Video Game as a Medium

It took quite some time for video games to attain the status of an artistic medium. It has been around for 40 years with 30 years as a commerical industry. With early simple graphics, it video games were not widespread on pop culture until the latter half of the 1970s. According to Wolf, the elements of a game are defined as conflict, rules, player abilityy and valued outcome. In the 21st century, society has given video games more attention to its potential and impact on gamers. Tvs have come a long way from cathode-ray tube (CRT) that produce raster-based imagery to high definition flat screen tvs that deliver clear, sharp 720 and 1080p resolution that heightens the realism of the gaming worlds and characters. Computer games have been mostly seen as a subset of video games because of shared technologies such as the microprocessor and the cathode-ray tube. Today, computer games share the same high definition resolution as console games, yet they are not given as much recognition. Imaging technology has developed from the use of floppy disks, compact disc and DVD-ROM to Blu rays that provides more than double the data than a DVD. Games created on a giant mainframe computer of the 1960s were the earliest versions of video games and were only found in laboratories and research centers. These games were niether sole commerically nor available to the public. Today, video games has become a huge factor in our culture of entertainment where the majority of families own a game console in their living room. With todays technology, game consoles as become the main entertainment system the not only provides gaming but also delivers best visual quality to watch movies and browse the internet.