Day 3 A Brief History of Early Video Gaming

Tennis For Two

In order to appreciate video games I thought it would be fun to write a brief history on classic early video games and video games that changed the world of graphics and animation. What I didn’t know that I found quite interesting was that the history of video games goes as far back as the 1940s. In 1947, Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Mann filed a United States patent request for an entertainment invention they described as a "cathode ray tube amusement device" which I found comical. In 1958 a man named William Higinbotham created a game using an oscilloscope and analog computer, the game was called Tennis  For Two.   “Two people played the electronic tennis game with separate controllers that connected to an analog computer and used an oscilloscope for a screen” was how you played the game according to www.bnl.gov.  During the 1970s, early arcade video games began to appear. In September 1971, the Galaxy Game was installed at a student union at University. This game was the first coin-operated video game. 

Atari 2600

In 1977, the Atari 2600 was released as a second generation home console. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, contrary to having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in. The console had classic games such as Space Invaders, Mario Brothers, Asteroids and Atari Video Cubes. Activision was created in 1979 by former Atari developers. By 1982, approximately 8 million American homes owned a video game console, and the home video game industry was generating an annual revenue of $3.8 billion.

Galaga 

 In the late 1970s throughout the 1980s this was considered the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games. This is when we began to see games like Pac-Man and Galaga in arcades. The arcade video game industry would continue to make an annual revenue of $5 billion in quarters throughout to 1985. Then came the 1990s and we see 3rd generation consoles like The Nintendo Entertainment System or NES and games like Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong Classics and Adventure Island. This was only a brief history of video games but I hope it was informative and interesting. I also hoped it showed why we should appreciate video games, and admire them for the way they evolved and always keep the classics in mind. So next time you are getting angry over a glitch on Modern Warfare 3 or Skyrim, remember the evolution and how far we have achieved in the entertainment industry.