by Dave Moore, CISSP
03/19/2023
Ask most people what fun things they can do with their computing devices and a common answer emerges: games. After the words have been processed, the sheets spread and the emails sent, turning one’s high-powered number-crunching machine into a facilitator of frivolous entertainment seems to be an extremely popular pursuit.
Before the Internet became a household necessity, games were played mostly between a computer and its owner. Text-only games like Star Trek were played without eye-popping graphics, living mainly in the imaginations of the players, while games like Duke Nukem and Prince of Persia took players on challenging visual adventures.
The 1970’s brought us the first game “consoles,” with the idea being that people would be willing to buy small, dedicated computers that connected to their home TV and only did one thing: games. Early game consoles were pretty primitive, but sales were good, and a new industry was born. The trend has continued, with over 405 billion game consoles sold in the United States in the past 10 years.
The 1980’s saw the rise of home computing using affordable machines from Apple, IBM, Atari, Commodore and Radio Shack at the same time that video game arcades became wildly popular, with hordes of gaming enthusiasts shoving quarters into stand-alone video games at a breathtaking rate. Hoping to capture some of the quarter-per-game mania, many home computers came out with their own versions of arcade games.
Arcade games like Donkey Kong, Tempest, Galaga, Frogger, Asteroids, Joust, Defender, Space Invaders, Dig Dug, Missile Command and Moon Patrol were quickly cloned for game consoles and most every home computer platform. What were arguably the two most popular video games of their time also found their way onto home computers: Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man.
As computing power has dramatically increased over the years, so have computer games become more complex and visually realistic. The two-dimensional 8-bit games of the 80’s and 90’s have given way to intricate plotlines, 3-D scenery and Hollywood-style computer animation that looks so realistic it’s almost impossible to separate it from the real thing.
While dedicated video game “platforms” like the Xbox and PlayStation dominate the home video game market, modern hard-core “gamers” still gravitate towards fully-blown gaming computers costing many thousands of dollars, featuring audiophile surround-sound systems, multiple High Definition screens, specialized gaming keyboard/mouse/joystick combinations and water-cooled microprocessors.
You don’t need a super high-end computer or expensive game console to have fun playing games, though. Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, JazzPunk, Owlboy, 80 Days and many other popular games can be played on everyday computers just fine. Prices can run in the $5 to $25 range on the “Steam” gaming platform, which itself costs a mere $5.
Be careful when looking around for “free” games to play. Many of them install spyware in your computer, and are designed to harvest personal information, or worse. The quality of the programming can also be poor, causing computer crashes and other strange problems. The game website Pogo is one of the most awful examples of a so-called “free game” website; beware. Websites such as gamesradar.com and pcmag.com can usually provide safe “free game” recommendations.
Back in the 1970’s, I bought a Coleco Telstar game console for my little brother and sister for Christmas. It cost about $50 and played one game: Pong. My siblings were the coolest kids on the block with that game setup. A used version of the same console today goes for about $50, so at least it’s held its value. In contrast, an original prototype of Atari’s Pong game recently sold at auction for $270,910. Sometimes, it pays to hang on to the old stuff.
Dave Moore, CISSP, has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd., he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.org