Who or what do you come up with when faced with an assignment like this? That is the challenge I am currently dealing with, so here's an early run down of potential subjects.
Inventions
- Cathode Ray Tube: Without it television and computers would not be what they are today. One of the major pieces of technology that lead to advancements in visual entertainment and interfaces. You can't play a video game without a screen.
- Joy Sticks: You can't fly planes, wage war or save the universe without some influence from this baby. Traversing the X, Y and Z dimensions has never been easier. Also comes in Arcade and Thumb(Analog) flavours.
- Game Controller: The Joy Stick's more advanced brothers, comes with more technological advances than the last. Until humans can play using their minds, we're all going to settle for hand-eye coordination and Gamer's Thumb for a while yet.
- Computer: Responsible for the making and playing of games, the computer has continued to inspire people to stretch limits and break some molds.
- Lasers: An invention that lead to the invention of CDS and Science Fiction weapons. You can't have a light saber without lasers.
- CD-ROM: When Floppy Discs are not large enough, this shiny and slim disc entered our hearts and still lives on. Indispensable for installing and storing games.
Organisations
- The US Military: Arguably one of the most influential organisations out there that have influenced the development of video games. From computers, AI, virtual reality and the Internet, this organisation has had a big hand in making technology for war and civilian use.
- NASA: Boldly going where you can't and inspiring generations of boffins, nerds and geeks to create technologies for space travel, physics and Space Nazis. For us earth-bound creatures, we still may not be piloting Star Fighters without these egg heads.
- MIT: Boffins need an education and at this fine institution many of the world's computing and networking technologies got their start. Spacewar!, GNU Project and Jargon File all got launched here.
- Stanford University: Situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, it is famous for educating a myriad of people who went out and developed companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Electronic Arts, Sun Microsystems(Java, kids.), Nvidia and Google.
Companies
- Nintendo: One of the largest game companies that still influences popular culture and gaming trends. Popularity has ensured that when a non-gamer thinks of video games, it is very likely they're thinking of Nintendo.
- Atari: The little engine that could have, Atari pioneered home consoles, arcades and personal computers in the early days. After the debacle of ET and a saturation in the market, it has never recovered the glory of days past.
- Apple: Starting with personal computers and now dominating wireless multimedia devices. Presenting games to the consumer has never been easier for independent gamer developers to get a foothold in the market.
- Lucas Arts: Part of Lucas' domination of entertainment, this company is synonymous with adventure games and light sabers. Despite the focus on the Star Wars franchise, many of the adventures games remain firm favourites in the hearts of many.
People
- Alan Turing: Mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist whose work in the devlopment of computer science made him one of the key players in the creation of the modern computer.
- Ralph H Baer: Developer of the Brown Box, the first home console and is considered the spawn point for the video game industy.
- Geroge Lucas: The man behind Star Wars, a franchise that inspired generations. From Space Invaders, jokes and military plans, somewhere in your mind Star Wars has influenced your vision of space.
- Shigeru Miyamoto: The face of Nintendo, a life that is filled with commerical success. Considered to be one of the most influential game designers around.
Others to consider
- Issac Assimov
- Microchip
- Internet
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Star Trek
- Senat
Things not to consider:
- Coffee
- Saturday Morning Cartoons
- Midi Music
- 4-chan
- Web Comics
- Critics
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