17 The Rockin Entertainment Technology of Generation X

17.1 Introduction

How would you spend your free time if video games were never invented? Although video games are not everyone’s cup of tea, they are the basis of the entertainment of today. The creation of the video game, interactive computer games between users and a device, created the basis of online gaming and aided in the creation of a world renowned industry of entertainment known today. Starting with simple arcade games, video games have grown into a profession for many and have challenged humans physical and mental abilities. Arcades began to grow in the 1980’s as more arcade game technologies, usually coin operated video games, was developed, making a new industry for arcade owners solely based on the entertainment of teens. After being out for years competitions began to develop, pushing the competitiveness culture of video games and creating additional entertainment watching people play video games.

Before the 1970’s video games were nothing more than an idea for the future, until the first arcade game came out in 1971. Being that computers were not a common technology, the invention of the arcade game was a major leap in technological advances. Soon after the first arcade game was created there were many to follow. Generation X was the first generation to grow up with this type of entertainment technology and many psychological studies have been conducted on the effects of this. Before there were modern day arcades there were “amusement halls,” a place where people could come together to play coin operated machines. Amusement halls had slot and pinball machines to play as a form of entertainment. It was not long until these amusement halls turned into arcades when the first arcade game was made.

“People Standing in Front of Store during Night Time” by Donates is licensed under a Pexels License

One of the first video games was made in 1962 by Steve Russell, who was inspired by the ongoing space race in the cold war. He created a game called Spacewar,where two spaceships could fire missiles at each other. The invention of this game inspired two college students at Stanford University, Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck, to create Galaxy game, a coin operated version of this game in a wooden console. Around the same time, two engineers, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, created another coin operated version Spacewar! called “Computer Space.” This was the first commercial arcade game made but the game Pong was made shortly after Computer Space, and brought even more attention to arcade gaming. As arcade games began to become more popular there were more games being invented. In the early 1980s, known as the arcade golden age, there was a large growth in arcade games and their popularity. Games like Space Invaders and Atari’s Asteroids were the best selling arcade games. Two years after Space invaders was released, Pac-Man came out and quickly became popular.

The arcade game Pac-Man is the most successful game of all and has been a social phenomenon for decades (iee).  Released only three decades ago, in 1980 by Namco, most people today are very aware of the game and have played it before. Like other arcade games it originally came out as a 2-D game, players operated the Pac-man with a joystick and had to navigate it through a maze to collect as many pills as possible without running into any of the four ghosts. If the player ran into a ghost they were eliminated and they had two more lives to try to complete the game. Pac-Man is just one of the iconic video games that came out of the golden era of video games. Competitions in the game and its spin off, Mrs. Pac-Man, still happen today.

General video game playing is a discipline that mixes game AI and artificial general intelligence. When playing video games specific hand eye coordination is needed with logistic skill to successfully execute the game. Video games challenge the player’s patience and quick reflexes. Many older people from the baby boomer generation viewed them in a negative light because of the emotional stress gen xers would experience when losing the game. Many began to believe that the playing of video games caused gen xers to become more violent and aggressive while others believed it was a healthy way to vent aggression. Not many studies have been done on the mental effects of video games on Gen Xers but a survey done by Harris et Al on high school students who played video games revealed that “responses ranged from it being a shared form of play with friends to being a source of excitement and escape from boredom” (Brown). There is still a discussion of the mental effects whether positive or negative, of video games as there is no hard evidence proving either point.

Some of the most researched areas of the effects of video games on Generation X is in the topics of health, education, and behavior: aggression, pathological and deviant. Case studies have assessed the potential use of video games played by cancer and burn patients in the pediatric department. The goal of the use of video games was to create a distraction to alleviate the side-effects of chemotherapy. In the education field, there are many positive studies in the use of video games as they improve hand eye coordination and indulge students to want to learn for longer, as well as passively learn while playing the games. The major concern for researchers is the behavior aspect of the effects of video games. For one researcher, Graybill er al., he proposed that video games aid with aggressive impulses among children. The other main behavior issue was an inability to focus. The amazement of this new technology created major communities of people with a common interest.

