Letter From the Editor
As you've probably noticed, it has been a surprisingly busy start to the year. One of the things we've been doing in these parts is thinking about doing some bigger stuff like what's kicking off today: Video Game History Month. What is it? Well, as of right now, it's going to be a weekly sampling of highlights and lowlights in video game history. It's surreal to think that video games are almost 40 years old--if you count back from 1972 when Pong debuted. The medium has gone through an incredibly fast evolution in these past decades--from simple pixels to the photo-realistic visuals that people have now come to expect.
So, we all got to thinking that we should find some time once a year to start looking back, which brings us to this idea of Video Game History Month. Every Thursday of this month, we'll be putting up video pieces that look back at some key games, people, events, and hardware from the history of games. Each Friday this month, we'll have a photo feature that looks at some fun moments in game history. While this isn't going to be a chronological run through history--it's more of a random sampling of stuff we think is notable and interesting--there's actually a reason for that: We've got much bigger plans for this idea in the years to come, and this is just the kickoff.
Why do it? A few reasons, really. Initially, it all had to do with preserving this unique interactive art form (sorry, Roger Ebert!) and highlighting the ways it has affected people who play games, as well as popular culture as a whole. There are now several generations of people out there who have found a connection with games. It's also pretty incredible to think that our little hobby now spans the entire globe. With such a monumental task ahead of us, we're just starting to highlight the full spectrum of games and how they've grown.
To be honest, though, another motivating factor for us is to try to make this an educational experience. Most, if not all, of you reading this have a pretty good grasp on the history of video games, but we'd like to think you might discover a neat factoid or two by month's end. However, there's also a sizable group of people who are new to games--whether they're young, old, or somewhere in between. I'm hoping that the new folks will get an understanding of why games are special to us, but I'm also hoping that the more educated we become about games, the fewer generalizations we'll see about them. As a form of popular entertainment, like music, games are probably at the early rock-and-roll (think Elvis' then-scandalous dance moves) stage of acceptance: They're popular, there's a huge group of us who love them, but there are still those who don't understand their significance.
So there you go, Video Game History Month--it begins! Of course, we'd love to hear what you think. We all have our favorite memories of video games, and we're hoping you'll share your highlights, insights, and memories with us here in this blog, on the forums, and in the features themselves.
Ricardo Torres | Editor in Chief
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