Are you an unapologetic gamer? If you are, then you would surely be curious about the unique history of computer games. There are so many things you can learn from the history of computer games. First, learning its history would surely lead to a greater appreciation of computer games and its journey so far. So, let’s learn more by pinpointing some important moments that led to its development.
1952- History in the Making
In 1952, the creation of the first company game was complete. Surprisingly, its creation was as part of a dissertation by A.S Douglas who was writing his for his doctoral degree in Cambridge. However, little did he know that he was sowing the first seeds of virtual gaming.
1962-Creation of Spacewar
After the invention of computer monitors in 1960, communication with computers became much easier. This, of course, led to brilliant ideas and thoughts and soon enough, the gaming world was at the center of it. In 1962, the game “Spacewar” was created. The game depicts a face-off between two space ships who would try to outsmart and take down one another. While the creator of this game is still up for debate, it was clear that it was a massive success. This game would kick-start the gaming world create the drive needed in the creation of the world’s first controllers for the world’s first video game.
1967-Odyssey and more history on the computer games
This was the year that Ralph Baer thought about the great idea that perhaps, games could also be played on Televisions. He combines his idea with the help of a Television brand called Magnavox. This led to the creation of the very first game which was played on Television sets- the Odyssey. However, the drawback of the Odyssey was that it couldn’t save statistics from the game for future references.
1971-1975: A truly unique history of computer games
These were the years where more and more people started toying with the idea of creating more video games. A big fan of Spacewar, eventually, Bushnell would turn his love for pinball machines into a video game when he created “computer space” in 1971. It was a massive success selling over 3000 games that year. Bushnell followed this with the release of Atari. His hopes were set on making computer space a big television game.
In 1972, Bushnell hired Alcorn and tasked him with the idea of creating a paddleball computer game. This led to the creation of the game “pong” which really is an old version of the game “Ping-Pong”. By the year 1975, Pong has sold thousands of games. It turned out to be a massive success.
Conclusion
From then on, the rest is history and here we are now. The unique history of computer games are mind-blowing. We can only imagine what the future holds for gaming systems. It promises to be a lot of fun.
