Computer games originated in the distant past; their history goes back more than 50 years. The first games appeared not as entertainment, but more for scientific purposes, because the first computers were huge, expensive, and mainly appeared in educational and scientific institutions. Computer games went to the masses with the advent of consoles and the first PCs, when they became more accessible to most people. Only after the popularization of computer games did they become commercial. And now companies make fortunes from developing games.
Let us trace the history of the development of computer games in more detail and note significant games that to some extent influenced the development of the gaming industry. The world first saw the first semblance of a computer game in 1942. This event happened thanks to two people, Thomas Goldsmith the Younger and Eastle Ray Menn, who created a rocket simulator. Since that time, the era of computers and video games began.
The main stage of development of the first computer games occurred in the 50s - 60s. last century. These games were not developed for entertainment, but as scientific research. The game OXO (analogous to Tic Tac Toe) was the honor of A. S. Douglas's doctoral dissertation. But despite this, games have become very popular among students and visitors to educational institutions. For example, such a game is Tennis for Two (analogous to Ping Pong for 2 players), created in 1958 by William Higinbotham. Games of those times were developed specifically for each computer and were little like modern ones, because text terminals and vector graphic displays were used as screens.
The next period is 1961 - 1970. notable for the fact that the SpaceWar game was created for PDP-1 computers and the first prototype of a computer mouse. It was created by Douglas Engelbart and called it this: a system for indicating X-Y positions on a monitor. This made a big step in the development of computers, and as a result, the evolution of computer games followed.
1971 – 1980 – in this decade, humanity has made a huge step in the development of computers and, on top of everything else, people have realized that game development is a huge source of income. At this time, personal computers and game consoles appeared, a prototype of a local network and the Internet appeared. Players can now play in groups by joining groups using the network. Main events:
- 1971 - the first commercial game Galaxy (modified by SpaceWar) appears, as well as Computer Space (another modification of SpaceWar) - the first computer game released to the general public in 1,500 arcade machines.
- 1972 - Atari is founded, releasing the world's first arcade game Pong, which enjoyed great success. In the same year, the world saw the first game console - Odyssey from Magnavox.
- 1973 - The world's first first-person shooter Mazewar appears, with the ability to play over the network.
- 1975 - The adventure genre is born thanks to the game Colossal Cave Adventure.
- 1976 - The game Death Race based on the film Death Race 2000 causes outrage among people due to its cruelty, so it is banned in many places.
- 1977 - With the advent of the Apple II, the first graphic games are released.
- 1979 - The first multiplayer game of the MUD (Multi User Dungeon) type is created, where players walked around, explored the world and communicated through the first analogues of chat. Such games are becoming very popular.
- 1980 - the game Pac-Man appears, which later entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular game in the world. The RPG genre Rogue is created, which gives birth to a new type of games: rogue-like games. Roguelikes (from Rogue) are text-based games where the world, character, artifacts, and enemies are represented by symbols.
- 1983 - the beginning of the era of 8-bit consoles. Some experts also consider this year to be the beginning of the modern era of electronic entertainment. Such famous consoles as Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, PC Engine, Atari 7800 appeared. A large number of two-dimensional games with a side view appeared. For the first time, the Final Fantasy game appeared, the sequel of which is still played today.
- 1984 - the first space simulator with trading elements appears - the game Elite. The game King's Quest is also being released - the world's first animated quest.
- 1985 - the famous game Tetris, created by Alexey Pajitnov, is released. Commodore creates the Amiga personal computer. This year the world meets the Mario brothers (Super Mario Bros).
- 1986 - The release of Dragon Quest gave birth to the JRPG genre. The company Ubisoft Entertainment (its original name was Ubi Soft) was founded.
- 1987 - the appearance of such cult arcade fighting games as Street Fighter and Double Dragon. The Amiga 500 personal computer appears. Graphics with 256 colors appear on the PC, thanks to the development of the VGA standard.
- 1988 - Game Developers Conference - the world's first conference for game developers, held in San Jose.
