This is a slideshow outlining what is going to be in the documentary entitled "Pong to Splinter Cell". It covers the history of the video game industry with specific emphasis on the video game crash of 1984.
2. Pong to Splinter Cell is a documentary focused entirely on the video game industry as we know it. It’s a comparative history of where video games were and where they are today. The video game industry saw its humble beginnings in a game called Pong. The success of Pong drove the gears of creativity in many and Atari was formed from this creativity. Once Atari had become popular problems arose with some programmers leaving the company to start their own companies, one of these companies is now the largest in the industry, Activision. It was the golden age of video games, growth was high, money was flowing in, everyone wanted to get their hands on video games of all forms. All good things came to a crashing end though as the video game industry collapsed in on itself among all its success. Atari Pong
3. This is a chart showing the relative price of video game consoles over the years. Lower console prices around the time of the crash of 1984 weren’t enough to keep consumers interested in buying video games.
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5. The crash hurt many companies financially, some of which can be seen in the pictures below. Some companies such as Magnavox and Coleco ended up never making another console again after the crash. Atari took the hardest hit during the crash with their company being one of the reasons for the crash to begin with. To this day, Atari is still strapped for cash because of the financial damage they took during that time. The crash was one of the turning points of the industry though and is one of the main reasons it is so strong today. Had the crash never happened, the video game industry as we see it today may never have come to be the way it is.
9. Conclusion Video games have come a long way over the years and have much more room to grow. There have been hard times and good times, with the hard times bringing out some of the best qualities the industry has going for itself. People may have cast doubt at one time as to the validity of the industry as a whole and whether it could transcend just being video games. Whether it be a simple game like Pong, a travel through the mushroom kingdom in Super Mario Brothers or sneaking about in Splinter Cell, video games are here to stay as a major part of our culture and society.
10. Image Links Slide 1 Background Collage: http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/9905/wallpaper2finishedcopyrf6.jpg Slide 2 Pong Image: http://blogs.theage.com.au/screenplay/archives/pong.bmp Atari Image: http://retrothing.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/atari400.jpg Slide 3 Bar Graph: http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7998/wager7wr9.png Slide 5 Atari Logo: http://news.filefront.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/atari_logo_3.jpg Coleco Logo: http://www.freecorporatelogos.com/thumbs/COLECO.jpg Activision Logo: http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Activision_logo/activision_logo.jpg Magnavox Logo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Magnavox.gif Mattel Logo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6a/Mattel-brand.svg/275px-Mattel-brand.svg.png Slide 6 NES Pic: http://www.jandar.net/nes72pin/nes72pin1_big1.jpg Slide 7 Pie Chart Capped from YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvphEf6cpJo Slide 8 NES: http://cybernetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/nes-console.jpg Wii: http://www.webtvwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/nintendo-wii-console.jpg DS: http://static.emulator-zone.com/gallery/emulators/nds/nintendo_ds_lite.jpg Xbox: http://www.joeanderson.co.uk/blog/xbox.jpg Xbox 360: http://news.cnet.com/i/ne/p/2005/Xbox360full_500x526.jpg PS1: http://www.vipermods.co.za/res/default/ps1.png PS2: http://uk.gizmodo.com/ps2%20silber2.jpg PS3: http://www.viralblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/sony_playstation_3.jpg PSP: http://tech84.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/sony_psp.jpg Sega Genesis: http://www.vidgame.net/SEGA/Sega/Genesis/gen_sys2.jpg Sega Saturn: http://old-wizard.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/saturn_sega.jpg Sega Dreamcast: http://www.rombay.com/images/consoles/sega_dreamcast.jpg Slide 9 Splinter Cell Image: http://www.mtv.com/games/video_games/images/promoimages/d/dime/video_game_heros/splinter_cell_chaos_theory.jpg Mario and the Gang: http://yoshi.2yr.net/pics/super-mario-64-ds-all.jpg