Video games: the social networks of the past... and the future
Many discussions focus on Roblox, Fortnite, or Minecraft. It might be necessary to revisit the game Pong and arcades to understand the significance of video games.
Marketing has a thirst for novelty; Apple's recent announcements with the launch of its Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset, the "first spatial computer," promise new realms of social interactions. Last year, Gucci Town launched on Roblox, bringing together tens of millions of players. The promise of new social expressions in highly engaging environments for brands.
However, behind the technological discourse, some fundamentals of social networks seem overlooked. A dive into the prehistory of video games - especially through the case of the game Pong - can better illuminate future uses.
And it reminds us that the success of a social network does not really rely on technological prowess but on people's ability to seize a platform.
Pong: the 1970s between the beginnings of entertainment and social conversations
In 1972, Nolan Bushnell (and Allan Alcorn) released Pong, one of the first arcade games. Marketed by Atari, Pong was installed in a California bar. Through word of mouth, the game began to gain increasing popularity. Several reasons explain this phenomenon, very relevant to what works in 2023 on social networks:
The simplicity of the game's handling: no need to be a technical expert to have fun quickly, the entry barrier is low. Paradoxically, the possible progression is enormous, allowing players to recognize talent on an equal footing.
The score displayed at the top of the machine as a true social status: if you've ever played pinball in a pub, you know how satisfying it is to enter your pseudonym in the rankings. In the era of Pong, a high score is a source of real conversations, admiration, gossip, in short, social exchanges.
Legends and myths: quickly, legends and myths are created around the arcade machine, both about great players and about the game itself. Even breakdowns add spice! Pong becomes a topic of discussion, a meaningful element of a certain youth.
Do we really need a story to generate a social narrative?
Detractors of social networks sometimes tend to criticize the lack of a story or the narrative poverty of what can happen online. While the argument is not without weakness - great sagas form on the internet - it points to an interesting tension between intrigue, new game writings, and narrative frameworks.
A subtle balance to find: ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is about to lay off some employees from Nuverse, its gaming department, despite huge resources and data on user expectations and behaviors.
Reflecting on Pong, there isn't really a story in itself: it's two paddles bouncing a ball in rudimentary graphics. Nevertheless, despite the lack of plot, the game takes off because it's the players, their friends, the noise of the bar, word of mouth that gives the game its power.
"On our bench every day, there were lots of stories; since they took it away, we don't know where to sit anymore."
MC Solaar - Saturday Night - 2001
Pong is a significant social artifact: both a point and subject of encounter, tool and memory, it explains much about why we attach ourselves to a discussion forum, a private group, or an "influencer." Like MC Solaar's bench, in short.