- 1989 - Intel 486 processors appeared, thanks to which personal computers transitioned to a graphical interface. Such well-known games are released as SimCity, Prince of Persia, Solitaire Solitaire, which began to be present in all versions of Windows, starting with the third. Nintendo's first handheld console with Game Boy cartridges appears.
- 1991 – famous games are released: Lemmings and Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue hedgehog later becomes the symbol of Sega.
- 1992 - the bloody fighter Mortal Kombat appears for the first time, which spawned a whole series of not only games, but films and cartoons. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is born, the world's first 3D first-person role-playing game. Alone in the Dark marked the beginning of the survival horror game genre. Dune II became the template for real-time strategy games.
- 1993 - Id Software releases the cult game Doom - the world's first 3D shooter. The concept of turn-based combat in the game X-COM: UFO Defense, which was released this year, is not outdated to this day. Atari Corp. Released the first 64-bit Jaguar console.
- 1995 – the release of the first parts of the famous games Need for Speed and Heroes of Might and Magic. BioWare founded. The first exhibition of the computer and video game industry - Ei Media and Business Summit - took place.
- 1996 - 3dfx Interactive releases the world's first graphics adapter (Voodoo I) with support for 3D acceleration, which revolutionized the gaming industry. In the same year, the Quake game was released with a completely three-dimensional world. The release of the first parts of the popular games Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Diablo. The world's first MMORPG appears - Meridian 59.
- 1998 - the release of the famous game Half-life, on the engine of which many more games were developed. The Unreal game marked the development of the popular Unreal Engine. The game StarCraft from Blizzard is released, championships for which are still held. Aliens Online was the origin of the MMOFPS genre. The cult game Vangers from the Russian company K-D LAB is released, attracting the attention of the West.
- 1999 - Intel releases the Pentium III processor with the ability to handle 3D graphics and streaming media. Unreal Tournament is coming out - a new hit in the gaming market and one of the first e-sports shooters.
- 2000 - elements of artificial intelligence appear in game engines.
- 2003 - the first World Cup in electronic sports took place with the participation of about 150 thousand players from all over the world.
In subsequent years until today, there has been a huge number of releases of computer and video games of various genres and for all platforms. The development of computer technology also does not stand still.
What trend in the development of games can be predicted for the future, knowing how things are with the gaming and computer industries? Reduction or complete disappearance of games on PC platforms due to piracy. More and more games are being released as video games, and in America, on June 17, 2010, a service such as OnLive was launched. With its advent, users will no longer need to have powerful personal computers at home. It is only necessary to have high-speed Internet, because... it will transmit processed graphics from a remote server to which the user will connect to play. What I also want to say is that developers and publishers have begun to forget and want to extract as much money from players’ wallets as possible by making paid additions to games. Price reductions for the provision of gaming services are not expected in the near future.
This is how computer and video games developed rapidly, and the trend of their evolution does not stop. Perhaps in the near future we will be able to completely immerse ourselves in a game world that will be more than realistic.
Good day to everyone and good mood to you, my dear friends. While I’m on vacation, I can’t really get into the mood for regular work. But I decided that I couldn’t leave you without an article and made a compromise with myself. If I am relaxing, then I would like you to relax too. Therefore, I have prepared an article for you to relax.
In the modern world, computer games have become an integral part in the lives of children and adolescents, and even adults. I myself used to often play with toys; at one time I even spent almost all my free time playing with them for about three years. Time constantly passes and games, of course, become more realistic, modern and are constantly being released. But it was not always so. Everything has its beginning.
And all this happened back in 1962, when two students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology first took a giant step in the computer industry. These students' names were Steve Russell and Martin Gretz. They called their first brainchild Spacewar and created it very quickly, literally in a couple of months.
At first they wrote a simple program, which they gradually developed and turned into a full-fledged toy about a battle between two space rockets. The two friends were passionate about science fiction, so they didn’t really stand on ceremony when choosing a theme for the game.
This game was played on the then modern PDP-1 computers, which had only 9 kilobytes of RAM. Can you imagine?
