A Brief History of Video Games describes and explains the remarkable evolution of interactive entertainment, from the demonstration of Nimrod in 1951 to full-body virtual reality in 2014. Video games are a technology-led medium and this book examines everything from the first wood-panelled Pong machines in California right up to the engineering masterpieces that now sit in countless homes, with brief stopovers for dead-ends like Philips CDi and early VR. Most importantly, it's all about the games how these experiences have evolved from simple call-and- response mechanics into sophisticated, captivating worlds, responsive in just about every way to players.

Author Biography

RICHARD STANTON was born in 1982 and read English at Balliol College, Oxford. He was features editor on Edge magazine, and since then has written about video games for the Guardian, Polygon, the New Statesman, and many other publications. He lives in Bath, UK, and in his spare time saves worlds and plays chess.