Are You a Video Game History Expert?

History of Video Games:

• Computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Spacewar! was developed by MIT student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first video games on a video display.
• The first consumer video game hardware was released in the early 1970s, including the Magnavox Odyssey and the first arcade video games, Computer Space and Pong.
• By the mid-1970s, low-cost programmable microprocessors replaced the early hardware, and the first ROM cartridge-based home consoles arrived, including the Atari VCS.
• The 1983 video game crash in the US was characterized by oversaturation and lack of innovation, prompting Japan's video game industry to take leadership of the market.
• Nintendo released its Nintendo Entertainment System in the US in 1985, helping to rebound the failing video games sector.
• The 1990s saw advancements in microprocessor technology, the introduction of optical media via CD-ROMs, and real-time 3D polygonal graphic rendering.
• The late 1990s saw the incorporation of online elements in video games.
• Microsoft entered the console hardware market in the early 2000s with its Xbox line.
• The industry has seen a shift of demographics as mobile gaming on smartphones and tablets displaced handheld consoles, and casual gaming became an increasing larger sector of the market.
• Traditional revenue models were supplanted with ongoing revenue stream models such as free-to-play, freemium, and subscription-based games.
• Opportunities for more experimental and innovative independent game development grew over the 2000s and 2010s, aided by the popularity of mobile and casual gaming and the ease of digital distribution.