In general, the game was a black field on a computer screen, which symbolized space. In this outer space there was a certain number of white dots, which represented stars. Well, the main characters of this game were, as mentioned above, two spaceships (rockets). The goal of the game was to destroy the enemy missile.
Each ship could shoot at the enemy, but the supply of ammunition and fuel was limited. But there was a tricky move in the game: the player could make a hyperjump, thanks to which he would appear in a different place on the map. Thus, if you are lucky, you can take the enemy by surprise.
In 1971, the first space prototype of this game was released, which was called “Computer Space,” but this version did not bring success and was not in great demand. But a slot machine based on this game was installed at Stanford University. This move brought great success to the creator of this project, since the game on the machine was in great demand. The creator of this project, Bill Pitts, more than recouped his investment.
But despite the popularity of this game, it did not bring popularity and wealth to its creators, Steve Russell and Martin Graetz. But they did not leave their business and continued their development in the IT industry.
Here's a little story. Now you know how the first game appeared. I really hope you liked the article. If this is the case, then be sure to subscribe to my blog updates, then you will always be aware of everything interesting. By the way, how do you feel about computer games? Please write in the comments. Well, I say goodbye to you for today. Good luck to you. Bye bye!
Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.
The very first computer game - a dramatic duel between two spaceships - was called Spacewar. In a couple of months, in their free time, several programmers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created it. The group was led by Steve Russel and Martin Graetz, who met at a university travel club and bonded over their passion for science fiction. In January 1962 they wrote a simple program, and a month later it was a simple game with two missiles shooting at each other. Spacewar ran on the PDP-1 computer, which was new at the time. Its processor performed 100 thousand operations per second (modern ones, remember, accelerate to 2 billion), and the PDP-1 had 9 kilobytes of RAM.
The round cathode display displayed a map of the fighting - a fragment of the night sky copying the location of the stars over Cambridge. Two opponents using a keyboard or joystick could move their shuttles and shoot. Ammunition and fuel quantity were limited. To dodge the shot, you could spin around the star in the center of the map, using its gravity, or make a “hyper jump” - the ship would disappear and appear in a random place on the map.
Spacewar was also the first commercial game. In 1971, its arcade version Computer Space appeared, which, however, was not successful. In addition, a few months earlier, a slot machine with another modification of Spacewar - the Galaxy Game - was installed in the Stanford student union. Galaxy Game was a huge success within six years, which allowed the creator of the slot, Bill Pitts, to return the $60 thousand invested in the project. Today his version of Spacewar is in the collection of the Computer Museum History Center in Mountain View, California.
Spacewar did not bring any income to its creators, except for fame in narrow programming circles. “The only money I made from Spacewar was from consulting fees in 1970s gaming industry litigation,” says co-creator Alan Kotok. Everyone who was involved in the creation of Spacewar still works with computers. These are several hardware developers, several programmers, one professor and even one employee of the American National Security Agency (NSA). They say that it was the desire to play Spacewar on the PDP-7 that subsequently prompted Ken Thomson to create a prototype of the UNIX operating system, but it is possible that all these are empty tales.
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Agree, computer technology is rapidly moving into the future, and it is safe to say that in a few years we will be able to fully immerse ourselves in virtual reality and begin to wonder whether the world around us really exists or is it just a mind game. Remember the movie "The Matrix". Maybe its creators were close to the truth?
Nowadays, most people prefer only 3D games with decent graphics, and few remember that the first video games looked simple and more like primitive computing machines. Let's remember 15 old breakthroughs in the gaming industry that were the main impetus for creating games as they are now, because it was the past that created the game, gave it shape and sent it into the future.
15. Interactive game. 1947
When people talk about the humble beginnings of video games, the word "Pong" is usually mentioned. Pong is one of the early games and was released in 1972. The game quickly gained popularity, and already in 1975 its home version appeared. Of course, there were other video games before Pong.
In fact, the first interactive electronic game was created 25 years before Ponga, in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. Rocket displays during the war inspired Thomas T. Goldsmith and Astle Ray Mann to create a cathode ray tube rocket simulation game. The game used analog circuits designed to control the light beams of the tube and to control the position of target dots on the screen.
