[MUSIC]
PAUL:
Welcome to Brainwaves, a podcast about big ideas produced at the 麻豆影院.
I鈥檓 Paul Beique.
This week, one of the fastest growing industries in the world...
Is all in cyberspace.
More than a quarter of earth鈥檚 population plays video games, according to Microsoft.
That鈥檚 two billion people forking over billions of dollars.
What鈥檚 the big deal? And where can video games go from here?
We鈥檒l talk to a professional 鈥渟houtcaster鈥濃�攚e鈥檒l explain that in a minute, a video game archaeologist and a video game designer who draws inspiration from unlikely places.
If you haven鈥檛 already, please like and subscribe to brainwaves wherever you get your podcasts.
If you have a question about a show, or you have a big idea you want us to explore, you can email us at brainwaves@colorado.edu.
We鈥檒l start this week with e-sports, where the best video game players compete in front of thousands of fans and a huge online community.
Our first guest, Devin Younge, isn鈥檛 a player, he鈥檚 a color commentator, just like the ones that call games in live sports. Here he is calling a game of League of Legends.
[PENDING]
PAUL:
You can read more about Devin Younge in the podcast description.
That鈥檚 the world of gaming today. But where did it all start?听
[console boot up sound]
I paid a visit to the Media Archaeology Lab on the campus of CU 麻豆影院 to find out.听
When you walk into the Media Archaeology Lab, you鈥檙e transported back four or five decades. Desks and shelves are lined with what was once cutting-edge technology, but which now are museum pieces.
Libi Striegl: We have an Altair 8800B, which was one of the first personal kit computers from 1976, to the kind of classic IBM PC 5150, Commodore 64s, a bunch of different 听Apple II series computers. The Macintosh Classic is in this room as well.听
笔础鲍尝:听
That鈥檚 Libi Rose Striegl, a PhD student in the intermedia arts, writing and performance program in the College Of Media, Communication And Information at CU 麻豆影院. She runs the Media Archaeology Lab with a group of eight volunteers.
The lab is one of the largest collections of functional, obsolete technology in the world. They have stuff dating to the 1890s, but is seems the big draw are video games from a time when turning on your computer sounded like this.
And when Super Mario Brothers sounded like this.
(GAME SOUND)
So, what鈥檚 the reaction when adults who played these games as kids walk into the media archaeology lab?
厂迟谤颈别驳濒:听
Usually overwhelming nostalgia. Often amazement that we have it and that it still works.
笔础鲍尝:听
And what about kids?
厂迟谤颈别驳濒:听
Surprisingly, also nostalgia. So, we get this weird reaction often with 18- and 19-year-olds who are nostalgic for a thing they never knew, but have known for so long in pop culture, or things that they鈥檝e seen online or played emulations of, or they鈥檝e seen in the movies for their entire lives. And so, they know that it exists and they鈥檝e never gotten to touch it.
笔础鲍尝:听
And what鈥檚 the game the adults most want to play? One that takes them all the way back to the 鈥�40s -- the 1840s.
厂迟谤颈别驳濒:听
Well, we almost always fire up 鈥淥regon Trail.鈥� Because everyone knows 鈥淥regon Trail.鈥� But we also have a large selection of text games or interactive fiction games that are really popular.
笔础鲍尝:听
That includes 鈥淭he Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy鈥� game and 鈥淶ork.鈥�
But if you just want to play the games of your youth -- or your parents鈥� youth--like 鈥淒onkey Kong,鈥� or 鈥淔rogger,鈥� they鈥檝e got you covered, too.
厂迟谤颈别驳濒:听
So, we鈥檝e got everything ranging from old arcade-style games like 鈥淎steroids鈥� and 鈥淢oon Lander鈥� and things like that, to the Mario games and racing games. We get a lot of asks for our copy of the Atari 鈥淓.T.鈥� game, and then people start to play it and are not happy to discover that it has earned its reputation for a reason.
笔础鲍尝:听
You can see what鈥檚 happening at the media archaeology lab at mediaarchaeologylab.com.听
As video games have become more mainstream, plenty of naysayers have pushed back, saying they鈥檙e too violent or melt kids鈥� brains.
Brainwaves Dan Strain asked Danny Rankin about that.听
Rankin is head of the 鈥淲haaat?! Lab鈥� at Cu 麻豆影院鈥檚 鈥淎TLAS Institute.鈥澨�
He studies video game and designs some of his own with some pretty unexpected inspirations.
[PENDING]
PAUL:
Thanks for listening to Brainwaves. You can like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
And again, if you have a question about this show, or you have a big idea you want us to explore, you can email us at brainwaves@colorado.edu.
I鈥檓 Paul Beique.
I produced this show alongside Dan Strain and Andrew Sorensen.
Cole Hemstreet arranged our theme music.
We鈥檒l see you next time, on Brainwaves.
听