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GAMES AND SOCIETYHISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES
OXO (1952)
• Sometimes known as Noughts and crosses or Tic-Tac-Toe
• Created by Alexander Douglas in 1952
• First computer game to use a digital display
• “Played” on the EDSAC computer with a rotary telephone controller
• Output was on a cathode ray tube
• Played against an artificial intelligence
Above: An EDSAC computer like the one Alexander Douglas played OXO on in 1952.
Below: A cathode ray tube connected to a monitor.
TENNIS FOR TWO (1958)
• Created by Dr. Higinbotham in 1958
• Output was on an oscilloscope
• Mostly unheard of until late 1970s and early 1980s
• Only played twice. Once on October 18, 1958 and again in 1959.
• Used as entertainment for visitors at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
SPACEWAR! (1961)
• Created by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen in 1961
• Played on a PDP-1 at MIT
• Had two players with a “star” in the middle of the screen to simulate gravity
• Had optional features that were controlled by switches
MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY (1972)
• Created by Ralph Baer in May 1972
• First commercial home video game console
• Powered by six C batteries (included) or A/C power supply (sold separately)
• Did not have sound
• Had screen overlays that were used to simulate color graphics and different games
ATARI’S PONG (1972)
• Created by Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn in August 1972
• Bushnell based it on the Odyssey’s tennis game.
• Atari was later sued by Magnavox and lost
• Pong was originally a training exercise
ZORK (1977)
• Created by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling in 1977
• Creators were members of MIT
• Based on the game “Colossal Cave Adventure” game
• Text based game that used prepositions and conjunctions
• Played on a PDP-10
ATARI 2600 (1977)
• Released in September 1977 by Atari
• Popularized the use of cartridges to play games not built into the unit
• Usually bundled with 2 joysticks, a pair of paddles, and a game
• Originally cost $199
SPACE INVADERS (1978)
• Atari purchased the license from Taito Corporation in Japan
• Created by Tomohiro Nishikado
• Produced in the US by Midway
• Had sound effects and continuous music
• The music was not interrupted by sound effects
• Space Invaders impressed Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo) and Hideo Kojima (Konami)
ACTIVISION (1979)
• First third-party developer company
• Company was created by Atari programmers
• Wanted to receive royalties and credit for games
• Had credits page in the instruction manual and encouraged players to send in high scores
ADVENTURE (1979)
• Created by Warren Robinett in 1979
• Released for the Atari 2600
• First video game Easter Egg
• Secret room that credited him as the game’s creator
• One of the first games to have a “continue game” feature.
• If the player was eaten by a dragon, hitting the game reset switch rezes the player and all dragons. The items remained in the same place.
Right:The Easter Egg in Adventure giving credit to Warren Robinett.
Left: A screen shot of the Green dragon, the player (red square) and the White Key.
LEADING UP TO THE CRASH
• Two Atari titles are frequently blamed for contributing to the video game crash
• E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Pac-Man
• The Pac-man game was a port of Namco’s Arcade game
• The hardware of the Atari 2600 could not match the hardware of the arcade game and the players and critics hated the Pac-man game.
NORTH AMERICAN VIDEO GAME CRASH OF 1983
• There were too many low quality, copycat games in the market.
• Stores did not have enough space.
• Stores tried to return unsold games and consoles
• The publishers could not refund the retailers
• Most companies abandoned the video game industry
• The companies that survived focused on other projects
• Unsold games were buried in a desert in New Mexico
NORTH AMERICAN VIDEO GAME CRASH OF 1983(CONTINUED)
• The hardware maufacturers lost exclusive control of their platform’s games.
• Several of the new companies rushed the join the market and did not have experience or talent to create good games.
• Ex: Chase the Chuck Wagon funded by Purina
NINTENDO (1985)
• Nintendo avoided the term “console” by calling its console the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Nintendo had to authorize third-party developers before they could produce a game on the NES.
• Hiroshi Yamauchi was the president of Nintendo at the time.
• The cartridges used in the NES were made by Nintendo instead of using outside suppliers.
• There were 18 launch titles for the NES.
• Super Mario Brothers, Clu Clu land, Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong Jr. Math, Tennis, Excitebike, and Ice Climbers
• Super Mario Brothers was so popular that it ended up being packaged with the NES and helped drive sales of the system
Below: the Nintendo Family Computer sold in Japan
Above: The Nintendo Entertainment System sold in the U.S.
SEGA MASTERS AND ATARI 5200 (1986)
• SEGA and Atari both tried to release new systems to compete with the NES but both failed to gain the popularity of the NES.
• The SEGA Master system was popular in Europe but not in the U.S.
• The Atari 5200 was the first backwards compatible machine but did not last long.
SEGA GENESIS (1989)
• Created in 1989 by Sega
• Was the first 16-bit console and had better graphics than the 8-bit NES.
• For the first time, the NES had a true competitor
Right: Sega Genesis Model 2
Left: Japanese Mega Drive
GAMEBOY (1989)
• Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989.
• Game Boy is successful because Nintendo packaged it with Tetris.