14. A game that influenced the entire gaming world. 1961
In 1960 the company Digital Equipment Corporation released its first minicomputer PDP-1 (Programmable Data Processor-1). A year later, a group of MIT students developed a game for the PDP-1 called Spacewar!
There were two players: each of them controlled their own spaceship and, maneuvering between the stars, tried to knock out the enemy. The game spread through the Internet (obviously, it was primitive then), and also served as the basis for many other video games.
13. Public game. 1971
For many years, you could only try your hand at a video game in the places where it was installed (usually universities), and it was only in the 50s and 60s of the last century that home versions of slot machines appeared. They usually had an electronic tic-tac-toe game installed.
Two arcade versions were released in 1971 Spacewar!. In September of that year, the world's first arcade game, the Galaxy Game, a coin-operated video game, was installed at Stanford University in California.
Two months later, in November, 1,500 Computer Space arcade machines, the first brainchild of Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, the future founders of the Atary computer game production and publishing company, were available for commercial sale. Their second and more successful attempt to enter the international video game market was Pong. Nolan even earned the nickname "King of Pong" as the acknowledged founder of the American video game industry.
12. The first home gaming console. 1972
As the very first interactive electronic game, the home version of Ponga (most often called Home Pong) was to enjoy a long reign of fame. But this did not happen. Three years before the appearance of Homemade Ponga, the world's first video game console was released - the Magnavox Odyssey - developed by engineer Ralph Baer. Unfortunately, the new product did not live up to expectations: sales of the console suffered greatly due to ill-conceived marketing policies, and many believed that the game console only worked when connected to Magnavox TVs.
The Atary company (then still called “Nolan Bushnell”), having quickly found its bearings, benefited from the mistakes of its competitor: the inscription on the Ponga boxes was painted: “Suitable for any TV, both black and white and color.” It is clear that the success of Ponga did not please the developers of the Magnavox Odyssey console, which may have served as the impetus for filing a lawsuit against Nolan Bushnell due to the close similarity of Ponga and playing tennis on the Magnavox Odyssey. Later, lawsuits were filed against other companies: Coleco, Mattel, Seeburg, Activision, with unsuccessful results for those.
The game console from Magnavox, in addition to all the standard manipulators, demonstrated to customers the world's first light gun, which, to the chagrin of the players, did not always work.
11. Arcade game on a microprocessor. 1975
In 1975 the company Midway Games released the Gun Fight arcade machine, the first video game to be powered by a microprocessor rather than traditional TTL electronics. The slot machines were built with 8-bit Intel 8080 CPU chips, which many believe are the first truly working microprocessors. The success of microprocessor-based machines was guaranteed. New technologies were designed to significantly improve video games: the graphics improved by an order of magnitude and became more detailed.
10. The first portable pocket video game. 1979
The first portable game console was Microvision, released in 1979 by the company Milton Bradley. The console had a liquid crystal screen and several replaceable cartridges. One of them (Space Hunter - 1981) demonstrated the ability to move in all directions using only 4 closely spaced buttons. This control button arrangement can be considered an early version of the D-Pad (cross-shaped arrow button). The D-Pad was (and is still used to this day) in many subsequent types of game consoles, for example the GameBoy.
9. 3D games for home use
3D Monster Maze (3D monster maze) is the first 3D computer game created by Malcolm Evans in 1981 for machines on the Sinclair ZX81 platform. The player must overcome a randomly generated labyrinth measuring 16x16 cells and not fall into the clutches of a hostile monster - Tyrannosaurus Rex.
8. Online game. 1983
The ancestor of online games was the small company SuperSet software, founded in Utah in 1981. Two years later, the first ever online game between several people took place, it was called Snipes and was based on text symbols, which, of course, cannot be compared with the bright graphics of modern video games. The game was originally created for a demonstrative purpose: to show society the fantastic capabilities of IBM personal computers for that time, but more importantly, it marked the beginning of the so-called era of online games.
