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History of Video Games

  • OXO

    A.S. Douglas, a professor from London, created the game OXO. Also known as Tic-tac-toe, the game involves placing X's and O's onto a sheet to get 3 in a row. This isn't made to be played on multiple consoles and was made for his doctoral dissertation at the University of Cambridge.
  • Spacewar!

    Steve Russell invented the computer-based combat game involving "the needle" and "the wedge" fighting in the gravity well of a star. It was made for DEC PDP-1 minicomputer. It's the first game that could be played on multiple computer installations.
  • Pinball Machines

    Way back in time arcades were in the '30s, they were filled with pinball machines. By the '70-'80s it was filled with video games like Pac-man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, etc.
  • Crash

    A few years after the Atari released, the video game crashed. This was due to oversaturated market and poor quality of the games, leading to bankruptcy
  • Sega 16-bit Genesis

    Sega released its first 16-bit game console. It was going to replace the 1986 Sega Master system. Soon in 1991 with marketing and the release of Sonic, they could finally compete against NES
  • 16 bit NES

    In response, Nintendo released a 16-bit super NES in North America. This started a console war that spanned a console war between Sega and Nintendo.
  • Videogame ratings

    It was made by Sega to provide labeling for every game Sega made. This was in response to the violent games Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. This soon gave way to an industry-wide rating board.
  • Playstation

    PlayStation came out. With PlayStation originals and soon a console that used DVDs, it became the best-selling console of all time.
  • Modern Era

    Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s Playstation 3, and Nintendo’s Wii were all going to start the modern era of gaming. Playstation was receiving stiff competition for the console war. in 2007 box won more Gane Critics Awards.
  • Mobile

    Soon games went for a more casual audience; the phone. With games like Angry Birds, companies like Rovio would make $200 mil in 2012.