Those who have become parents in the past forty years have likely found themselves shopping for video games for the enjoyment of their children, and more recently, for their own leisure. These days, video games systems are often not just for the kids, as the whole family can delight in imagining themselves as a rock band, professional dancers, or a unit of soldiers.
One of the great things about the Internet is how many things that once required a shopping trip can now be duplicated in the comfort of one's own home. Making things even more convenient is the power of search engines, which makes finding those free online pastimes even easier. Free online video games for kids are common nowadays, but it was not so long ago that competing in virtual contests of quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination came only to those who could rise to the challenge of a stiff price tag.
From the start, it's taken quite a few gold pieces to afford the luxury of interactive fantasy. The very first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which used stick-on overlays for its pong-like gaming surfaces, and the figures looked like bouncing square lights. Its $75 price tag in 1972 works out to $391 today. Atari's home version of Pong, released in time for Christmas, 1975, retailed for $99, approximately $401 in today's economy.
We've grown accustomed to game consoles that use individual cartridges or discs to contain the data for different games, but that concept was novel when the Fairchild Video Entertainment System was released in 1976. The Channel F, as it became known, which also introduced the 'hold' function which was the first 'pause' button, set back families $170, which equates to $650 after inflation. Games for the system, encased in plastic cartridges tinted bright yellow, ran for $20 apiece, or $77 in today's figures. In the wake of the Fairchild, competition was stiff--a little too stiff. Magnavox revamped the Odyssey. Coleco released the Telstar, a Pong game that sold for only $50, or $190 today. And Atari launched the now-legendary Video Computer System with a big push from Sears stores. There simply wasn't enough business left over, and most systems failed in the market crash of 1977, with only Atari emerging as a profitable games maker.
The market crashed in large part because many of the potential buyers of gaming systems were still enjoying their pricey Pong units, and making another large financial commitment to a similar unit. It doesn't help when you've seen so many of the kids' toys end up tossed in a corner with all the other fleeting fancies of days past.
So for those families whose disposable income won't allow for spending several hundred dollars on the new games system, take heart. If your kids really want to play some video games, get them hooked on the countless free flash video kids games that are available online. The play may be simpler, the fantasy more fleeting, but you don't need to spend anything on games or controllers if you've already got a computer.
Your budget should determine what the right route is for your family, but thanks to the Web, fun ways to spend idle time are just a search away.
One of the great things about the Internet is how many things that once required a shopping trip can now be duplicated in the comfort of one's own home. Making things even more convenient is the power of search engines, which makes finding those free online pastimes even easier. Free online video games for kids are common nowadays, but it was not so long ago that competing in virtual contests of quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination came only to those who could rise to the challenge of a stiff price tag.
From the start, it's taken quite a few gold pieces to afford the luxury of interactive fantasy. The very first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which used stick-on overlays for its pong-like gaming surfaces, and the figures looked like bouncing square lights. Its $75 price tag in 1972 works out to $391 today. Atari's home version of Pong, released in time for Christmas, 1975, retailed for $99, approximately $401 in today's economy.
We've grown accustomed to game consoles that use individual cartridges or discs to contain the data for different games, but that concept was novel when the Fairchild Video Entertainment System was released in 1976. The Channel F, as it became known, which also introduced the 'hold' function which was the first 'pause' button, set back families $170, which equates to $650 after inflation. Games for the system, encased in plastic cartridges tinted bright yellow, ran for $20 apiece, or $77 in today's figures. In the wake of the Fairchild, competition was stiff--a little too stiff. Magnavox revamped the Odyssey. Coleco released the Telstar, a Pong game that sold for only $50, or $190 today. And Atari launched the now-legendary Video Computer System with a big push from Sears stores. There simply wasn't enough business left over, and most systems failed in the market crash of 1977, with only Atari emerging as a profitable games maker.
The market crashed in large part because many of the potential buyers of gaming systems were still enjoying their pricey Pong units, and making another large financial commitment to a similar unit. It doesn't help when you've seen so many of the kids' toys end up tossed in a corner with all the other fleeting fancies of days past.
So for those families whose disposable income won't allow for spending several hundred dollars on the new games system, take heart. If your kids really want to play some video games, get them hooked on the countless free flash video kids games that are available online. The play may be simpler, the fantasy more fleeting, but you don't need to spend anything on games or controllers if you've already got a computer.
Your budget should determine what the right route is for your family, but thanks to the Web, fun ways to spend idle time are just a search away.
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The fun never ends with games for kids at YTV Games, with dozens of games based on your favourite YTV shows.
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