Sunday, July 23, 2006
Video Game Evolution
Very few of the "gamers" remember "back in the day", around Christmas of 1975 Atari was the first to mass produce and distribute a game, where the game console had 2 knobs that turned left and right moving a little rectangle block up an down the screen, one on the left side and the other on the right. Moving this rectangle allowed the "player" to hit a small ball back and forth between the two players, trying to "play the angle" by hitting it on the edge of your paddle to "give it English" or a sharp angle to score the point. The first "Video Tennis or Ping Pong" game I guess would be a proper reference, in fact it was call "PONG".
Two year later, the development of a cartridge-based console called the Video Computer System (VCS), later called Atari 2600 and the next generation of creators brought us game such as galaxian, space Invaders, Asteroids, Moon Patrol, Frogger, Donkey Kong (who was that little man jumping over those barrels? Hmmm). The first football game from the Atari 2600 allowed you to control one player on offense and your opponent controlled either the 3 man D-Line or a single player. Gee the good ol' days....
1980 ushered in the "Golden Era" of video games such as Defender, Battle Zone, Zork and some game called, let me see, what was it? Oh yea, Pacman....... Anyone remember that one? (just kidding)
Around 1985 the "console game" market hit a low point as desktop computers along with hand held units took over the popular market. Then came the invention of the 8-bit machines and a company called Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) burst on the seen with some Italian guys called Mario and Lugi Mario. Mario first appeared in the 1982 arcade hit Donkey Kong, and became an instant hit. He appeared again 2 years later in Mario Bros., his first title role. This game also introduced Lugi to the public. Mario first came home on the Nintendo Entertainment System in Super Mario Bros., one of the best selling games ever. This game brought Mario into millions of homes around the world and made him a cultural icon equal to Harrison Ford, Arnold Swartzneger, or Tom Cruise. Besides all the games, he has starred in 3 cartoon series, one major motion picture (although they did use live actors instead of the character). In a 1991 poll, it was found more kids could identify a picture of Mario than Mickey Mouse.
The 1990's brought us into the "shooters" era with games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Following Doom, the retail publishers and developers began to earnestly mimic the practice of offering demos, which had the effect of reducing shareware's appeal for the rest of the decade. During this time, the increasing computing power of personal computers began to allow rudimentary 3D graphics. 1993's Doom in particular was largely responsible for defining the genre and setting it apart from other first-person perspective games. The mid 90's brought us genra games such as the "Sim" games, beginning with SimCity, and continuing with a variety of titles, such as SimEarth, SimCity 2000, SimAnt, SimTower, and the wildly popular day to day life simulator, The Sims in 2000. The 90s also saw the beginnings of Internet gaming, with MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) in the early years. Id Software's 1996 game Quake pioneered play over the Internet in first-person shooters. Internet multiplayer capability became a defacto requirement in almost all of the games we see now.
With all of these developments, but online and console games, the "arcade" as we knew it, has pretty much became a thing of the past limited now to expensive game control systems not available to home users. These are usually based on sports like skiing or cycling, as well as rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, which have carved out a large slice of the market.
Current times have us now playing PS2, PSP, Xbox, all of which have become Multi-tasking devises similar to computers in that they can play not only games created and designed for them, but also CD's, MP3's, Videos. What is next? PS3, Xbox 360 are both due out this fall/early winter just in time for Christmas. Both with disk space rivaling that of a desktop computer.
Can we actually wait that long?......
Two year later, the development of a cartridge-based console called the Video Computer System (VCS), later called Atari 2600 and the next generation of creators brought us game such as galaxian, space Invaders, Asteroids, Moon Patrol, Frogger, Donkey Kong (who was that little man jumping over those barrels? Hmmm). The first football game from the Atari 2600 allowed you to control one player on offense and your opponent controlled either the 3 man D-Line or a single player. Gee the good ol' days....
1980 ushered in the "Golden Era" of video games such as Defender, Battle Zone, Zork and some game called, let me see, what was it? Oh yea, Pacman....... Anyone remember that one? (just kidding)
Around 1985 the "console game" market hit a low point as desktop computers along with hand held units took over the popular market. Then came the invention of the 8-bit machines and a company called Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) burst on the seen with some Italian guys called Mario and Lugi Mario. Mario first appeared in the 1982 arcade hit Donkey Kong, and became an instant hit. He appeared again 2 years later in Mario Bros., his first title role. This game also introduced Lugi to the public. Mario first came home on the Nintendo Entertainment System in Super Mario Bros., one of the best selling games ever. This game brought Mario into millions of homes around the world and made him a cultural icon equal to Harrison Ford, Arnold Swartzneger, or Tom Cruise. Besides all the games, he has starred in 3 cartoon series, one major motion picture (although they did use live actors instead of the character). In a 1991 poll, it was found more kids could identify a picture of Mario than Mickey Mouse.
The 1990's brought us into the "shooters" era with games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Following Doom, the retail publishers and developers began to earnestly mimic the practice of offering demos, which had the effect of reducing shareware's appeal for the rest of the decade. During this time, the increasing computing power of personal computers began to allow rudimentary 3D graphics. 1993's Doom in particular was largely responsible for defining the genre and setting it apart from other first-person perspective games. The mid 90's brought us genra games such as the "Sim" games, beginning with SimCity, and continuing with a variety of titles, such as SimEarth, SimCity 2000, SimAnt, SimTower, and the wildly popular day to day life simulator, The Sims in 2000. The 90s also saw the beginnings of Internet gaming, with MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) in the early years. Id Software's 1996 game Quake pioneered play over the Internet in first-person shooters. Internet multiplayer capability became a defacto requirement in almost all of the games we see now.
With all of these developments, but online and console games, the "arcade" as we knew it, has pretty much became a thing of the past limited now to expensive game control systems not available to home users. These are usually based on sports like skiing or cycling, as well as rhythm games like Dance Dance Revolution, which have carved out a large slice of the market.
Current times have us now playing PS2, PSP, Xbox, all of which have become Multi-tasking devises similar to computers in that they can play not only games created and designed for them, but also CD's, MP3's, Videos. What is next? PS3, Xbox 360 are both due out this fall/early winter just in time for Christmas. Both with disk space rivaling that of a desktop computer.
Can we actually wait that long?......
// posted by Bugeatersteve @ 3:36 PM 
