n
nInnthe early days, they were sometimes called TV games.
n
n
n
nNowadays, they’re anywhere games!
n
n
n
n
nVideongames are interactive electronic games played with some sort of “userninterface”–anything from a keyboard or mouse to a track ball, joystick, gamencontroller, even floor sensors. Almost all video games involve 2-Dnvisuals and sounds, but some provide 3-dimensional visuals,nvibrations, or even “force feedback.” I think someday there mayneven be smell-o-vision. Hey, Disneyland can do it—can video gamesnbe far behind?
n
n
n
nAlthoughnthe very first patent for a video game was filed in 1947, the firstncommercially-sold coin-op video game was Computer Space, inn1971. This black-and-white game was soon followed by Atari’s Pong,nand then a wave of new games including Space Invaders (1978).nThe late 70s and early 80s was the golden age of arcade video games,nbut home systems began to be sold, too, and Atari and other companiesnmade a lot of money for a few years. However, there was a video gamencrash from 1983 to 1985. A new wave of game consoles bloomed,nstarting with Nintendo and extending to Play Station, X-box, Wii, and many others.
n
n
n
n
n
n
nArcadengames, computer games, console games, handheld games, phone games,nFacebook games, on and on…and on and on. Nowadays there are soooonmany electronic games, there needs to be two Video Games Days—andnluckily, there are! The other Video Games Day (no “National” innthe title) is July 8. n
n
n
n
nPlayna video game today!
n
n
n
nLearnnto make video games!
n
n
n
nPrimernLabs is creating a game called Code Hero—and the object ofnthis game is to teach you how to make games! How rad is that?
n
n
n
nAlsonon this date:
n
n
n
n
nAnniversary of JFK’s “space speech” and other space stuff
n
n
n
n
nCape Verde’s National Day