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An overly sized brick that weighed a ton in my hands, comprising of a 2D, black and white screen and some buttons. That’s exactly how the six years old me would have described a Gameboy. Even with its primitive characteristics, the Gameboy is a feature in an evolutionary timeline that started many years before its arrival. If we go back to the beginning of human time, I’m sure that you’d be able to find some relative of gaming regardless of how basic. Competition and play are part of human nature, so whether it was punching wholes in the ground or killing the most mammoths, games can easily be made of anything.

A game is defined as: an amusement, pastime or an activity, which requires skill and is usually some form of competition. Of course, by that definition not many things are subject to exclusion, but a search on Wikipedia or Google nowadays assumes a video game reference. Since man started tracking time, the earliest forms date back to 3000BC, one of which was a simple game of dice. Additionally, they were used then as they are today, as your common pastime for amusement or for competitive/ gambling purposes. Using the Romans as a prime example, they even had what became known as professional gamblers and eventually prohibition laws.

Nowadays gaming has evolved into different categories. These include but are not limited to card games, board games, sports and the popular video games. Video games have also gone as far as merging all categories and changing the way they are experienced. Consider an ancient game like chess for example; it can now be played in a new environment without the physical board. Video games go as far back as the 1940s in early cathode ray tube-based missile defense systems. Originally designed for mainframe computers, videogames later expanded into consoles, personal computers and handhelds.

Today, society has made it hard to fight a gaming addiction because they’re virtually everywhere. Most people have access to computers that undoubtedly hosts them, consoles have gotten cheaper, more affordable and best of all (depending on who you ask), they’ve invaded the mobile phone area. Some of the phone game graphics even rival popular handheld console systems. Hardware in systems is becoming more powerful and will continue to advance as time goes on. Today, we have consoles that offer 3d technology and some as far as virtual reality. I wonder what’s next, brain chips that let your mind be the console, maybe? Anyhow, for those of us that were old enough to enjoy them, I ask which was better, Gameboy, Atari or Game Gear. I personally vote for the Gameboy. Let me know in the comments below or on twitter.