7. 8-bit game consoles, a new generation of gaming systems. 1985
For computers and other equipment, a “bit” is a unit of measurement for processor power. That is, an 8-bit processor can operate only 8 bits of information at one time, while a 16-bit processor accesses 16 bits of data, and so on. In each subsequent generation of n-bit game consoles, the quality of graphics and sounds has been improved, and therefore in the modern world, games on an 8-bit console look very outdated and primitive.
The first popular 8-bit system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (1985), with sales exceeding 62 million units. Nevertheless, the popularity of the NES on the world market did not prevent other companies producing and selling game consoles, Atari ST and Commodore Amiga, from achieving success. Also in 1985, these companies ushered in the era of 16-bit video games.
6. The first bloody game. 1986
People like violent games, don't they? Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid; All these games are incredibly popular, because cruelty and the desire to break the ban flourish in them. Сhiller– the first video game “splattered with blood.”
Released in 1986, it invited the player, armed with a light gun, to shoot everyone who appeared on the screen (including a person, a zombie, a ghost). All that was required was to be creative in dismembering the victims. The picture looked so unacceptable to a respectable citizen that the game became permanently banned in the UK. Although, if you think about it, Chiller looks inappropriately funny compared to modern GTA or Manhunt.
5. The first 16-bit gaming system. 1987
The TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem video game console, also known as the "impressive" PC Engine, was released in Japan in 1978 by NEC. The console had an additional CD module or, more simply put, CDs.
Thanks to the new acquisition, the TurboGrafx-16 featured more memory, improved sound reproduction and a lower price. Among other things, according to the Guinness Book of Records, PC Engine received the title of the smallest game console, its dimensions are only 14 cm x 14 cm x 3.8 cm. 10 million copies sold.
4. The first 32-bit gaming system. 1993
The first 32-bit video game console was actually the Amiga CD32, released in September 1993, but its sales did not exceed 100,000 units. Sales of the Atari Jaguar (released in November 1993) failed in the same way - only 500,000 copies were sold. Squeezed between them was Panasonic's first console, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, which enjoyed slightly greater success among buyers. But it’s difficult to call it the first 32-bit console: production was limited until 1994, and the cost of $700 left a negative imprint on console purchases.
At the end of 1994, development in Japan ended on the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation, game consoles that surpassed their predecessors. PlayStation became the first console in history to sell over 100 million copies.
3. A game console that displays “real” three-dimensional graphics. 1995
In 1995, Nintendo released a home video game console, promising to bring “virtual reality to the virtual world.” Virtual Boy is a console on a thin stand with an eyepiece resembling red and blue glasses. This “projector” transmitted a three-dimensional image to each eye, and can be called a simplified or unfinished version of a modern 3D film.
True, the console was inconvenient to use and posed a considerable danger to vision, not to mention the fact that all games were displayed in red. As a result, sales of the Virtual Boy ceased the following year. However, the first experience of 3D reality was quite successful, what do you think?
2. 64-bit and 128-bit gaming systems. 1996 – 2002
The Nintendo 64 gaming system, although developed during the era of 32-bit consoles, is actually a 64-bit system (hence the 64 in the name), it was just a little ahead of its time. The era of 128-bit systems began in 1998 with the introduction of the GameCube, PlayStation 2, as well as the Xbox and Sega Dreamcast consoles, released two years before the development of the PlayStation 2, which holds the title of “the best-selling video game console of all time.”
1. Control without a controller. 2004–present
EyeToy was the first video camera to use pattern and color recognition technology, allowing players to communicate commands using their own movements. The camera was intended for use with the PlayStation 2. The technology is certainly good, but the games with which EyeToy was used were not very diverse, and the camera did not always respond to the player’s movements.
But still, EyeToy made a real revolution in the world of interactive entertainment. Another innovation: Project Natal. Microsoft employees have announced an accessory for the Xbox 360 that allows you to play without a controller, control the game using gestures, various objects, even your voice and facial expressions. You can decide that these are all empty words and lies (what company doesn’t want to attract customers), but the video provided above will confirm all our words.
Read the second part of the top.
