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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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. 选择正确答案。
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.