History of Video Games: Chapter 1.1 Overview

A Brief History of Video Games

• The first video game, "Tennis for Two," was created in 1958 by William Higginbotham for the Brookhaven National Laboratory's annual visitor day.
• The game was displayed on an oscilloscope, and its sound effects were a result of the relays that made the game run.

Spacewar and Steve Russell

• Steve Russell created "Spacewar" in 1961 at MIT for the DEC PDP-1 computer.
• The game was hugely popular within MIT, but required expensive equipment to play.
• "Spacewar" was eventually shipped as a diagnostic program with PDP-1s.

Games for the Masses

• Ralph Baer conceived the idea of a game machine that could work on home TVs in 1966.
• Baer created a shooting game and an ice hockey game, which were sold to Magnavox in 1972.
• Nolan Bushnell, an engineering major at the University of Utah, tried to bring "Spacewar" to arcades as "Computer War."

Bringing Games to the Masses

• Atari was founded by Nolan Bushnell in 1972, and brought "Pong" to arcades.
• Atari was sued by Baer and Magnavox, and paid a one-time license fee of $700,000.

The Console Kings

• Atari released the VCS (2600) in 1977, which was not the first cartridge-based home system.
• The open architecture of the 2600 allowed for easy development, and it was the first to introduce licensing of a system.

The Video Game Crash of 1983

• The video game crash of 1983 was caused by a combination of factors, including a poor economy, a natural market cycle, the perception that video games were a fad, and a glut of poor 2600 games.
• The introduction of home computers also contributed to the crash.

Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto

• Shigeru Miyamoto released "Donkey Kong" in 1981, which was a huge success.
• Nintendo released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, which dominated the market in the late 1980s.
• The Nintendo DS is the latest console released by Nintendo.

Sega

• Sega was founded in 1952 in Japan to sell amusement games on US army bases.
• Sega released the popular Sega Genesis in 1990, and its final console was the Dreamcast in 1999.
• Sega is now dedicated to software development.

Sony's PlayStation

• Sony's PlayStation was created out of an aborted attempt to launch a CD-ROM based system with Nintendo.
• The PlayStation was released in 1994, and the PlayStation 2 (PS2) was released in 2000, maintaining backwards compatibility with the PS1.
• The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is the latest handheld console released by Sony.

Microsoft and the Xbox

• Microsoft released the Xbox in 2001, which was based on a PC-like architecture.
• The Xbox initially lost significant money on each console sold, but the successful games "Halo" and "Halo 2" helped to turn a profit.

Home Computers

• Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Mike Markkula in 1976.
• The Apple II was released in 1977 and revolutionized the home computer market.

Commodore

• Commodore released the Vic-20 in 1981, which was a low-cost and successful computer.
• The Commodore 64, released in 1982, became the best-selling computer in history.

IBM

• IBM introduced the IBM PC in 1981, which was moderately priced and gained a foothold in the business world.
• IBM's BIOS licensing model backfired, allowing cheap clones to enter the market.

The Designers

• Maxis and Will Wright created "SimCity" in 1989, which was a huge success.
• Sid Meier and MicroProse created "Civilization," which was a genre-defining game.
• Sierra and Ken and Roberta Williams created the "King's Quest" series, which was a huge success.
• Origin Systems and Richard Garriott created the "Ultima" series, which was also very popular.

The Phenomenons

• "Space Invaders" was introduced to the US in 1978 and was one of the first big Japanese successes.
• "Pac-Man" was released in 1981 and generated $100 million in sales during its lifetime.
• "Tetris" was created by Russian programmer Alexy Pajitnov in 1985 and became a pop culture sensation.

The Studios

• Activision was founded by former Atari programmers and was the first third-party developer.
• Electronic Arts was founded by Trip Hawkins in 1982 and revolutionized the business plan for game development.
• Interplay was formed in 1983 and was famous for their CRPGs, including "Wasteland," "Fallout," and "Baldur's Gate."
• LucasArts was formed in 1982 and was known for their strong history of adventure games and Star Wars universe games.

Genres

• Adventure: Sub-genres include text-based adventure and graphical adventure. Examples include "Zork" by Infocom and "King's Quest" by Sierra.
• Action: Typified by fast-paced combat and movement. Examples include "Spacewar," "Pong," and "Space Invaders."
• Action-Adventure: Adventure games with action elements. Examples include "The Legend of Zelda" and "Resident Evil 4."
• Platformer: Typified by a character running and jumping in a sidescrolling playing field. Examples include "Super Mario Bros." and "Pitfall!"
• Fighting: Players typically fight other players or the computer using swordplay or martial arts. Examples include "Double Dragon" and "Street Fighter."
• First-Person Shooter: Action game where player is "behind the eyes" of the game character in a first-person perspective. Examples include "Wolfenstein 3D" and "DOOM."
• Real-Time Strategy (RTS): Typically, a game in which the goal is to collect resources, build an army, and combat the other player or computer. Examples include "Dune 2" and "Warcraft."
• Role-Playing Game (RPG): The video game counterpart to pen and pencil games like Dungeons and Dragons. Examples include "Final Fantasy" and "Wasteland."
• Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game (MMORPG): An RPG set in a persistent virtual world populated by thousands of other players. Examples include "Ultima Online" and "World of Warcraft."
• Stealth: Characterized by a focus on subterfuge and planned-out, deliberate play. Examples include "Metal Gear" and "Splinter Cell."
• Survival Horror: An action-adventure or first-person shooter where survival elements and a fight against the undead are stressed. Examples include "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill."
• Simulation: Based on the simulation of a system. Examples include "SimCity" and "The Sims."
• Racing: Games that involve competing in a race in a vehicle. Examples include "Pole Position" and "Gran Turismo."
• Sports: Games that simulate the sporting experience. Examples include "John Madden Football" and "Tiger Woods' Golf."
• Rhythm: Games that gauge player's success based on the ability to trigger the controls in time to the beat of music. Examples include "Dance Dance Revolution" and "Guitar Hero."
• Puzzle: Games that combine pattern matching, logic, strategy, and luck with a timed element. Examples include "Tetris" and "Dr. Mario."
• Mini-Games: Short, simple games that exist within the context of a larger game. Examples include "Mario Party" and "Wario Ware."
• Traditional: Computerized versions of board, word, and card games. Examples include "Battle Chess" and "The Carmen Sandiego series."
• Educational: Games designed to teach grade-school concepts to children and young adults. Examples include "Oregon Trail" and "The Carmen Sandiego series."
• Serious: A game designed to teach real-world events or processes to adults. Examples include government-funded training simulations.

Note: These notes are a summary of the provided text and are not meant to be an exhaustive history of video games.