One of the first aspects of interactive media was in-fact games... in the late 80's to the 1990's Nintendo released the Mega-drive and the Super Famicom 16-bit console which gave birth to a new ages of gaming. When it all started computers and consoles could only display 2D games with very little resolution which to us today is out of date but to the people of it's time it was revolutionary.
Here are some examples of the machines and the games they were running at that time:
The next major step taken was the production of Windows which had more hardware and software capabilities which displayed that these consoles/computers were going to be part of our culture from then on. Also recognition of these companies was becoming more and more possible, therefor more companies were springing up.
Then in 93 Microsoft released another windows program to surpass the previous one thus opening up new possibilities in both the software and hardware side of this development. This also gave birth to different game platforms due to the new processors of the time, for example the birth of both first person shooters and head on head fighting games.
The biggest thing to come next was probably the production of the Sony Playstation, this revolutionized the idea of people being able to have a console in their home which can play a wide selection of game through a CD Rom
After these games were released the market for games and the hardware to go with it took off like a storm... in 95 Microsoft developed "Direct-X" which is operating program designed specifically for media and games to boost the capabilities of a system that would play these games. Also in 95 the first ever E3 show was held which in a nutshell is a big gaming convention where the public can go to find out from the gaming companies about their new or upcoming products of the time, so this proves that the making of computer games was a hit world wide.
The first main companies formed specifically for the production and distribution of computer games on a large scale were "Activision, Electronic Arts, Blizzard and ID Software.
Interactive media is not just about video games... in today's world we have touch screens we have information kiosks, phone applications even self service checkout systems, it seems that we keep trying to get more in touch with our technology. Usability is one of the main factors in making something today... the simpler it is to use something, the more chance you have of people looking further around your site as apposed to getting confused on the first page.
When the Web was made there was web 1.0 which allowed people to post pages of information on the internet but that was pretty much it, where as now we have web 2.0 where people can upload music, movie and software files onto the net for others to see without having to stream it from a machine.
In today's age video games have taken over the market by storm, companies relentlessly try to come up with the next big thing that will steal the game market from their opponents. Today's platforms go from strategy birds eye game where you command armies against armies or first person shooter to massive multi-player online role playing games (mmorpg) even flight simulators of a beoin 747 has been made into a game for either pc or a console.
These games are also getting more and more realistic as that's what is the customers seem to want... which means the software has to get better, which leaves hardware needing to advance too. Now we have full scale 3D worlds being made as apposed to the old 2D games from the 90's.
Probably the most used form of interactive media on the web is the search engine "Google" which has become the worlds number 1 search engine. Everything about this had to be designed by teams of interactive artists, from the layout (Making sure that it's easy to navigate around) and getting it known in the first place. The name has nothing to do with the purpose that has so the website is it's self a little abstract however today everybody that owns a computer or uses one knows what Google means therefore the face of Google has turned into a part of everyday life.
I feel that we are now ringing in a new age of technology where more and more great innovative idea are going to be coming onto our screens, the latest I've been able to learn of in this case is the ingenious "Sixth-Sense" compact computer system. Lots of applications / programs are going to be made for this device which in a few years could also itself be obsolete so the latest piece of technology at the time. I believe in a few years humans would have progressed enough to achieve unthinkable things to me and you here in 2011, possibly even virtual reality.
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