Some time ago, I found a discussion along the lines: What if gunpowder had never been invented (and swords continued to evolve)? I got fascinated, and wondered what other alternate universes might be fun to explore. And then, reading through wiki pages of gaming history recently, it hit me: The absence of digital games. It seems so absurd, so out of place, that I decided to go with it.

Say, if only a simple ping-pong game was developed, and somehow people would not enjoy it. Major companies would make a few other tries, but quickly reconsider this path, and the gaming branch would be left completely unexplored. No arcade machines would have been built, no consoles developed, no pc games ever made. No digital gaming involving tv or computer screens would exist, beyond that sole ping-pong game and, perhaps a few others, being displayed in history museums.

A potential alternate universe. Can you imagine how it would be like? How would the world be today if there were no video games?

Maybe birth rates would be higher. At least a lot of people would have wasted their life on something different than WOW or other forms of gaming addiction.
Don't really think it would have made that much of a difference tbh. Gaming is too marginal for that, it's not like the printing press or gunpowder.

I think there would be less incentive for the electronic component companies, such as Intel and the like, to invest in R&D to develop better still components for electronic devices. There would be some advancements, sure, but probably somewhat slower than if entertainment software pushed for better graphics. That's where the money is, at least.

If video games never existed or never caught on, then the rate of murder would have skyrocketed for sure.

what are video games?

So gamers are psychos whose homicidal urges are only kept in check by gaming?
That sounds pretty disturbing tbh...

Maybe the result would be a natural hegemony of board games and pen & paper roleplaying, with the latter in particular quickly becoming a mass phenomenon and never being confined to subcultural circles. Statues of Gygax in public spaces.

Beamdog would be responsible for painting the forth bridge then, ie redo it every year, zero creativity, and a vast black hole for cash! Or they would be holding up coaches on the highway, your choice.

Turtles would likely be extinct.

DUH!

Perhaps board gaming, and specifically table top wargaming would be a much bigger thing than it already is.

edit: uhm, what chevkoch said

So gamers are horny breeders whose sexual urges are only kept in check by gaming? Not sure if that sounds any more likely and less disturbing than the violence theory. Besides, I guess there would still be internet and porn. ;)

I wasn't really being quite serious with that one :-)
Honestly, I don't think the world would be much different without video games...they're just not that important.

No, I'm pretty sure even without video games I'd still be a dork with no life, no girlfriend, and no prospects for either. :P

I could imagine television becoming more interactive than it is now. I mean there were experiments with interactive television in a time when gaming hadn't reached the masses yet. Nowadays I guess it just not a very attractive alternative to actual gaming. But if there had been no video games at all, maybe people would have invested more in finding new ways to involve the audience? Although that would have been screen entertainment as well, with different media but not completely unlike video games.