In the midst of a pandemic, many industries are starting to falter. However, this is not the case with video games, which are increasingly exploring its growth in an all-digital society. Video games, especially esports, have become one of the biggest sectors in the entertainment industry. The growth of this has made video games a favorite subject for bet. Many anonymous crypto betting sites provide gamblers to bet on video games. This just proved that video games have been the most favored entertainment for people.
Even so, the journey of the video games industry that focuses on gaming competition is quite long. Starting from the 60’s when arcade games became the only entertainment option, the future of the esports industry has begun to be built. From the beginning only as an 8-bit arcade game to now expanding to mobile gaming which is widely known among the public, video games have grown for more than 7 decades.
Video Games’ Popularity
The development of the popularity of the video game industry among the public cannot be separated from the function of video games themselves as entertainment instruments. According to the results of a study of 66 people conducted by the University of Central Florida, playing video games can make a person more relaxed than other relaxation activities, such as meditation or relaxing and drinking coffee. Furthermore, video games have now become the leading source of entertainment over television. , movies, or books.
According to a Reuters report in July 2018, the gaming industry has grown by 10.7 percent in the past year with total revenues reaching USD while the television industry has decreased by 8 percent globally, with revenues of USD 105 billion. Lifestyle can attract the attention of celebrities. It is not just game streamers who are now starting to be known by the general public such as Tyler “Ninja” Blevins in the US or Felix “PewDiePie” in Sweden. On the other hand, public figures such as English footballers from the Tottenham Hotspurs club, Dele Alli, and Disc Jockeys from the United States, ‘DeadMau5’, are now also actively playing video games.
Journey Of Video Games, From Big Console To Mobile Games
From mini computers, video games have become increasingly popular along with the development of technology. The advent of Computer Space, the first vector-screen arcade game initiated by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, has paved the way for the future of video games. Although the sales were not satisfactory, the development of this game became the forerunner to the development of Pong. Pong was the first arcade game that paved the way for Atari to become the largest player in the video game industry in the United States of its time.
Each development creates a domino effect. Atari made huge profits in a short period of time and even created console games that could be played at home. For information, arcade games were originally only played by men and were found in gloomy and dark bars. Because of this, Atari’s move to make a home console to play with the family has increased its sales. Furthermore, popular video games such as Space Invaders were finally brought to the home console by Atari.
The popularity of Space Invaders was used by Atari to create the world’s first esports tournament. In 1980, the ‘Space Invaders Championships’ was held massively and was attended by more than 10,000 gamers. William Salvador Heineman, who won the tournament, became the first esports tournament champion.
It was only in 1983 that Walter Day founded the US National Video Team, which was the world’s first team of professional gamers. Walter Day also held the ‘North American Video Game Challenge’ which became the first professional video game tournament in the United States. It all started with the invention of the first judging system in video games, namely the Twin Galaxies National Scoreboard in 1982. It is this scoring system that makes video games competitive. Competitive Game Play
Video Games As Entertainment And Sports
In 1990, the direction of video games as competitive gaming began to become clear. Various PC and console games began to be widely competed in 1990, including one of them was the ‘Nintendo World Championships’ which was held in the United States in 1990. In 1990, technology also began to develop with the presence of PCs or personal computers that could load images with higher resolutions up to 3D images.
In the 1990s, internet connections were also used so that smaller groups of players could compete simultaneously. PC games such as Doom or StarCraft have also become popular, especially because adult players can play video games with uncensored elements of censorship. The coming of the internet is the first stage of video games booming. Video games became easier to access, which made it the first source of entertainment for people.
Although it seems that it has only boomed in recent years, the video games industry in the world is actually quite mature. With more and more tournaments and a fantastic amount of prizes, the video games industry is now widespread. Esports is developing not only in the United States, but also anywhere in the country.