983 with only 15 games to choose from, Dig-Dug being the most notable and popular.² Dig-Dug remains a classic even to this day. A lesser-known Nintendo also released the NES in Japan, yet due to Atari’s current domination of the American video game industries it was not released in the U.S. until 1985. Other popular consoles released during this time include The Colecovision, Intellvision, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and the Super Nintendo.

The games being released for these consoles ranged from four different game types including: Target, Adventure, Action, and Tactics.² In games that were target based, the players main objective was to hit a direct sometimes moving target. These games were mainly point-shoot games where the player was the armsman. In the adventure based games the player took on the roll of a specific character, and had many tasks and quests to accomplish to complete each goal. The more tasks the player completed the higher the difficulty advanced moving on to the next one. The player had accomplish many achievements and defeat many obstacles and bosses in order to win the over all game. Tactics games were strategy based games where the player usually versed a computer mode, and the players decisions throughout the game affect the overall outcome. Nintendo was the main producer of these games between 1986 and 1988.² These years were some of the strongest years for Nintendo. Most of the action and adventure games that provided a base for these genres were introduced by Nintendo for the NES. The games that strongly influenced the current industry and some franchises that Nintendo continues to build on to this day. A few of these games were: Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man 2, and Metroid.

¹ Anon[JA7] . “JSTOR: Leonardo, Vol. 17, No. 4 (1984), Pp. 277-287.[JA8] ” www.jstor.org.library.scad.edu/stable/1575105?&Search=yes&searchText=game&searchText=evolution&searchText=video&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dvideo%2Bgame%2Bevolution%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don&prevSearch=&item=24&ttl=2768&returnArticleService=showFullText[JA9] .

² Chris Melissinos, Patrick O’Rourke, Mike Mika, Elizabeth Broun. The Art Of Video Games: From Pac Man to Mass Effect.(New York: Welcom Books 2012)[JA10] 

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