CSE 40850: History of Computing

Since I lived a pretty active lifestyle as a kid, I really enjoyed the interactive games. One of my favorite games to play was DDR in the arcade at the movie theater and then we eventually got the plastic mat version to play in home because my parents enjoyed playing it too. It was a game that I could enjoy as a teen and my parents could find value in as 50+ year old adults. Because of this favor for active games, we got a wii as soon as it came out and I loved playing wii tennis and am still sad that I lost the original disk and could never find it. I like that I am forced to move my body, sometimes in ways that are repetitive but other time not, because I can't really completely disengage my mind when doing it so I don't get bored as easily. I lose interest in playing most games because twiddling my thumbs doesn't do anything for me. Yeah graphics on a 4k monitor are cool but so is the outdoors, so there has to be some added value other than fantasy. Virtual reality is a...

Through the reading and discussions in class I have come to learn a lot more about the earlier age of video games. I never knew all too much because I didn't have my first console until I was in middle school and I was never into computer games because none of my friends played them, we all played sports and were outside more often than not. It because of that lack of early immersion into video game culture that I always thought the console wars were (yet I fanboy apple over PC) stupid because its just a way to play the same game, so why does it matter? Well going back to the early days of console games with SEGA and Nintendo you can see that the choice in co nsole wasn't about which one you wanted to play the same game, but you ended up choosing which game series you wanted to play. So the pull between SEGA and Nintendo would have been between Sonic and Mario as well as many other titles. Also since these systems were in the early stages of computer graphic and general h...

My initial understanding of what made these games so great was purely because they were the first games that could be played with, at the time, incredible graphics and interface. I thought that these games were so great then for the same reason that the iPhone was so great when it came out 10 years ago and thats because it revolutionized the industry of phones just like the Atari and others revolutionized the gaming industry. So people purely being star struck by new tech is what I originally attributed the original and continuous love of these games and consoles to, but it turns out that there is more to it than that. On Tuesday we discussed and watched video of people explaining how video games back in the day had to rely more on story line and plot to keep people interested due to lack of graphics and processing power to make anything that looks crazy. The story telling of old games is what causes some of the nostalgia as those people complain that new games like first person sho...

Humans have played games from the beginning of time. Whether it be physical games which we call sport or intellectual board games such as chess, these activities have been aroumd for a long time. The reason for the longevity of games in human culture is that they give us two things which we as humans love and that is the chance at companionship/friendship and competition. Often times board games are made to be played with at least 4 people to create a fun atmosphere that allows friends to spend time together while doing something engaging and the games usually have a winner so players natural competitor can still be brung out to make for an involving experience. Even as gaming platforms have switched to computer/console games the most popular feature of games is the chance to play with friends online as well as competing against strangers for in game perks or a space on the leaderboard. As I was growing up my family would play Guess Who? or Monopoly on some nights and my friends and I...