The Dawn Of The Video Game Era...baaa baaa baadum(beginning of the theme to 2001: A Space Odyysey)

http://www.atari.com/missilecommand/
This link goes to a free online version of Missile Command via Atari

As Missile Command hits 30 years old, it reminds me of the formative years of the video game industry. Just imagine how old I must be to remember this. I was but a wee, maybe not so wee, child when the first arcade games were hitting the landscape and arcades were popping up left and right. Centipede, Tempest, Space Invaders, Gorf, Galaxian, Missile Command, and Pac Man ruled these little dens of delinquents with their sound effects and music drowning out any chance of making speech audible. Competition was fierce as one arcade would offer 5 tokens for a dollar. The next arcade would offer 6 for a dollar. Sadly, many games nowadays can cost upwards of $3 to play just once. The craze hit fever pitch when pop music vaulted "Pac Man Fever" to the top of the charts. To further capitalize on the market, game consoles were being marketted so that you could play your favorite games at home. Albeit with much crappier graphics. Case in point, Atari 2600 Pac Man. In this iteration, Pac Man was a square and not his usual disc. Simplistic sound effects did not bring down the anticipation of this hitting store shelves however. Consoles were available from Vectrex, Fairchild, Coleco, and Mattel. Much later, the japanese consoles from Nintendo and Sega would soon dominate the market.



Fast forward to today, past the downturn and slump experienced in the video game industry, around the time of the Atari 5200. New generations of more powerful consoles with ever richer and more robust games slingshot the spoils past entertainment heavyweights such as movies. More immersive games are on the horizon with the advent of 3D televisions. Cant wait to see what happens