The History of Video Games

They each look a little different!

Imagine it’s 73 years ago. You’re playing one of the first video games. The computer is huge. It takes up a whole room!

The game is called OXO. No one has ever seen anything like it. It’s amazing. 

What’s the game? Tic-tac-toe.

That might not sound super fun to us. But in 1952, this game used exciting new technology. Technology is an invention or machine that comes from science and research. 

Back then, OXO was just for computer scientists. But soon, more people would be able to play video games. 

In the 1970s, a company created a game called Pong. It was like tennis on a screen. Pong was a massive hit. Millions of people played it! 

Soon more complex games came along, like Space Invaders and Pac-Man. People went to arcades to play them. 

Arcades were rooms full of video game machines. There, you would see flashing lights and hear the beeping sounds of people playing video games. 

By the 1980s, there were new ways to play video games. People could play video games at home with technology like the Nintendo Entertainment System. They played games like The Legend of Zelda at home. Gamers did not need to go to arcades anymore.

In 1989, the first Game Boy came out. You could hold it in your hands. This fun new technology let people play games like Super Mario Land on the go.

Today millions of video games exist. Billions of people play them. Do you like the massively popular Minecraft, Candy Crush, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Video games have come a long way from tic-tac-toe!