The Speedy History Of Video Games: Part 4

Well, so far it seems the video game controversy is starting to boil over the pot. What will happen next?

1994- Because of the previous year's court battle, the ESRB was started to inform parents of the violent nature of some games. That system is still used today.

1995- Sega's Saturn console was too expensive and did not sell well, and that really helped the rise of Sony's Playstation (and ego). The Playstation sold 2 million machines this year.

1996- Considered one of the first 64 bit consoles, the Nintendo 64 had many exciting games on it's launch.

1999- Sega's last stand, the Dreamcast was released. It was groundbreaking with it's online capabilities and such, but did not do all that well.

2000- The Playstation 2 (wow, look at the egos!) is released. It is a 128-bit system, that has better graphics capabilities than a computer and is the first console to use DVD technology.

2001- Grand Theft Auto 3 is released and is just as controversial as it was popular.

2002- The U.S. army produces a online action game used to recruit people to the army. The game cost 6 million to make, and is available for free.

We will stop there, as I hope you will remember the next 8 or 9 years. For the grand finale, I will show you a youtube video a fellow blogger made that will wrap it all up in a nice little bow.

Blog Link: http://thedeftgamer.blogspot.com/

Part 1: http://gamedesignersunite.blogspot.com/2011/04/speedy-history-of-video-games-part-1.html

Get the Darn Lamp!

Have you guys ever heard of text adventures? (Sometimes they are refered to the formal name, Interactive Fiction.) Somehow, these very old computer games still capture you and pull you in like Pong never could. If you have not, read this wikipedia article or play a few. Hint: If you look closely in Call Of Duty: Black Ops, you might find a text adventure to play...

To Play Them: http://www.xs4all.nl/~pot/infocom/

Wikipedia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction

Below is a trailer for a very recent documentary on Interactive Fiction, called "Get Lamp". The full movie is available for purchase.

Next week I will help you make them.

The Speedy History Of Video Games: Part 3

Last time in part 2, we witnessed the rise of Nintendo, the start of Activision and the uprise of Pac-Man. What will happen next? Keep reading to find out...

1985- Russian programmer Alexey Prajitnov writes the famous game Tetris, which is based on another Russian puzzle game, Pentominos.

1986- The NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) is released in the U.S. The 8 bit graphics and great sound make the NES a critical hit for Nintendo.

1989- One of the first of a line of many sim games is released by Will Wright. That game is Sim City, a game where you create and run a city.

1990- After seeing the success of the Sega Genesis's 16 bit graphics, Nintendo striked back with the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertaiment System). It does well, but the Genesis's CPU is faster.

1991- The first game in the strategy series Civilization is released and designed by Canadian designer Sid Meier.

1991- The second Street Fighter is released to critical acclaim for it's smooth animations and quick, complicated controls and helps to further popularize the fighting game genre.

1992- An extremely controversial fighting game, Mortal Combat is released. While very popular, it was controversial for it's use of digitalized actors and gory fighting moves.

1993- The release of Mortal Combat and games of that nature such as Doom resulted in a senate investigation, with the help of senators Joe Lieberman and Herb Kohl.

Well, that was an interesting few years. What happens next? Come back next time to find out.

Senator Joe Lieberman

Part 4: http://gamedesignersunite.blogspot.com/2011/04/speedy-history-of-video-games-part-4.html

The Speedy History Of Video Games: Part 2

Well, so far we have witnessed the creation of pong, the first controversial game and the first ever video game. What is next?

1977- The first multi-game home console is released called the Atari 2600. You could plug cartridges in to play the games.

1978- Magnavox releases another console called the Odyssey2, the first game console to come with a full keyboard.

1979- The first third-party developer is formed called Activision. They made games for the Atari 2600. The company was founded by former Atari employees.

1980- Namco releases Puck-Man to the U.S. Afraid that the Americans would try to make it seem more offensive, they changed the name to Pac-Man. Fuck it!

1981- A Nintendo employee named Shigeru Miyamoto creates Donkey Kong. This is the first really successful game for Nintendo and also the first in a very long line of Mario games.

1982- Microsoft's first journey into the video game industry starts with the Flight Simulator series's first game.

1983- Another third-party company, Mystique releases another controversial game, Custer's Revenge, where you rape a Native American woman tied to a pole.

1984- Nintendo releases the highly popular 8-bit Famicom console in Japan.

That raps up this part. Tune in next time...

A screenshot of the arcade game Donkey Kong.

Part 3: http://gamedesignersunite.blogspot.com/2011/04/speedy-history-of-video-games-part-3.html

The Speedy History Of Video Games: Part 1

If you are ever wondering how this all started, read on. Just read fast, because this will be pretty quick! This will be a series, and we will follow the history till 2003.

1952- It all started here, when A. S. Douglas invented Noughts and Crosses, a tic tac toe game that worked on the Cambridge University computer.

1958- William A. Higginbotham, the creator of the Atom bomb, invented Tennis For Two at the Brookhaven National Laboratory for the open house.

1962- Steven Russel creates Space War, a game that played on the PDP-1 computer.

1968- Ralph H. Baer gets a U.S. patent for a "Television Gaming and Training Apparatus".

1971- Nolan Bushnell creates Computer Space, the first arcade game. It was not very popular in the pubs it was placed in.

1972- Using the patent from Ralph H. Baer, Magnovox released the Odyssey, the first home console. It could play 12 games.

1975- Pong was created and sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog, and with that, it jumpstarted Atari's company.

1976- A game called Death Race was the first controversial game, as the objective was to run over pedestrians. It never sold well.

We will stop this part here. Come back next time to see the creation of various more gaming icons.

A screenshot from the game Pong.

Part 2: http://gamedesignersunite.blogspot.com/2011/04/speedy-history-of-video-games-part-2.html