The video game explosion : a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond

Print version:

pt. I. Looking at video games

1. What is a video game? / Mark J.P. Wolf

2. Imaging technologies / Mark J.P. Wolf

3. Modes of exhibition / Mark J.P. Wolf

4. Influence and precursors / Mark J.P. Wolf

5. The study of video games / Mark J.P. Wolf. pt. II. The early days (before 1985)

6. Mainframe games and simulations / David H. Ahl

7. Arcade games of the 1970s / Mark J.P. Wolf

8. Video games in Europe : the early years / David Winter

Sidebar. System profile : the Magnavox Odyssey / David Winter

9. Early home video game systems / Leonard Herman

10. Company profile : Atari / Leonard Herman

11. System profile : the Atari Video Computer System (VCS) / Leonard Herman

12. Vector games / MarK J.P. Wolf

13. Video game stars : Pac-Man / Mark J.P. Wolf

14. The rise of the home computer / Bob Rehak

15. Genre profile : adventure games / Mark J.P. Wolf

Sidebar. Company profile : Electronic Arts / Alison McMahan

16. Arcade games of the 1980s / Mark J.P. Wolf

17. Laserdisc games / Mark J.P. Wolf

18. The video game industry crash / Mark J.P. Wolf. pt. III. The industry rebounds (1985-1994)

19. System profile : the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) / Dominic Arsenault

Sidebar. Company profile : Nintendo / Dominic Arsenault

20. A new generation of home video game systems / Leonard Herman

21. CD-ROM games / Carl Therrien

22. Genre profile : interactive movies / Bernard Perron

23. Arcade games of the 1990s and beyond / Mark J.P. Wolf

24. Handheld video game systems / Leonard Herman

Sidebar. Company profile : Sega / Alison McMahan

25. Shareware games : between hobbyist and professional / Brett Camper. pt. IV. Advancing to the next level (1995-present)

26. The later generation home video game systems / Leonard Herman

17. Online role-playing games / Kelly Boudreau

28. System profile : Sony PlayStation / Dominic Arsenault

Sidebar. Company profile : Sony / Mark J.P. Wolf

29. Video game stars : Lara Croft / Alison McMahan

30. Genre profile : first-person shooting games / Bob Rehak

Sidebar. Retrogames / Bob Rehak

31. Independent and experimental video games / Brett Camper

32. Video games in Europe / Lars Konzack

33. Video games in Asia / Benjamin Wai-ming Ng

34. Video games in Australia / Thomas H. Apperley. pt. V.A closer look at video games

35. The video game development process / Feichin Ted Tschang

36. Graphics in video games / Carl Therrien

37. Sound in video games / Eric Pidkameny

38. Video games genres / Mark J.P. Wolf

Sidebar. Best-selling video games / Mark J.P. Wolf

39. The video game as an object of controversy / Dominic Arsenault

Sidebar. Video games rating systems / Mark J.P. Wolf

40. Morals, ethics, and video games / Mark J.P. Wolf

41. Video games and their relationship with other media / Martin Picard

Sidebar. How to get a job in the video game industry / Mark J.P. Wolf

42. The future of video games / Mark J.P. Wolf