computer game

Any computer-controlled game in which the computer (sometimes) opposes the human player. Computer games typically employ fast, animated graphics on a VDU (visual display unit) and synthesized sound.

Commercial computer games became possible with the advent of the microprocessor in the mid-1970s and rapidly became popular as amusement-arcade games, using dedicated chips. Available games range from chess to fighter-plane simulations.

Some of the most popular computer games in the early 1990s were id Software's Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, which were designed to be played across networks including the Internet. A whole subculture developed around those particular games, as users took advantage of id Software's help to create their own additions to the games. Later games such as EverQuest and Runescape are examples of Massively Multi-Player On-line Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), where game play takes place in virtual on-line worlds with millions of players and has given rise to subcultures and synthetic economies.

With the introduction and rapid adoption of games consoles such as the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation, as well as the boom in home computing, the computer games industry has undergone a period of massive expansion. The industry has however been criticized for releasing many violent games with little intellectual content.