One of the most frequently asked questions about video game history is perhaps the simplest: what was the first video game? It’s a logical question to ask. After all, we’re always curious about these questions of primacy. Who was the first man on the moon? Neil Armstrong. Who was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic? Amelia Earhart. Who was the first person to climb Mount Everest? Well, in this case it was actually two people: Sir Edmund Hillary […]
A Brief History of Online Games
For most of human existence our ability to play together has been circumscribed by our physical connection with others in our immediate vicinity, a radiating circle of family, friends, and neighbors, spiced with an occasional get together with more distant associates. As I write this blog, we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic that has mandated new social distancing rules greatly limiting our ability to gather with others. And yet the play must go on. Fortunately for us, […]
Ten Reasons Why Play is Essential (for Children AND Adults)
Play is good to do and good for you! That’s why play is universal in humans and widespread throughout the animal world. Here are 10 reasons to play:
1) Play Makes You Smarter
2) Play Strengthens You
3) Play Helps You Make Friends
4) Play Boosts Creativity
5) Play Reduces Stress
6) Play Enhances Attractiveness
7) Play Builds Resilience
8) Play Helps You Solve Problems
9) Play Promotes Discovery
10) Play is Fun
Now if you want to delve deeper to learn the research that supports any of these statements, these […]
Continue Reading about Ten Reasons Why Play is Essential (for Children AND Adults)
Ralph Baer—Toy Inventor
Ralph Baer is perhaps best known as the father of home video games. He patented the idea for playing a video game on a television and then successfully developed the first home video game system, the Magnavox Odyssey, that came out in 1972. And yet Baer’s work on video games was only one small part of a lifetime of inventing. He had worked for decades in the defense industry, ultimately heading a major engineering division of Sanders, a large military […]
Hex Marks the Spot
A board game begins with the board. But how is that board divided up? Often the simplest unit of division is a square. Consider the 64 squares of a chess board, or the 92 squares on a Stratego board. In each case, players take control of a square which exists in relation to other spaces around it, especially if they share adjoining borders. The design of these game boards affords or encourages certain types of movement, usually horizontally […]
A Laboratory for Video Game Preservation
In 2006, when we began our efforts at The Strong to preserve the history of video games, we knew we were onto an important subject, but we did not truly foresee the vast array of challenges that we would face in preserving video games. Over the years as we founded the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) and grew our collection to more than 60,000 video games and related objects we’ve learned quite a bit about how […]
Continue Reading about A Laboratory for Video Game Preservation
Paul Reiche III Papers at The Strong
The histories of tabletop games and video games are deeply woven together. Analog and digital games often share similar mechanics (such as experience points) or similar settings (e.g. dungeon crawling). Many times in the past, game makers have ported titles from one medium to the other. And yet perhaps the most crucial connection between analog and video games lies in the personal biographies of many game designers, who often began work with board games before applying their skills to the […]
2019 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Every year The Strong welcomes new inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and this year the inductees are Colossal Cave Adventure, Microsoft Windows Solitaire, Mortal Kombat, and Super Mario Kart. It’s a fabulous class, one that well embodies the criteria for selection of icon-status, longevity, geographical reach, and influence.
The process for selecting the new inductees begins with a list of twelve finalists chosen by museum staff. This year those finalists were:
Candy Crush Saga
Centipede
Colossal Cave Adventure
Dance Dance Revolution
Half-Life
Microsoft […]
Continue Reading about 2019 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Lucia Grossberger Morales: Computer Art Pioneer
Computers are amazing machines. They can be serious tools for business or scientific research or they can be platforms for play. For many people, this has meant using computers to play games, but computers have also often served as engines for other forms of creative expression. Lucia Grossberger Morales is one example of someone who, in the early 1980s, not only employed the Apple II to create innovative art but designed a program, The Designer’sToolkit, to help others […]
Continue Reading about Lucia Grossberger Morales: Computer Art Pioneer