Caption: A snapshot of Pong , Credit: Google Images
Image by: Google Images 
A snapshot of Pong  

1972: The Birth of Pong and the Rise of Video Games

Series: Action Speaks! 2011 Season: Conflict and Amusement in America: How Can it Hurt if it's so Much Fun?
From: Action Speaks
Length: 00:58:59

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Pong introduced America to video games and now there seems to be no turning back. Is this why we don't leave our houses anymore? Read the full description.

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In this, our second episode of our Fall 2011 season, we investigate the popularity of video games, their use in education, their relationship to the military and whether or not they are presaging the global expression of our utopian yearnings. 
  
As more and more people around the world use video games to pass the time, to teach and learn and to create alternative realities, it is time for us to consider what its implications are and whether or not we are leading or being led—and to where.

This Show's Featured Panelists: 

D. Fox Harrell, Ph.D is an Associate Professor of Digital Media; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has written extensively on identity and digital culture and has published an article called Algebra of Identity; Skin of Wind, Skin of Streams, Skin of Shadows, Skin of Vapor for Theory Magazine. 

Mary Flanagan, Professor of Film & Media Studies at Dartmouth College, is the inaugural chair holder of the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professorship in Digital Humanites. Dr. Flanagan is the author of 'Critical Play; Radical Game Design and is the inventor of the first web based digital game for girls "The Adventures of Josie True". 

Randall Nichols is as Assisstant Professor at Bentley College where his areas of interest are: the Political Economy of Media, New Technology, Media Industries, Video Games, Media Economics and Popular Culture. His essay, Target Acquired: America's Army and the VideoGame Industry is in Joystick Soldiers; The Politics of Play in Military Video Games edited by Nina B. Huntemann and Mathew Thomas Payne.

Michael Townsend is a world record holder in video games and has been focused on conquering them since first introduced to Pong.  He has actively gamed through the evolution of all major platforms from the Atari 2600 to the PS3.  He supports his gaming habit by drawing with tape as an internationally renowned public artist.  He has to stop gaming this Fall to find the time to write his first book

 

 

 

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Piece Description

In this, our second episode of our Fall 2011 season, we investigate the popularity of video games, their use in education, their relationship to the military and whether or not they are presaging the global expression of our utopian yearnings. 
  
As more and more people around the world use video games to pass the time, to teach and learn and to create alternative realities, it is time for us to consider what its implications are and whether or not we are leading or being led—and to where.

This Show's Featured Panelists: 

D. Fox Harrell, Ph.D is an Associate Professor of Digital Media; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has written extensively on identity and digital culture and has published an article called Algebra of Identity; Skin of Wind, Skin of Streams, Skin of Shadows, Skin of Vapor for Theory Magazine. 

Mary Flanagan, Professor of Film & Media Studies at Dartmouth College, is the inaugural chair holder of the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professorship in Digital Humanites. Dr. Flanagan is the author of 'Critical Play; Radical Game Design and is the inventor of the first web based digital game for girls "The Adventures of Josie True". 

Randall Nichols is as Assisstant Professor at Bentley College where his areas of interest are: the Political Economy of Media, New Technology, Media Industries, Video Games, Media Economics and Popular Culture. His essay, Target Acquired: America's Army and the VideoGame Industry is in Joystick Soldiers; The Politics of Play in Military Video Games edited by Nina B. Huntemann and Mathew Thomas Payne.

Michael Townsend is a world record holder in video games and has been focused on conquering them since first introduced to Pong.  He has actively gamed through the evolution of all major platforms from the Atari 2600 to the PS3.  He supports his gaming habit by drawing with tape as an internationally renowned public artist.  He has to stop gaming this Fall to find the time to write his first book

 

 

 

Timing and Cues

No Breaks.

Additional Files

Additional Credits

Action Speaks! is produced by AS220 with generous funding from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and the Law Firm of Robinson & Cole, LLP. Special thanks to our Media Partners: WGBH, RIPBS and The Providence Phoenix, Executive Producer and Host Marc Levitt, Executive Producer Bert Crenca, Producer Kaitlynne Ward, Sound Engineer Jim Moses, House Manager Zac Drummond, Sound Support Staff Anthony Ferreria, Interns Jacquelyn Harris and Nate Weisenberg, Volunteer Alyssa Kichula, Graphic Designer Sarah Rainwater, AS220 Staff, and Providence's own What Cheer Brigade for our original intro music.

Related Website

www.actionspeaksradio.org