Fascinating video shows 'Brief History of Video Games'

Posted Monday, June 11, 2012 at 4:52 PM Central

by John Couture

If you're anything like me (and I'm willing to bet you are), then you probably grew up playing a ton of video games. I wasn't fortunate to be on the cutting edge back in the day, so my first video game console was the Atari 5200.

That console has the distinction of being the first video game system to introduce a pause button. From that moment forward, we were no longer chained to our games, much like how DVRs would later free us from the chains of watching TV shows, but I digress.

After my trusty 5200, I pretty much bought every system that came out on the market. Well, my parents were very awesome and bought them. Personally, I think they simply enjoyed all of the time my brother and I spent playing them and not causing a ruckus throughout the rest of the house.

Anyhow, I have continued to play video games to this day, although a newborn does tend to make your skills a bit rusty. But, I look forward to the day when I can play video games with my kids. I'm sure they'll kick my butt, but that's ok. I'll just threaten to throw in NHL '94 on the Sega Genesis and remind them of my skills.

I was surfing the web this afternoon and I found this cool video that Polygon put together that uses real music and video from games from the last 30+ years. It's sad to admit, but I've owned most of the games in this video and I bet you have too.

While not an exhaustive list of all video games ever released, I think it does a good job of hitting most of the highlights. Thus, it makes a good primer for the upcoming Disney movie Wreck-It Ralph.

Speaking of Wreck-It Ralph, you knew it was only a matter of time. I also uncovered this little gem while surfing. It's a playable 8-bit version of Fix-It Felix Jr., the game from Wreck-It Ralph.

It's a great and natural companion piece to the movie that will debut in theaters on November 2.