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Test Your Gaming Knowledge!
You’re about to read “Is Gaming Good for You?” The article is about how video games have helped people through the Covid-19 pandemic. How much do you really know about the world of gaming? Take the quiz to find out. (Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers. By the time you’re done, you’ll know plenty.)
The first video game was a version of tic-tac-toe. In what year was it invented?
imnoon/Shutterstock
A. 1999
B. 1985
C. 1967
D. 1952
Back in the 1950s, computers were huge. One could take up a whole room! In 1952, a professor named A.S. Douglas created a game called OXO—a version of tic-tac-toe you could play against a computer.
Who plays video games the most?
Mego studio/Shuuterstock
A. people under 18 years old
B. people 18 to 34 years old
C. people 35 to 54 years old
D. people over 54 years old
Thirty-eight percent of gamers today are ages 18 to 34. You might think that kids under 18 would play more. But they account for only 21 percent of gamers.
Which is the oldest video game company?
Natanael Gintang/Shutterstock; rvisoft/Shutterstock; Lutsenko_Oleksandr/Shutterstock ;
A. PlayStation
B. Nintendo
C. Xbox
D. Rockstar Games
Nintendo actually started out as a playing card company in 1889. The company made and sold many things over the years. It sold its first video game console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, in 1985—almost 100 years after the company began!
What percentage of American kids under 18 play video games?
LightField Studios/Shuttertsock
A. 50 percent
B. 60 percent
C. 70 percent
D. 80 percent
Seventy percent of kids under 18 in the U.S. play video games. That’s more than 50 million kids!
True or false: Super Mario Bros. is the most popular video game of all time.
Michael San Diego/Shutterstock
A. True
B. False
With more than 200 million copies sold, Minecraft is the most popular video game of all time. It was created in 2011. It beat out games that have been around for much longer, like Wii Sports and Super Mario Bros.