• Question: why are there video games????

    Asked by lionalmessi to Anil, Blanka, Cees, Emma, Mike on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Michael Cook

      Michael Cook answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      Board games, card games and other things we play in the real world were always very popular! Some of them were good exercise, some of them taught us things, some of them just made us think. When computers came along, people saw lots of opportunities – some people wanted to build interesting opponents so we could play games on our own (like the first chess programs). Some people wanted to build games that could keep track of complicated rules that would be too hard to do in real life (like big strategy games and games with huge stories).

      Some people were just curious – scientists made the very first computer games, and most scientists are very curious about new technologies and ideas, and seeing how they can be used to do unusual things! I think curiosity and “What if…” played a big part.

    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      As humans we seem to like social activities and in particular we like playing. As Mike said, it used to be board games etc. when we would play with other people. Then video games came along. I know a lot of video games involve only 1person playing against a computer but I wonder if in those cases we are effectively seeing the computer as another person?

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