Video games have been here for a long time

Human cannot work all day like robots, we need to rest and have fun to refresh our memory. One way is to play games. Games have existed way before in 3000BC when the Egyptians were building pyramids. Some people might have heard of the game “PONG” but no, it is not the first video game!

Here are the timeline of video games and how it came all the way to the games today:

Timeline: 1940 – 2015

1940:

The first system that we can call it a “video game” appeared at the Westinghouse display during the world’s fair. Created by Edward U. Condon, a very simple but yet traditional game of “Nim” was played. Not person vs person, but person vs computers! It was a great success with thousands of people playing and 90% of the time the computer won.

1950:

A guide to create a programmed computer chess player was published on a newspaper article called “Programming a Computer for Playing Chess” by Claude Shannon. During that same year he and his friend created the very first chess programmed computer.

1962:

A computer based game called the “Space War!” was created by Steve Russell. A simple game of two space ships orbiting around a star in the center and using the gravitational pull from the star, players are to try to shoot down one another. This made the base of computer games.

1972:

Many of us think “PONG” was the oldest video game invented because of its huge legend it created through the world. A simple game that had two poles at both ends and the aim of the game was to keep the ball in the screen as long as possible. This tennis based game was created by Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn. When they first tested it out in Capps Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, it had broken down. Why? It was too popular!

1977:

The first ever home video game was introduced in 1977.  The “Atari 2600” was a home video game consisting of a joystick, interchangeable cartridges and color screen. It also made it possible for players to choose difficulty levels, which attracted players from young children to teenagers.

1980:

Mario was created by Nintendo. What was the game called? “Super Mario Brothers”?  Nope. It was the “Donkey Kong”! Mario was actually called the “Jumpman” who was a carpenter trying to save a princess from a crazy ape. “Donkey Kong” became a wide hit all over the world.

1984:

Russian mathematician Alexey Pajitnov created “Tetris”, but many of us know “Tetris” from Nintendo. Why? It got leaked through the iron curtains during the cold war and Nintendo used the idea to create another hit of puzzle games.

1989:

Gameboy was introduced with interchangeable cartridges. This was not the first portable video game; “Microvision” was actually introduced 10 years before, but did not make it to popularity due to the low battery storage.

2001 – 2006:

Video game consoles such as Xbox, Nintendo DS and Wii were introduced between 2001 – 2006. Companies made billions of dollars just by selling the products!

2009:

Minecraft was released making it one of the most popular games to be known today!

2012:

“Free-to-Play” became the major game played today like “CrossFire”, “League of Legends” and “World of Tanks”. Many game companies made money through payments for in-game items and premium accounts.

Sources:

https://deserthat.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/earlyer-computer-games-babbage-and-nimatron/

http://www.gamerevolution.com/features/the-10-most-influential-retro-games-spacewar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong#/media/File:Pong.png

Nintendo Entertainment System.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong#/media/File:Donkey_Kong_NES_Screenshot.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Legends#/media/File:League_of_Legends_Screenshot.png