The Beginning:
It all started in 1947, yes, 1947 when the idea for The Cathode Ray Amusement Device (catchy isn't it) was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. This device allowed you to draw lines on-screen that represented missiles that would hit fixed targets on the screen. Other examples of early video games were the NIMROD, the OXO (it played tic tac toe), and the EDSAC. Too bad they all cost thousands of dollars.
The Dawn of Video Games:
Two men. One Vision. A Japanese Word. Yes, this is the story of Atari. It all started with Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founding the Syzygy Engineering firm. They hired their first engineer, Al Alcorn. Alcorn was to create a arcade version of Magnavox Oddysey's Tennis game. This would be Pong. The name of the company would later be changed to Atari (after term from the game Go).
The 1980's:
So many developments happened in the 80's I'm just gonna have to list them.
Consoles:Apple II (born in 1972 it reached its heyday in this era), Commodore 64, Atari 800, and Atari 1600.
Games: Pac Man, Defender, Battlezone, 3D Monster Maze, Journey Escape, Dragon's Lair (these are just the revolutionary games so don't get mad because your favorite game isn't here).
Bad News for Video Games-The Crash:
The cute little green alien E.T. single-handedly ruined video games. The poorly made E.T. game killed video gaming. Nothing else to say.
Nintendo hits the scene:
The NES debues the NES in 1985. This brings about the ressurection of video gaming. Thank god for Mario.
The 90's to the Present:
With amazing new graphics zooming onto the market what could be better than a Sony/Nintendo partnership? With Nintendo, the savior of video gaming and Sony, co-inventor of the CD, would there be a monopoly on the market? Well, Nintendo gave it up and yet another competitor was born. This playing to older consumers with a more violent lust. Microsoft entered the scene in 2000 with the XBox and the rest is history.
From Tennis for Two to Halo 3, video games have been evolving for 60 years. Who knows what the future may bring?
