The Use of Electronic Games in Cognitive Rehabilitation

Abstract

In the early 1970’s Atari, a once small electronics firm in Sunnyvale, California, developed and marketed the first commercially successful video game. Referred to as Pong, this video version of ping-pong paved the way for numerous other games which soon appeared in taverns, arcades, airport lobbies, and college dormitories throughout the country. Although Pong remains quite popular, there are now over 40 different Atari videogame programs varying from simple word games (Hangman) to complex games of strategy such as chess (Video Chess) or tic-tac-toe (3-D Tic-Tac-Toe). Each program contains variations both in number of players (1 to 4) and level of difficulty (slow or fast speed; larger or smaller light “paddle”). Some (Video Olympics) have as many as 50 variations from which to choose.