and complex soundtracks. Game producer – the person in charge of overseeing development of a video game. Game programming – the programming of computer, console or arcade games. Game programmer – a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game engine – a system designed for the creation and development of video games. Game Artificial intelligence – techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters (NPCs). Game publisher – a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. Game studies – the discipline of studying games, their design, players, and their role in society and culture more broadly. Game testing – a software testing process for quality control of video games, primary function being the discovery and documentation of software defects (aka bugs). Game journalism – a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games. Level design – a discipline of game development involving creation of video game levels—locales, stages, or missions. Level editor (tool) – a software tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns, etc. and virtual worlds for a video game. Video game design – the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. Other concepts Interaction design Expansion pack Video game remake Fan translation Fangame Abandonware XGameStation History of video games History of video games By period Early history of video games First video game Pong History of first generation video game consoles (1972–1977) History of second generation video game consoles (1976–1984) History of third generation video game consoles (1983–1992) History of fourth generation video game consoles (1987–1996) History of fifth generation video game consoles (1993–2006) History of sixth generation video game consoles (1998–2015) History of seventh generation video game consoles (2005–2020) History of eighth generation video game consoles (2011–) History of ninth generation video game consoles (2020–) By decade 1980s in video games 1990s in video games 2000s in video games 2010s in video games By year Prior to 1972 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997