Review of the "Nes30 Pro" controller
Review of the best NES style game controller from the creator of the site
Since the times of ancient Rome, people have demanded “bread and circuses.” Entertainment and relaxation have always been one of the main components of any civilization. The very first game in the world, created for fans of virtual space, marked the beginning of a new era in the entertainment industry.
Today there are a great variety of computer games. New games come out almost every day. People who are fond of virtual games today do not experience the slightest difficulty in choosing a suitable toy that can brighten up their leisure time. Computer games today will satisfy even the most demanding connoisseur. But the market for such entertainment has not always been so abundant. After all, earlier computers did not have much power; there were no games for them at all.
The beginning of the era of virtual entertainment
This happened in the immemorial year of 1962. The game was called Spacewar. She could work on a computer with 9 kilobytes of RAM. Today's gamers will only smile when they see such funny numbers. By the way, modern computers can accelerate to 2 billion. And gadgets on the Android platform can handle the newest toys without any problems; there are even games with augmented reality.
The very first game in the world left an indelible and vivid imprint on the entire history of computer games. By the way, similar games have been created before; the creators of Spacewar were not pioneers in that sense. Back in 1952, A. Douglas came up with a game that was essentially an analogy of ordinary tic-tac-toe. In 1958, U. Hijinbasam created a game under the romantic name “Tennis for Two.” It was all just ping pong. But Spacewar had a slightly different purpose, because it had to be played on a computer, which fundamentally distinguished it from its predecessors.
Creating a cosmic masterpiece
The first computer game was a battle between two ships in space. She is the embodiment of the vastness of the universe, cold, merciless and bottomless, like an abyss. The game was created by a group of programmers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It took them two months to work on the game. The leaders of the group were S. Russell and M. Gretz.
Fate brought them together in a tourist club at the university. Both were attracted to science fiction, and on this basis they became serious friends. At first they made a simple program, which after a month turned into a game with two missiles shooting at each other. The goal of the game was simple - you had to throw your opponent off balance before he beats you.
Players have equal chances of winning. Each of them has a supply of energy, embodied in two types: passive and active. Passive energy is needed to support the force field protection function. Without active energy, it will not be possible to perform such necessary active actions as jumping, traveling through space, fighting and camouflage.
Each player himself determines the style and rhythm of the game. He can only rely on himself, he is responsible for his actions and mistakes. Victory will be achieved by the one who shows great prudence and composure. Moments of calm are sweet for the player, because in such rare moments active energy is revived. But at the same time they are dangerous for him.
A fragment of the starry sky was displayed on the display; two players, using the keyboard, had to shoot at the enemy and maneuver in zero gravity. Fuel supplies and combat equipment were limited. In order to avoid being shot, you had to turn around a star located in the center of the map or decide to make a super jump. The last method to bypass enemy missiles was the hyperspace function, but this method was very dangerous and unpredictable, as the ship could explode when used.
The peculiarity of the game was that the first version of the starry sky background was imperfect. Samson did not like this at all, and he decided to write a program based on real diagrams of stellar space. After the successful implementation of this innovation, at least 50 percent of the stars became visible. The game has become a real inspiration for many game creators. Some are simply copies of the game, while others differ from it in such characteristics as the intensity of acceleration, different levels of gravity, and the presence of shields.
Followers of the first developers
In 1971, a similar game was created called Computer Space, but it did not gain much popularity. Spacewar, after ten years, has earned the title of the first commercial game. All in the same 1971, a machine with a different version of Spacewar - Galaxy Game - was installed in the building of the Stanford Student Union. This game enjoyed undoubted success for six years. The creator of the machine, B. Pitts, managed to quickly return the 60 thousand dollars he invested in the project.
The creators of Spacewar did not receive much financial benefit from their brainchild. They achieved only small fees by advising the courts in the 1970s in cases involving the gaming industry. And, of course, they improved their skills as programmers. Everyone who in one way or another took part in the creation of Spacewar is still associated with computers, and their name will remain for centuries. The very first game in the world opened the way for many talented programmers and developers who continue the work begun by the Americans and delight modern gamers with new products and surprises from the computer gaming industry.
