Video Games - From Stationary to Mobile

Surely you have played at least one video game at one point in your life. Or at least watched someone you know play one. Or if not-and this seems very pathetic, no offense-at least heard about the existence of video games in today's modern world through the news or by word of mouth. If you've played video games (congratulations for keeping up with the times) you may have done so first on a Game Boy or family computer.

And what game, shall we guess. OXO (a virtual tic-tac-toe)? Pong? Spacewar? Asteroids? Pacman? Oh the list could go on and on... Family feud? Lemmings? Solitaire? Mortal Kombat? Super Mario Brothers? The Sims? Yes, that's essentially an overview of the history of video games. From video arcade games to first-generation consoles; from home computer games to the golden age of handheld LCD games during the decline of the video arcade ones; until we come to the rise of cell phone games.

It was Nokia that turned mobile phones -- then just a gadget for calling and texting -- into video game platforms in 1998. The advent of cell phone games began with Snake that already came installed on selected Nokia units, and soon after, every other mobile phone provider had a time-killing game on their products. These games back then could be played for short periods of time, such as waiting for your order at a fast food restaurant; they shorten battery life quickly and would appear ancient when compared to the cell phone games of today because they were monochromatic and very simple in mechanics and graphics (Pairs? Bricks, anyone?).

Nokia again upped the ante for mobile gaming in 2003, five years from the first release of Snake, with the launch of the Nokia N-Gage, a handheld gaming platform. It may not have been a huge success financially but it sure encouraged many game developers to create more games and mobile phone providers to release more advanced products with better color screens, memory and processing capability to improve the gaming experience with them.

Cell phone games continued to increase in popularity as more sophisticated technology was developed for our trusty gadgets. Nokia's N-Series smartphones released in 1995 and Apple Inc.'s iPhone released in 1997 added more allure to the idea of mobile gaming. Apple Inc.'s App Store reportedly sold more games than any other applications in 2008-a sure sign that the appeal of mobile gaming is only getting stronger.

Monica R. Hunt operates a successful online business. You can obtain secure unlimited cell phone games at http://www.phoneappsdownloads.com/.

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