"I, Videogame" Part I

1) Videogames emerged from the culture of the "Cold War" - what does Henry Jenkins from MIT compare the period to in terms of a famous board game?

• A global game of battleship.

2) a) Who was the inventor of the first Video game according to the documentary?

• William Higginbotham.

b) What was the name of the game?

• Tennis for Two.

3) Steve Russell is credited with the first true computer-based videogame (in terms of its use with the 1961 PDP1 mainframe computer) with SPACEWAR - what popular science fiction book series also influenced him?

• First Lensman.

4) What innovation did Steve Russell's SPACEWAR introduce in terms of input hardware?

• Joystick.

5) a) In the anti-war and counterculture period of the 1960s and 1970s, what new home entertainment system let consumers finally control what was being seen on the home television?

• The Magnavox Odyssee.

b) Who was its inventor/developer?

• Ralph Baer.

6) PONG emerged out of the counterculture spirit of the early 1970s - its natural home was what type of entertainment setting?

• A social one.

7) Who does Nolan Bushnell say were generally best at playing the game?

• Women.

8) "Space Invaders" emerged in the late 1970s as the first game from Japan.
How did the TAITO production team intensify the emotion of the game using the four-note in-game music theme?

• The tempo increased as the invaders got closer to the player.

9) Steve Moulder reflects that the first arcade games tended to result in the player's defeat. This he argues in turn reflected the view held by many designers during that time that war itself is defeatist.  Has this view changed since that time? Do today's latest games still convey this sense? Why? Why not? (use your own words)

• Defeat is still possible in modern video games, however victory is much easier to attain. In my opinion, I don't believe this sense is prevalent in modern games.

10) Have you ever played any of the games shown in this the first episode of "I, Videogame"? What was your memory of playing it? Where were you, when was it?

• Yes, I have played a number of the games, but the experiences I had with them were probably not as profound as they were with others. I have stronger memories of games that I myself grew up with, with my first console being the Sega Master System (handed down to me by my older cousin, around the time that the Genesis came out).  I have fond memories of Space Harrier, playing in my parents bedroom because that was where the TV was. I wasn't much of a gamer at the time, it was both trippy and scary... and way too hard.  This all happened when I was about 10 years old. Games that I vividly remember don't come until later, the first being Aliens vs. Predator for the PC. That shit scarred me for life, specifically the third of the campaign where you played as the marine.