Games have always been an influential part of people’s desire to be entertained. Although the ways of games has changed significantly since they first began. Early ‘Games’ can be traced from events like jousting and sword fighting, to more modern and civilised ways to pass the time like football or rugby. The one type of game that stands out, separate to the rest is video games. Video games have been a large part of life for many people since the 1950s, with the invention of ‘Tennis for two’, or as its more commonly known, ‘pong’, the tennis like game where you have to bounce a digital ball from the left side of a screen to the right, and visa-versa. The game is well known today as a key point in the video game industry. Without it, common games such as ‘Mario’, ‘Sonic’ or even ‘Crash Bandicoot’ may have never even been invented. Since this time the quality of video games has improved exponentially. This includes graphics, gameplay features, stories, even sound quality has improved. Of course with the development of the video games themselves, the consoles you play on has improved alongside. Many companies have become successful by expanding into the video game industry at the right time. For example, Microsoft with the ‘Xbox’ will soon release the ‘Xbox series X’, with a lot of different series of the brand in the space in between the two releases.

With the recent lockdown of the UK, along with almost every other country worldwide, video games are being played almost every hour of every day. Especially with the release of ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’ in march, a remake of an old game for ‘Xbox 360’ or ‘PS3’ systems. The game is currently free to download, since it is in Beta testing (released to the public before actual release to test for problems), making it an even larger hit. However, ten years ago, had you said, “I spend all my time playing video games and sitting around all day”, you would have been ridiculed as a ‘Nerd’ and would have been ‘a waste of space’. The development of gameplay and the changing of attitudes towards games has created a new, more positive, way of viewing the gaming community, filling a cultural gap between people. Video games give people a ‘common ground’ to talk about. Something that was considered ‘Nerdy’, ten years ago, is now a conversation piece between people that can form friendships, and possibly help lower rates of bullying, stereotypes and ridicule between people.