The History of Video Games
Discover how video games changed, from arcade machines to online worlds, and explore the ideas behind those changes.
Preview
Questions with solutions-
1. Escolhe a resposta correta.
Which sport did Pong turn into a video game?
Pong, an early arcade hit, showed two paddles and a ball. Players hit the ball across the screen.
- Basketball
- Table tennis
- Baseball
The paddles are smaller than tennis rackets.
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- Table tennis
Pong helped make simple sports games popular in arcades.
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2. Escolhe a resposta correta.
What did the coin usually buy?
In early arcades, players put a coin into a large game machine. When the game ended, they usually paid again to continue.
- A game cartridge to take home
- A monthly pass for unlimited games
- A chance to play the game
The machine stayed in the arcade.
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- A chance to play the game
High-score lists also encouraged players to return and try to beat earlier scores.
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3. Escolhe a resposta correta.
What did the television provide?
Early home consoles connected to a television. The console ran the game, and players used separate controllers.
- The screen that showed the game
- The buttons used to play
- The program that ran the game
Think about what players could see, rather than what they pressed.
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- The screen that showed the game
Using a television meant the console did not need its own built-in screen.
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4. Escolhe a resposta correta.
What was the main benefit of removable cartridges?
Some home consoles used removable cartridges. Each cartridge contained a different game.
- Players could use every cartridge on any console.
- Players could change games without replacing the console.
- Players could receive new games through television broadcasts.
The cartridge changed, but the main machine stayed the same.
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- Players could change games without replacing the console.
Different consoles often needed different cartridges, so cartridges were not shared across every system.
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5. Escolhe a resposta correta.
What was the player's main goal in Pac-Man?
Pac-Man moved through a maze, ate dots, and avoided ghosts.
- To eat the dots while staying away from danger
- To remove the maze's walls to reach an exit
- To catch every ghost before eating any dots
The ghosts are a danger during most of the game.
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- To eat the dots while staying away from danger
Its maze and colorful characters helped Pac-Man stand out from many early shooting games.
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6. Escolhe a resposta correta.
Which strategy helps keep the playing area from filling up?
In Tetris, blocks of different shapes fall. A complete horizontal line disappears.
- Building one tall tower in the middle
- Leaving an empty space in every row
- Arranging the blocks to make complete rows
A line with an empty space is not complete.
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- Arranging the blocks to make complete rows
Tetris was created in the Soviet Union and later became popular around the world.
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7. Escolhe a resposta correta.
What did this handheld design make easier?
Devices such as the Game Boy combined a screen, controls, and battery power in one small machine.
- Playing without using any electricity
- Playing away from a television
- Sharing one large screen with several players
Notice that the device had its own screen and power.
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- Playing away from a television
Battery life mattered because players could not always plug the device into a wall outlet.
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8. Escolhe a resposta correta.
How did saving progress change the way people could play?
As games grew longer, many began letting players save their progress before turning off the machine.
- They could continue an adventure across several play sessions.
- They could make their characters win every battle.
- They could use the same saved progress in any other game.
Think about taking a break during a long adventure.
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- They could continue an adventure across several play sessions.
Some older games used passwords to let players return to a later level.
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9. Escolhe a resposta correta.
How did movement change in these game worlds?
During the 1990s, more games used three-dimensional worlds. Characters could move toward or away from the screen, not only left or right.
- Characters could move only along one fixed line.
- Players could see depth, but characters could not move through it.
- Characters could move through a space with depth as well as height and width.
Depth includes distance toward or away from you.
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- Characters could move through a space with depth as well as height and width.
Designers also had to decide how the game's camera would follow a player moving in different directions.
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10. Escolhe a resposta correta.
Which trade-off could players notice when games moved to CDs?
CD-ROMs could store much more data than many cartridges. This allowed more recorded sound and video, but reading a disc often took longer.
- Less game content, but faster loading
- More sound and video, but longer loading times
- More sound and video, with no need to load data
More storage space and faster loading are different benefits.
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- More sound and video, but longer loading times
Extra storage did not automatically mean a faster game machine.
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11. Escolhe a resposta correta.
Which limit did online multiplayer remove?
Local multiplayer often brought friends together around one screen. Online multiplayer connected people playing in different cities.
- Having to be in the same room to play
- Needing a way to control the characters
- Having a maximum number of players
Compare where the players could be.
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- Having to be in the same room to play
Many online games use a server, a computer that helps connect the players.
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12. Escolhe a resposta correta.
How does this kind of mobile game earn money?
As smartphones became common, many mobile games were free to start. Players could pay for optional items inside the game.
- By requiring payment before anyone can start
- By giving away every item with no way to pay
- By selling things that players can choose to buy
Starting for free is different from getting everything for free.
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- By selling things that players can choose to buy
These extra purchases may offer new outfits or other game content.
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13. Escolhe a resposta correta.
How did online stores help small game teams?
Online stores let developers sell downloadable games. They did not have to produce physical copies or find space on store shelves.
- They no longer needed to test their games for problems.
- They could reach buyers without making and shipping boxes.
- They could use any famous character without permission.
Think about costs outside the work of creating the game.
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- They could reach buyers without making and shipping boxes.
Some successful independent games, often called indie games, were made by very small teams.
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14. Escolhe a resposta correta.
What responsibility can online updates create for developers?
A game sold on an older cartridge was difficult to change after release. Many newer games can receive fixes through the internet.
- They may need to improve a game after people buy it.
- They can stop testing because problems fix themselves.
- They must replace every player's device to fix a mistake.
A game can still have problems after it goes on sale.
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- They may need to improve a game after people buy it.
Downloadable fixes are often called patches.
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15. Escolhe a resposta correta.
How can an emulator help preserve video-game history?
Older games were built for machines that are no longer common. An emulator is software that copies how an old machine works.
- It can repair the original machine's broken physical parts.
- It can make old hardware powerful enough to run modern games.
- It can help newer computers run games made for older machines.
Software can copy a machine's behavior without changing its physical parts.
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- It can help newer computers run games made for older machines.
Keeping a game file is not enough if no working system can run it.