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First PC Game: OXO
OXO was a tic-tac-toe game written by Alexander S. Douglas for the EDSAC computer, sometime in 1952, in order to support his Ph.D thesis on human-computer interaction. It was not very known, as the EDSAC only existed in the University of Cambridge. It was played by a rotary telephone controller. -
Spacewar!
A game designed by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen for the DEC PDP-1 computer. It involves two space ships, each controlled by players, that must attempt to destroy each other with their missiles, while avoiding the star at the center of the screen. Commonly referred to as the second ever computer game. -
Colossal Cave Adventure
A game by William Crowther and Don Woods, it was developed sometime in 1976. The player would be presented with situations, written in text, and would have to type out their responses (ie. walk forward, attack, take, etc) in order to progress. It was one of the most popular text based games for its time. -
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The Crash in the Video Game industry and the Rise of Japan
Around the 1980s, computers were becoming a major industry in Japan. The NES and other consoles and computers were designed in 1981 and 1982. By 1983 the game market experienced a crash in north america, as too many companies were competing with each other. However the industry was able to pick up again later that year when the NES was introduced, causing japan to be the leader in video gaming for a time. -
The Bard's Tale
One of the first text-based adventures that included graphics as well as text, it also was one of the first role playing games. The main character was a bard that could cast spells by singing one of six songs.Originally released on the Apple II, it was later ported to many other systems. -
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New Technology and New Genres
As technology became more and more advanced, so did computers. With the invention of the sound card, the computer mouse, and higher resolution graphics, video games began to pick up rapidly. Brand new genres, such as the first person shooter and the adventure game, began to emerge. Games began to have full color graphics and flashy ui's (user interfaces) as well as more detailed sound. -
Doom
In 1993, the first person shooter Doom emerged. This is widely regarded as the most influencial video game ever created. It set the standard for many games and created the first person shooter genre. It was ported to many other pc platforms and consoles. It featured breakthrough 3D graphics as well as multiplayer networking. -
Tomb Raider, Microsoft Windows and 3D Rendering
With the rise of Windows and hardware accelerated 3D graphics, games like Tomb Raider emerged and revolutionized the market even more. At this time however, video games were still dominated by consoles. -
Even Better Hardware
Nvidia, the leading company in graphical hardware, had by this time created incredibly powerful and efficient gpu's and cpu's. Around this time pc's began to overtake consoles in terms of hardware, however consoles still held their popularity. -
Crysis
On November 13, 2007, the first person shooter Crysis was born. This was the first in a trilogy. This game however, was a huge breakthrough in graphics, resolution, rendering techniques, and hardware efficiency. It was released originally for pc, and possibly marked the rise in pc gaming as it proved the potential for pc's and blows most console games out of the water to this day. -
PC Game Sales Soon to Beat Consoles
After the release of Crysis, pc games are continuing to become better and better, hardware becomes faster and faster for cheaper, and is even growing in popularity. Pc games are expected to outsell console games in the next few years, as many gamers are realizing that pc's have much more to offer.
