Video games have become extremely popular in the past decades, so popular, that anyone from ages 4 and up has probably experienced some for of interaction with them whether it’s actually playing or watching someone play. But, the video game industry was not always the multi-billion giant industry we know today. In fact video games have an odd beginning and were a product of something meant to cause destruction and not entertain. They have come a long way from the first simplest games to the high-tech counsels we have today that don’t just serve the purpose of playing games but also unite people from all over the world in ways never possible.
The history of video games started with early cathode ray tube-based missile defense systems in the 1940′s. Later these programs were adapted into other simple games during the 1950′s and 60′s. The fist game developed was Tennis For Two, a simple game on a radar screen that bounced the ball back and forth between two players. 
It was basic but this humble device would make way for the video game industry to be born. The majority of early video games ran on university mainframe computers but by the 1970′s the new revolutionary device would take over the video game industry called the the arcade. The arcade was a coin operated machine that allowed people to play video games on a television. This became a popular hobby for teens and places that had the arcade game became a common gathering place for young people. 
The 70′s was the golden age for the arcade where people were able to play with a diverse amount of people and share ideas and interest , make friend or enemies, it united people although not for very far but still formed a sort of link between people. This was to end in the 80′s when companies such as Nintendo began to produce at-home game counsels (there had been some earlier but they were not very good so the arcade still prevailed). These video game counsels would plug into a television set and then you can plug in different games that were held in cartridges and you can interchange them. This gave people a larger variety of choices than the arcade but took the”bonding with others” part out of the equation because most were only designed for two players and since the system was at home you were most likely to play with friends or family members and not strangers in the arcade possibly missing out on starting a new friendship. This would be how the majority of people would play video games. There were some games you could play online with a lot of people using your computer but they were not very well-known people who weren’t into computers or didn’t have internet access didn’t really play.
The online era would arise again when Microsoft came out with the Xbox game counsel in November 15,2001 and introducing Xbox Live. Xbox Live was and online gaming service that allowed player to play against people from all over the world. It was like having a super arcade and you didn’t have to leave your house. It allowed players to communicated through voice, text, video, or a mixture of all three. It did charge a membership fee and required a broadband connection though. Xbox Live’s greatest seller at the time was Halo 2 and became and instant classic. people all over the world played and formed bond. people were able to meet different people and make friends thanks to Xbox Live. The Sony PlayStation 2 also had online gaming and although it was free (all you needed was broadband connection) it was not very reliable and available for may games and lacked other thing the Xbox Live had.
Xbox Live would turn the Xbox and later Xbox 60 into the most popular counsels. They turned out many more games with online capabilities until all games came online. People up to today can’t get enough of playing online. Some people would even deem a counsel worthless if it didn’t have online capabilities.
Now a days its like going to the arcade like people in the 70′s and 80′s did but with a twist. You can play with a larger amount of people form all around the world and not even have to leave your house. You can play with your someone from japan and he can be in the comfort of his room and you in yours and you both can communicate like if you were next to each other. Yo may even become friends and constantly play with each other. It has combined a friend site such as Myspace, Facebook, etc. and added gaming to it.
Xbox Live is not the only online service. Almost all new computer games are designed to be played on the internet. One of the most famous one is World Of Warcraft. This game creates and alternate reality for players. They can be anything they want to be and have anything they want. Players can even own Property within the game. Player are free to roam and entire different world and do various activities with people around the world without leaving their seat. It Is one way the world has united under video games.
Video games have found their way into peoples hearts and have united the world in ways nothing else can. It has made it possible for he world to become one huge arcade room. Video games bring together everyone in the world young and old, rich and poor. Online gaming is huge and is only getting bigger. If you have not experienced online gaming you should it is easy to start-up and get hooked on it. You will have a great time and might make some new friends from different places around the world in the process. When you play online, the entire world is at your reach.
