The development of the electronic video game has been little short of an electronics revolution. Since the introduction of the first system for the home, PONG, an electronic tennis game invented in 1972, each new video game has left obsolete machines in its wake. The second wave of video game technology in the late 1970's included the very popular Atari VCS2600 system with plug-in interchangeable game cartridges and a colour display. This machine brought the arcade game `Space Invaders' to the home. Space Invaders became so popular that during this period the name became synonymous with electronic games. Today the TV video game market is dominated by the likes of Nintendo and Sega with consoles which feature high powered colour graphics and multichannel stereo sound. Recent innovations include hand held video games which utilise colour liquid crystal displays making `gaming on the move' a reality.
Modern electronic video games are actually computers dedicated to the playing of games, this dedication is achieved only by the fact that they are not supplied with a keyboard for programming purposes and the programs are supplied pre-written on plug-in cartridges. When the console is switched on the game program in the plug-in cartridge is executed by the consoles built in micro-computer chip, control of the game is achieved via one or more joysticks plugged into the console. Development is now in progress on the latest wave of gaming technology including CD Multimedia and `Virtual Reality' systems.
