electronic game: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Leonard Herman, Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames, 3rd. ed. (2001); and Van Burnham (ed.), Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age, 1971–1984 (2001), provide descriptive and historical information about early arcade and television console games. David Sudnow, Pilgrim in the Microworld (1983); and Geoffrey R. Loftus and Elizabeth F. Loftus, Mind at Play: The Psychology of Video Games (1983), provide different insights into the psychological appeal and addictive qualities of the arcade and video games of the early 1980s.

Steven Poole, Trigger Happy: Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution (2000), suggests ways to view the content and technology of computer games as the creation of a new entertainment medium. David Sheff, Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World (1993, reissued 1999), provides the most detailed business history of a game company. Insights into the cultural, social, and political history of computer games, including issues around video game violence and gender, are provided by Justin Cassell and Henry Jenkins (eds.), From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games (1998). The effect of video games on education is discussed in James Paul Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003). J.C. Herz, Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds (1997); and Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon—The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World (2001), survey many of these issues while providing personal impressions and interviews, respectively. Jesper Juul, A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players (2010), provides a careful discussion of casual games and their impact on the industry.

Marc Saltzman (ed.), Game Design: Secrets of the Sages, 4th ed. (2002), presents many topics of game design and technology through interviews with historically important designers.

Henry E. Lowood

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Henry E. Lowood
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections at Stanford University.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Description	Contributor	Date
Added cross-reference to The Legend of Zelda.	Teagan Wolter	Apr 15, 2024
Removed media.	Adam Augustyn	Nov 01, 2021
Add new Web site: Smithsonian - National Museum of American History - Video Game History.	Gloria Lotha	Mar 01, 2019
Add new Web site: Women's and Children's Health Network - Kids' Health - Computer game.	Gloria Lotha	Oct 09, 2017
Add new Web site: The Strong - Video Game History.	Gloria Lotha	Oct 09, 2017
Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - The Video Game Revolution.	Gloria Lotha	Oct 09, 2017
Deleted video.	Amy Tikkanen	Apr 20, 2017
Media added.	The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica	Apr 14, 2017
Media added.	Mic Anderson	May 06, 2016
Added video.	Amy Tikkanen	Apr 03, 2015
Add new Web site: Science Kids - Fun Science and Technology for Kids - Video Game.	Parul Jain	Mar 21, 2012
Updated to reflect the growth of mobile gaming and social gaming.	Michael Ray Henry E. Lowood	Dec 15, 2011
Bibliography updated.	Michael Ray Henry E. Lowood	Dec 15, 2011
Add new Web site: Fact Monster - Science - Electronic Game.	Grace Young	Aug 19, 2011
Updated with sales totals for the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.	Michael Ray	May 03, 2010
Added images of Final Fantasy, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake.	Michael Ray	May 03, 2010
Added photograph.	Amy Tikkanen	Aug 26, 2009
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Entertainment - How Making A Video Game Works.	Shiveta Singh	Feb 17, 2009
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Entertainment - How Video Game Testers Work.	Shiveta Singh	Feb 17, 2009
Article revised and updated.	Amy Tikkanen	Feb 02, 2007
Article revised.	The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica	May 07, 2004
Article added to new online database.	The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica	Jul 20, 1998