17.3 Personal Music Listening Devices

Do you ever wish you could pack your favorite music artist in your pocket and have them play you on demand? With the invention of personal music listening devices, like the Walkman, Generation X was the first generation to have the luxury of on demand music from their pocket. Before this technology was developed people could only listen to their favorite music from either large record players, their cars, or on the radio. The creation of this technology was evolutionary for many, but had some hesitation from older generations as they believed it would make people less sociable and socially unaware. Overall, the creation of the Walkman was a monumental technological development that influenced the making of the technology we know today.

The Walkman, also known as the TPS-L2, was originally created by Sony’s co-founder, Masaru Ibuka, while trying to make a listening device for long flights. Even small listening devices at the time were too large to travel with. The first Walkman prototype was based off of the tape recorders at the time and was not much bigger than a cassette tape. The first Sony Walkman, the TPS-LS, was originally released in 1979. The original Walkmans were made out of aluminum and featured a blue body with silver buttons. Later versions were changed to a black plastic casing to save money and speed up the manufacturing process because of the great success of this new product. To use the Walkman, users inserted a cassette tape, that was originally used for cars. Along with the Walkman, Sony created lightweight headphones, weighing about 45 grams, as headphones were only used for stationary use. The popularity of the Walkman was not predicted by Sony. With over 50,000 Walkman sold within the first two months of its release, the new technology was sweeping across the nation.

“Vintage Sony Walkman, FM-AM Stereo Cassette Player, Model WM-F77, Made In Japan, Circa 1986” by Joe Haupt is licensed under  CC BY-SA 2.0

With the rise of personal listening devices, society began to develop more personalized music taste, and there was an ultimate rise in unique music and polarizations of new music genres such as grunge. Gen Xers are creators of grunge music, a mix of punk, heavy metal, and hard rock and roll. The popularization of grunge music came with a new style of grunge looking fashion, a purposeful antifashion. The Walkman even became a part of fashion trends, with them regularly being seen in  roller-skating scene photoshoots and  magazines.

Older generations looked down upon the youths’ new music obsessions because they believed the younger generation would become less social. They also believed the music caused an increase in drinking, drug use, violent behaviors, and sexual activities. Critics mocked the use of the Walkman, saying it was a symbol of navel-gazing self-absorption. Users were able to be cut off from the rest of the world’s noise fully. Sony itself was concerned that the new technology would encourage antisocial behavior, so they developed a version with two headphone jacks so multiple people could listen at once. The new version was not a success since most people preferred the original.

There was a new social interaction that came with the invention of the Walkman. Users began sharing earbuds and making mixtapes for friends and dates. Music had never been so personal. The Walkman allowed users to create soundtracks for their everyday lives and listen to their favorite artists wherever and whenever. More countries were even able to exchange music tastes because of the convenience of the small portable cassette tapes. Since the Walkman was a personal way to share and consume music, youth was able to listen to music that may have not been acceptable around parents or authority figures more often. The new wave of music challenged social norms and promoted individuality. A second rise of feminism was an indirect result of this new technology. Artists like Alanis Morrissette, Courtney Love, Winona Ryder, and Janene Garofalo gained major fame, prompting women empowerment and individuality.

Sony later created Walkman CD and MP3 players as technology advanced to continue the new form of music listening. Unfortunately, the original Walkman with the cassette tape was discontinued in 2010, but the Sony music App is still called the Walkman. The longevity of the Walkman was astounding for the technological advances at the time. In response, Apple released the iPod nearly a decade earlier than the Walkman’s discontinuity. More users began switching over to the new personal listening device, the iPod, because of its large library and removing the hassle of having to carry around cassette tapes. An early version of the Walkman now resides in the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History because it was so impactful on American society. The invention of personal listening devices was a major technological advance for society as they set the basis for technology today. The new evaluation of the relational nature of auditory experience allows users to manage the boundaries and sound around oneself. The Walkman allowed music lovers to enjoy their music all day without boundaries.

Chapter Summary

Generation X is one of the most impactful generations of the modern century, growing up with new emerging entertainment technologies like video games and personal listening devices, they set the tone for following generations. Generation X was molded by the entertainment technology created during their developmental years as video games, arcade games, and music listening devices altered the generations physical and mental health.

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