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Dawn of the Industry
While working with the settings of a new type oscilloscope, William Higinbotham created the prototype of a game called Tennis for Two. He went on to use a more advanced version of the game for an exhibition event for his laboratory. The game consisted of a simulated ball and tennis court, to which the player could rotate a dial to change the trajectory and speed of the ball. The more advanced version also had settings for different gravity, such as the moon and Jupiter. -
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Early Beginnings
After an uneventful decade in the 60's, only releasing Spacewar!, which was only at MIT, the 70's saw a small but growing interest in the medium of video games. A company called Magnavox created the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey, which used templates that you would place on your screen and glowing dots that served as players or objects. This inspired Allan Alcorn to create Pong, which received universal acclaim. This inspired others to create other, more advanced arcade machines. -
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Atari
Founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, Atari created many influential games that formed the foundation for other games. They helped pioneer the development of the arcade machine. With these they released Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, Super Breakout, and many others. After the successes of these games, they released the Atari 2600, a widely acclaimed console that made home gaming a reality. However the amount of these games along with less quality control quickly led to oversaturation. -
The Video Game Crash of 1983
The oversaturation of cheap, licensed games on the Atari 2600 led to a general distrust in video games. Some games that contributed were E.T. and the 2600 Pac Man port. the market crashed and left many companies bankrupt This period of distrust lasted until 1985, when the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) released. Trust was regained because Nintendo marketed the system as a toy, including a robot "helper" named R.O.B. to sell units. This helped gaming regain face with the general public. -
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The Golden Age
After securing the market with the NES by regaining the trust of the general public, Nintendo went on to create and publish some of the most iconic games of all time, such as Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid. During this stretch of time, Nintendo had almost cornered the market, aside form computer games. Licensing games to fewer developers helped quality stay high while keeping trust with the public. This era would continue for years until their biggest rival joined the scene. -
Competition in The Market
After over half a decade of being the top dog of the industry, another company called Sega would release their console and mascot, being the Sega Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog respectively. Sonic was marketed to be an anti-Mario, which sold him to older teens who liked his attitude. By this time Nintendo had also released the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). They eventually lost 65% of the market to Sega, which had Nintendo scrambling to find a new strategy. -
Creating the Competitor
Nintendo had almost lost the console wars against Sega, so they wanted to find a new strategy. They partnered up with Sony, another Japanese company to create a new console. Differences in design caused Nintendo to back out of the deal, leaving Sony with the CD ROM technology. They created the Playstation with this, while Nintendo still had the cartridge design. Sony vastly outsold Nintendo's N64, which was the first 3D console. This led to a new development in the world of gaming. -
The Start of 3D Gaming
Nintendo had dabbled in some pseudo 3D games like Starfox before, but when the N64 and Mario 64 released, the landscape of gaming changed. Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Starfox 64, and many others influenced many others to try and replicate the success of these games. Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, and Sonic Adventure shifted the focus to graphics. These classics would influence the market even into today. -
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Turn of the Millennium
Finding their footing with the new medium of 3D games, Sony, Nintendo, and a new challenger, being Microsoft, would show what they could do with the newly mastered technology. The Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, and Xbox would show the world more realistic games with better graphics. Mario Sunshine, Metal Gear Solid, and Halo would shock the world with their nearly mainstream appeal. The Gamecube would sell the least, but would have many cult classic games, while the PS2 would rise above all. -
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Breaking into the Mainstream
After decades of gaming being considered weird and childish, the Wii, DS, and Xbox 360 would finally have mainstream appeal. The Wii would stay as one of the highest sold consoles ever, selling over 100 million. The internet also helped popularize gaming, as you could now connect with other people and play together for the first time ever. Online updates would also become popular during this era, making it so that a game could be fixed after being sold -
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Modern Gaming
Due to the internet, gaming became easier and more inclusive, teams became larger, games became larger. Games like GTA V would sell hundreds of millions of copies, and there could be an infinite amount of new content that could be added in an update. The console wars ended and the brands learned to coexist with each other. Gaming was now a hobby that people could enjoy without too much stigma. The consumer can have infinite choices on how to play a game. -
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Post-Modern Gaming
Gaming is now more massive of an industry than it ever ahs been. With massive multiplayer games such as Fortnite, PUBG, and Apex Legends, money is being made at extremely fast rates, and is a leading money maker, contributing billions. At this point, the big companies, being Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have been solidified as giants in the industry. Indie games from independent developers have exploded in popularity as well, selling millions of copies.