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Technology as a whole has completely changed the way how the world works. With these changes, many questions are raised regarding the impacts technological advancements like electronic games have on today’s society and, mainly, on the lives of children and young people born into a world dominated by the availability of information.

As a result, parents are very uncomfortable with their children’s time on the computer or other gadgets.

Amidst the massive technological development of the last few decades, a revolution has emerged in how society sees entertainment. Traditional forms of entertainment, such as tops and hopscotch, gave way to electronic games. But have you ever thought about the huge cultural impacts they have?

Bridging the Gap Between Western and Eastern Cultures

When the first video games appeared, the industry was dominated by North Americans and their work in Arcade format – the famous arcade games. During the 1970s and 1980s, the US game industry was at its peak, and at the same time, Atari, a symbol of video game history, began to experience difficulties.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Nintendo was beginning to build its empire in Japan, setting the stage for it to become the giant of the gaming world that it is today. The interculturality of the world through electronic games was already beginning.

In the 1990s, Sony – another Japanese company – launched the Playstation, which would make Sony Nintendo’s biggest competitor in the business to date.

Seeing the success of Playstation, another competitor appeared in the market: Microsoft created the Xbox in 2001, a year after the launch of the Playstation 2.

The approximation of western and eastern cultures did not only take place through consoles but also the games created for them. Electronic games of North American origin – such as “Pong” and “Pac-Man” – and of Japanese origin – “Super Mario Bros” and “The Legend of Zelda” – began to share shelves in players’ homes.

In a short time, the influence of games spread to other media: American comics joined Japanese manga. American cartoons began to be broadcasted on the same TV channels as Japanese anime (cartoons).

Stimulating Technological Development

With the evident success of electronic games, the innovation of gaming content, as seen in casino games like blackjack and online slots online, has become increasingly important. Still, technology has proved to be a major obstacle to creating new games.

Thus, the solution found by the giants of the world of video games was to invest in technological development: better graphics, parts that support more complex games, and more efficient data storage technologies, among others.

Electronic game companies dedicated themselves to developing such technologies and created devices and software that proved extremely valuable for technological advancement in other areas. Like high definition screen gesture control, portable consoles (like Nintendo’s Game Boy), the possibility of storing game data in the cloud, connecting players online (like in online table games), and much more.

Connecting People Around the World

The rise in popularity of electronic games has triggered the emergence of the e-sports market, i.e., electronic sports. The industry grows each year exponentially, with the emergence of international competitions for games, such as League of Legends.

Such competitions encourage the creation of teams of players from the most diverse places, who compete with people from all over the world for millionaire prizes. As a result, there is an exchange of information and cultures from all over the world, directly and indirectly connecting the whole world.

Conclusion

Electronic games have changed and shaped the world immensely and will continue to do so. We have mentioned some of the impacts it has on our society. How would it change the future of internet gaming? We are yet to know that; Thanks for reading!