They started as simple blocks of light ... An entire generation has now grown up immersed in virtual worlds ever more realistic ... Video games stand accused of making us violent or causing addiction - but is any of this true? Horizon: Are Video Games Really That Bad? BBC 2015
A growing group of academics believe video games have little effect on players. ibid.
Every age has its storytelling form, and video gaming is a huge part of our culture. You can ignore or embrace video games and imbue them with the best artistic quality. People are enthralled with video games in the same way as other people love the cinema or theatre. Andy Serkis
The obvious objective of video games is to entertain people by surprising them with new experiences. Shigeru Miyamoto
The combination of low culture and high technology is one of the most fascinating social features of the video game phenomenon. Computers were invented as super drones to do tasks no human in her or his right mind (much less left brain) would have the patience, or the perseverance, to manage ... Now our robot drones, the ones designed to take all the boring jobs, become the instrument for libidinal extravaganzas devoid of any socially productive component. Video games are computers neutered of purpose, liberated from functionality. The idea is intoxicating; like playing with the help on their night off. Charles Bernstein, Play it Again, Pac-Man, Postmodern Culture vol 2
A new kind of cultural hero – the geeky genius ... Video games have been the fastest growing cultural commodity in the world. Dominic Sandbrook: Let Us Entertain You I: The New British Empire, BBC 2015
Welcome to the world of professional video-gaming. It’s called e-sports. Every day all over Europe the world’s best gamers are competing, and hundreds of thousands of people are watching. It’s a world that’s closed off from large parts of society. The Supergamers, BBC 2016
A truly colossal spectator sport … Cologne – the Glastonbury of gaming … the biggest convention in the entire world … This is a powerful mainstream industry on an epic scale. ibid.
Rick Kirkham shot over 3,000 hours of film and video. He never watched any of it. Rick was born in Oklahoma City 1958. Rick had the perfect family. TV Junkie, captions, 2006
While covering drug raids [as reporter], the police introduced Rick to crack cocaine. Rick’s story on the Nasty Boys gained nationwide attention. In 1988 he was hired to report for Inside Edition. ibid.
May 9th 1993: I am checked in as an impatient in the chemical dependency unit. ibid. Rick on video
And that’s how horrible the addiction is: and yet it takes over your mind. ibid. Rick on crack
This addiction is gonna kill me. The terrible thing is you don’t think about your family, your friends, your career. ibid.
Very raw and animalistic … How can something be so euphoric and good and so terrible; you do it you know it can kill ya. ibid.
It’s totally debilitating. ibid.
I’m a video junkie. ibid.
7 years now I’ve done basically at least three nights a week if not more. ibid.
I got the letter from Inside … Terminated because of non-diligent and unfaithful service. ibid.
Ricky, you mamma is trying to send your daddy to jail. ibid.
8.50 in the morning and Rick’s not home. ibid. Tammy
I’ve virtually destroyed my life. ibid.
After ten days Rick returns home from his second rehab. ibid.
They filed for divorce. ibid.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is expected to sell millions of copies over the next few weeks. BBC breakfast television, cited The Subconscious War 2011
I have the largest collection of video games in the world. The Last Move, Michael Thomasson, 2016
I have over 11,000 distinctly different games, all unique, and over a 108 games systems. ibid.
Now I’m selling the collection. ibid.
In August 2011 a tournament featuring the popular online strategy game Dota 2 was held in Cologne Germany. It offered the largest prize pool to date – attracting professional players from all over the world. Free to Play, 2014
$1.6 million prize pool. ibid.
‘It gives you the ability to become someone else. A someone who is powerful, who can take down five opponents, express your creativity, break the rules without actually getting arrested.’ ibid. Tammy Tang
‘In Asia they take gaming so much more seriously.’ ibid. James Harding
EHome 1 vs 3 Navi (inc Dendi) ibid.
Gaming is the biggest entertainment industry in the world. ibid.
It turns out that a certain number of video games can be marathoned. Man vs Snake, 2015
In the summer of 1983 sixteen year old Tim McVey embarked on a quest to score one billion points on a video game. It would take two days of continuous play on one quarter. ibid.
‘What the fuck is Nibbler?’ ibid. young man
Twin Galaxies Arcade: ‘The official video game capital of the world.’ ibid. gamer
‘Your brain shuts down after forty hours – that’s a problem.’ ibid.
Dwayne challenges Tim to a Nibbler showdown. ibid.
Rick Carter: new Nibbler world record holder. ibid.
‘I got the record back on Nibbler.’ ibid. Tim
In South Korea teenage video-gamers put on diapers; this way they avoid losing points by going to the bathroom. Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, 2017
Alamogordo is best known for … its landfill – the dump – because supposedly that’s where Atari buried ET – the worst video game of all time. Atari: Game Over, 2014
‘Atari was like XBox and Playstation rolled into one: it had 80% market share and the 2600 was its killer app. Adventure was probably my favourite game on the 26000.’ ibid. fan
‘Then one day it was just gone. Sometime in the mid-80s it just disappeared and there were no more Atari games. And I always wondered what happened. Where did they go?’ ibid.
‘We introduced the 2600 in 1977.’ ibid. Atari dude
‘Yar’s Revenge is the best selling original game for the Atari 2600. It sold something like 1,000,000 copies.’ ibid.
‘The fastest growing company in American history … We were the most successful coin-op company, we were the dominant consumer company … Where’s this industry going?’ ibid.
‘The burial site of an entire industry.’ ibid. expert & collector
Playing computer games is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest sports. International tournaments attract millions of diehard fans. And it’s given birth to a new breed of athlete: young gamers who have left their bedrooms to do battle in packed-out areas. Prize pots hit the tens of millions. And for those who make it to the top, fame and fortune awaits. But when the pressure of going professional and the competition gets too much, what are the realities of chasing and living the E-Sports dream? Reggie Yates Meets World s1e2: Esports, MTV 2019
Skipping school, travelling the world and winning vast amounts of money, I’m not surprised Team Liquid are having the time of their lives. ibid.
I’m in Dallas Texas to experience the fast growing world of e-sports. It’s semi-finals day at Dreamland, one of the the biggest gaming tournaments. ibid.
The home of the world-famous Dallas Cowboys. The owners have recently purchased the E-Sports team Complexity, and invested millions of dollars in a state of the art training facility. ibid.
Look at the multi-billion-dollar video gaming industry today, it’s a major entertainment industry, bigger than the movie business. Game Changers: Inside the Video Game Wars, 2019
Computer Space … it had all these buttons and people couldn’t get it … ‘The core axiom of good games is easy to learn, difficult to master.’ ibid. Atari founder
Atari factory: ‘It wasn’t like work; we had rock-n-roll music blasting through the factory.’ ibid. Elaine Shirley
Pong … Odyssey … Space Race … Tank … Breakout … Sprint … Flyball … The Atari Video Computer System … ibid.
‘Atari took off like a rocket: it was the fastest growing company in the history of the United States at that point.’ ibid. Keith Feinstein, video game historian