Video game

A video game, computer game, or simply game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visualfeedback from a display device, most commonly shown in a video format on a television set, computer monitor, flat-panel display or touchscreen on handheld devices, or a virtual reality headset. Most modern video games are audiovisual, with audio complement delivered through speakers or headphones, and sometimes also with other types of sensory feedback (e.g., haptic technology that provides tactile sensations). Some video games also allow microphone and webcam inputs for in-game chatting and livestreaming.

Video games are typically categorized according to their hardware platform, which traditionally includes arcade video games, console games, and computer games (which includes LAN games, online games, and browser games). More recently, the video game industry has expanded onto mobile gaming through mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablet computers), virtual and augmented reality systems, and remote cloud gaming. Video games are also classified into a wide range of genres based on their style of gameplay and target audience.

The first video game prototypes in the 1950s and 1960s were simple extensions of electronic games using video-like output from large, room-sized mainframe computers. The first consumer video game was the arcade video game Computer Space in 1971, which took inspiration from the earlier 1962 computer game Spacewar!. In 1972 came the now-iconic video game Pong and the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey. The industry grew quickly during the "golden age" of arcade video games from the late 1970s to early 1980s, and companies like Atari, Mattel, and Coleco also released highly successful consoles for the home market: however, loss of publishing control and saturation of the console gaming market led to the crash of the North American video game market in 1983. Following the crash, the industry matured and diversified: by the late 1980s video game consoles became dominated by Japanese companies such as Nintendo, Sega, and later Sony, whereas the Microsoft Windows (and MS-DOS before it) line of operating systems increasingly came to dominate the computer gaming space, with multiplayer online PC games seeing the establishment of the nascent eSports scene. Arcades on the other hand steadily lost their technological edge and popularity by the end of the 1990s in the face of advancements in the console and computer space, especially in North America and Europe, while in the handheld space Nintendo achieved dominance with the Game Boy line. By the 2000s, Sega exited the console space, and from then on the landscape has been dominated by the "big three" console manufacturers of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. At this time the core industry also increasingly centered on "AAA" games, leaving less room for riskier, experimental, and lower-budget games. Coupled with increasing availability of high-speed Internet and digital distribution, this gave room for independent video game development (or "indie games") to gain prominence into the 2010s. Since then, the commercial importance of the video game industry has been increasing. The emerging Asian markets and proliferation of smartphone games in particular are altering player demographics towards casual and cozy gaming, and increasing monetization by incorporating games as a service.

Today, video game development requires numerous skills, vision, teamwork, and liaisons between different parties, including developers, publishers, distributors, retailers, hardware manufacturers, and other marketers, to successfully bring a game to its consumers. As of 2020, the global video game market had estimated annual revenues of US$159 billion across hardware, software, and services, which is three times the size of the global music industry and four times that of the film industry in 2019, making it a formidable heavyweight across the modern entertainment industry. The video game market is also a major influence behind the electronics industry, where personal computer component, console, and peripheral sales, as well as consumer demands for better game performance, have been powerful driving factors for hardware design and innovation.