美国国家公共电台 NPR--Where did the time go? Video game 'Pong' is turning 50

Where did the time go? Video game 'Pong' is turning 50

Transcript¹

Atari announced a revolutionary new way to play table tennis on Nov. 29, 1972. Pong became the first wildly popular video game, igniting an industry that boomed over the next 50 years.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "ELDEN RING")

ANTHONY HOWELL: (As Margit the Fell) Someone must extinguish thy flame. Let it be Margit the Fell.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

So that is the sound of a video game. These days, games have the look and feel of being dropped right into an action movie. This, for example, is from a game called Elden Ring.

(SOUNDBITE OF ITEMS SHATTERING)

MARTIN: Now, this is a far cry from how video games began.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINTAGE ARCADE² GAME TONES)

MARTIN: No, that's not your radio glitching. That is the sound of Pong. And tomorrow marks 50 years since Atari announced it would bring all the thrills of table tennis to a video screen.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Sweet. Now, Pong wasn't the first video game, but it was the first one to become a huge hit. Arcade owners started moving their pinball machines to make room for this hulking box with a black-and-white screen and two rotating knobs that controlled pixelated paddles on each side. The ball that bounced from one side to the other proved harder to volley than it looked.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINTAGE ARCADE GAME TONE)

MARTIN: The Pong craze was the unofficial start of the video game industry. Then Pac-Man came along nearly a decade later, and video games ruled the culture. Arcades³ filled with Gen Xers plugging quarters into beeping, blooping, glowing machines. Then home gaming took over and transformed all of it.

MART?NEZ: Today the video game industry collects almost $200 billion a year globally, and gamers like to point out that their obsession⁴ now generates more sales than the film industry. And 50 years ago, it all began with a...

(SOUNDBITE OF VINTAGE ARCADE GAME TONE)

MART?NEZ: And a...

(SOUNDBITE OF VINTAGE ARCADE GAME TONE)

MART?NEZ: ...And a dream.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

3 arcades   

n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物

参考例句：

• Clothes are on sale in several shopping arcades these days. 近日一些服装店的服装正在大减价。 来自轻松英语会话---联想4000词(下)
• The Plaza Mayor, with its galleries and arcades, is particularly impressive. 市长大厦以其别具风格的走廊和拱廊给人留下十分深刻的印象。 来自互联网

4 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。