Meeting Topic: The Progression of Video Game Audio
Moderator Name: Jim Naron
Speaker Name: Colby Peterson AES Student Section President
Other business or activities at the meeting: The Intern Boot Camp
Meeting Location: The Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences. Gilbert, AZ
Tonight Colby Petersen Presented the history and evolution of video games which goes back as far as the 1940's and 1950's. He discussed the first video arcade game with widespread success, Pong by Atari, released in 1972. For those who do not know, Pong is loosely based on table tennis. Systems began with mainframe computers in the early 1970's, until ROM cartridge based computer systems, Intellivision, and Colecovision took over in the early 80's.
What was known as the golden age of video games took place from 1978 to 1986, and began with the release of Space Invaders, and included classics such as Pac Man. Colby presented many entertaining clips of footage showing us what video games such as The Oregon Trail and Pong looked and sounded like in action.
Today the gaming industry is as innovative as ever. We are lucky enough to have 3D gaming, and gaming available through our smart phones around the clock, not to mention a variety of choices to meet anybody's taste. Colby also showed us an interview with an engineer responsible for creating video game sound effects. The interview described all the random sounds and manipulations as well as the layering of sounds involved in creating all the amazing sounds everyone enjoys while playing their games.
Written By: Jim Naron
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