History of Video Games

When we think of video games we often think of the newest sweetest system out there: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. What we fail to remember is the roots of these amazing electronic machines that have the power to entertain us for hours on end. As with most things, video games have very deep roots that go much further back than anyone would think.

Video games go all the way back to the 1930s when pinball became a new wave of entertainment. Pinball really got going after the Second World War when there was a large economic boost. Very soon after pinball gaming computers were on the ground they started creating a rough version of arcades.

Although there were many early ideas of video games and what they could be played on such as the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device, most of these games were simply mirrors of early board games.

In 1961 a game titled SpaceWar! was created at MIT by a group of friends. This game was then modified many times and finally shipped out coupled with a computer. It was exposed to many students who owned computers but it was hard to mass produce since all computer systems were very different.

After a failure in trying to mimic SpaceWar!, two men, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created the infamous Atari Incorporated in 1972. Atari is responsible for one of the most famous video games ever created; Pong. Pong is the game that began the climb for all future video games.

Throughout the 70s there were many advancements in video games. Also, as soon as one company came out with a big hit it was almost instantly mirrored by another company creating a very similar game.

In 1978 Space Invaders was released in Japan . This game was such a big hit that the Japanese government had to raise the production of coins so that the game could played in arcades more often. This game was later released in America and became the first Shoot-em up game.

1980 was another step in the ladder of video games when Pacman was created by Toru Iwanati. This game was originally supposed to be titled Puck-man but was changed when the company became afraid of what vandals and rebelling youths might do with the name. Pacman was created to be a nonviolent answer to the shoot-em up games.

The next major game to hit the market was Donkey Kong. This was a platform-style game that was released in 1981. Although other platform games had been created before this, Donkey Kong was the game that made platform games huge.

Video games did have their rough spots and went on declines in 1977 and 1983 but it was the third generation of video games that built a firm foundation of gaming in the American culture. In 1985 video games came back to life when Nintendo released its 8-bit console the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

The NES came with Super Mario Bros. which was an instant classic. Other huge games came out for the NES, like Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda. Many of gamers favorite video games were spawned during the early stages of home entertainment consoles.

In 1992 Dune II was created and the set the archetype for real-time strategy games. This is the root for some of the more popular games played today like Warcraft, Command and Conquer, and Starcraft.

The Sega Genesis and Super NES were created in the late 80s and early 90s respectively. These consoles ushered in the fourth generation of video games. On these systems the graphics improved and the game play became more complex. Also, 3-D graphics were introduced during this time.

The fifth generation of video games led to very intense competitions between companies. Three main consoles were created during this time: Playstation, Nintendo 64, and Sega Saturn. These systems have laid down the basis for most video games in the present world with huge hits like The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy VII, and Goldeneye 007.

The sixth generation introduced the Playstation 2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. Many new games were created during this period but after a while no new games were purchased due to lack of interest in the ability to replay many of the games that were released early.

The seventh generation of video games is the generation that is now current. It has produced the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. These systems are all unique in their own way, ranging from incredibe graphics to unbelievable interactive game play.

Who knows what the eighth generation of video games will hold? One can only imagine that with technology advancing at astonishing rates the next video game system may be one that seems unbelievably real.