Page 6 - 2007

Play with Ozzie Power
Video games are as much a part of our everyday lives as IPODs, cell phones, and memory cards. In fact, do you realize that we are the first generation that was raised on video games? Remember back when you used to ask that big jolly guy from the North Pole for a Game Boy or a Sega Master System or maybe even a Commodore Amiga?
Over the years the equipment got smaller in size and much better in quality. Resolution has gone up but so has the prices. Christmas 2006, saw PS3 gaming systems come on the market and retailed for over $700. Surprisingly, the first video game was invented in 1947.
Following in the footsteps of the
Second World Wat", it was inspired
by the radar screens used. It
consisted of a missile being fired at a
target. One could adjust the curve at ~.a.u==;.._;_;;..;.o which it fell and the speed at which
it was shot but that was all.
In 1958, a tennis game was
invented for play. The purpose was
to get the ball over the net and it was (_,.ir_~:::-.i..ir.:jt:l controlled by two bulky hand held
controllers. A player could adjust
the speed and push a button to serve.
However, the idea of a game on a
screen still did not seem to catch on.
In 1961, a small group of students at MIT invented a game called Spacewar! Two people competed by firing from each others space ships. However the group lost funding for the project because this form of entertainment was not considered profitable at the time.
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