• Atari releases they Lynx (first handheld to feature a backlit color LCD screen) but it was not as popular as the Nintendo Game Boy
OTHER MOMENTS
• SEGA Game Gear (1990)
• SNES (1991)
• Neverwinter Nights (1991)- One of the first MMOs
• Wolfenstein 3D (1992) Id Software – popularizes FPS
• Sega CD add-on for Genesis (1992)- first CD-Rom console
• Panasonic 3DO (1993) – first self-contained CD-Rom console
• Atari Jaguar (1993) – final attempt for Atari- used CDs.
• Doom (1993) Id Software– overtakes Wolfenstein 3D as the most popular FPS
• Sony Playstation (1994) – 32 bit graphics – targets casual gamers
• SEGA Saturn (Japan 1994) – 32 bit graphics – targets hardcore gamers
• SEGA Channel (Japan 1994) – first video game download service- connects to Sega Genesis
• ESRB (1994) – created out of concern with violent and explicit content. ESRB bases ratings on content and interactive experience.
• Saturn and Playstation (America 1995) – Saturn releases first. Sony holds off to make more games and drops the console’s price. Sony took a loss on the console but made up in game sales.
• Virtual Boy (1995) – first 3D graphics – Nintendo
• Nintendo 64 (1996) – cartridges – twice the capabilities of CD-Rom but no loading time
GAMES AND SOCIETYIMPORTANT PEOPLE IN GAME HISTORY
SHIGERU MIYAMOTO
• Donkey Kong
• The Legend of Zelda
• Star Fox
• F-Zero
• Pikmin
• Super Mario Brothers
HIROSHI YAMAUCHI
• Took over Nintendo presidency (1947). He was 20 years old.
• Soon after taking over, the factory employees went on strike. He fired anyone that questioned his authority
• Was the only one deciding which games were to be released.
• Created 3 research and development groups to compete against each other.
• Died on September 19, 2013
HIDEO KOJIMA
• Metal Gear Series
• Zone of the Enders
• Worked on Solid Snake and Snake’s stage in Super Smash Bro. Brawl
GAMES AND SOCIETYIMPORTANT COMPANIES IN GAME HISTORY
NAMCO (1970)
• Founded on June 1, 1955
• Originally made children’s rides
• Name from “Nakamura Amusement machine Manufacturing Company
• Merged with Bandai in September 2005
• Notable Games: Pac-Man, Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Tekken, Dig Dug, Soulcalibur
ATARI INC (1972)
• Founded on June 27, 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney
• First design engineer was Al Alcorn
• Company was originally going to be called Syzygy
• Company closed and its assets split in 1984
• Notable Game: Pong
KONAMI (1973)
• Founded on March 21, 1969 by Kagemasa Kozuki
• Originally started as a jukebox rental/repair business
• Started making arcade games in 1973
• Started making PC games in 1982
• Notable Games: Bomberman, Yu-Gi-Oh, DDR, Frogger, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Silent Hill
NINTENDO (1974)
• Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi
• Started as a card company
• Started making video games in 1974 by distributing the Magnavox Odyssey in Japan
• Name roughly translates to “Leave luck to heaven” or “in heaven’s hands”
• Notable Games: Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Mario, Cruis’n, Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Kirby, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing
ACTIVISION (1979)
• Founded on October 1, 1979 by David Crane, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead
• Name was chosen so that it would appear before Atari in the phone book
• During the Video Game crash of 1983, Activision made games for PCs
• Notable Games: Pitfall!, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Spyro the Dragon, Destiny
CAPCOM (1984)
• Founded on June 11, 1983
• Originally made arcade machines
• Name came from “Capsule Computers” referring to arcade machines
• Notable Games: Mega Man, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Street Fighter
MIDWAY (1988)
• Originally made Arcade games and distributed arcade games
• Went bankrupt in 2009
• Assets sold to other companies
• Notable Games: Mortal Kombat, Cruis’n, NFL Blitz, NBA Jam, Ms. Pac-Man, Pac-Man
BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT (1991)
• Originally focused on creating game ports for other studios
• Started making own games in 1994 with “Warcraft: Orcs and Humans”
• Notable Games: Diablo, Warcraft, World of Warcraft
SONY (1993)
• Founded on May 7, 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita
• Focuses on Electronics, Games, Entertainment, and Financial Services.
• Started making Video Games in 1993 as Sony Computer Entertainment
• Name derived from Latin word “sonus” meaning sound and “sonny”
• Notable Games: God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Infamous, Knack, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Q*bert
MICROSOFT (2002)
• Founded on April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
• Originally made personal computers
• Microsoft Game Studios started in 2002
• Later renamed Microsoft Studios in 2011
• Notable Games: Halo, Forza, Fable, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Viva Pinata, Kinect
SQUARE ENIX (2003)
• Merger of Square (1986) and Enix (1975) in 2003
• Also owns Taito Corporation and Eidos Interactive
• Notable Games: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest
• Tomb Raider, Hitman, Deus Ex, and Thief developed by Eidos