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The Timeline of Video Games, (Prior to 2000)
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Media Arts (baby)
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Increased Popularity in Radio and Silent Film
Well.. It's an increased popularity in.. Silent films a-and... radio. -
Turing Machine
Alan Turing publishes a theoretical description of a digital computer. A “Turing Machine.” The Base from which most computers are based upon. -
ENIAC
The University of Pennsylvania builds ENIAC. Which uses switches for computer programming control. The Computer was so large that it took up an entire room. -
Television Becomes More Widespread
Television Becomes More Widespread. What else do you want me to say? -
Tennis for Two
Tennis for Two.” Was created by William Higinbotham. Considered to be the first video game ever created. -
Space War
A space combat game developed by Steve Russel in 1962. It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. -
Computer Space
Based off of Spacewar! Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in partnership with Syzygy Engineering created the first Arcade Video Game. As well as the first commercially available video game. -
Magnavox Odyssey
The First Commercial Video Game Console.
(That's about all there is to say really it ain't that interesting).
(It's like when someone speeds through their test, turns it in first but doesn't bother to read the questions. Like, your first, but you really?) -
Atari 2600
Atari's first home Video Game Console. And popularized the use of games stored on swappable ROM cartridges. -
Nintendo Game & Watch
The Game & Watch conceptualized and developed by game designer Gunpei Yokoi, and released by Nintendo in 1980, was one of their first attempts in video games to reach major success. As the name suggests, it featured one simple game as well as clock on an LCD screen. -
Pac-Man
Pac-Man. It's Pac-Man. A simple, yet infinitely enjoyable Arcade classic. And one of, if not the most well-known Arcade Video Games of all time. And still being within the top 10 best-selling video games of all time. -
E.T. The Extra-Terrestreal
While not a good game, E.T.'s an important one in gaming history. Released in the holiday of 1982, E.T. reached massive critical backlash. Due to low-quality graphics and confusing gameplay, it's also considered to be one of the worst video games of all time. And is considered to be a major factor in the Video Game Crash of 1983, due to mass returns and Atari, (at the time one of the largest video game companies), stock plummeting. -
Famicom
The Famicom was Nintendo's first home Video Game Console and was designed to be an inexpensive and simple option to be available to a wide variety of people. -
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros! What else is there to say? A lot actually! After it was released, it itself completely redefined what a "video game" was. Telling a simple story, yet a story nonetheless, helped to attach more people to the game. It also gave Nintendo their golden boy, who you'd see a lot of today. And even 35 years later, Super Mario Bros is still one of the best-selling games of all time standing at 58 000 000 units sold. -
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
The Nintendo Entertainment System,(or NES), was the redesigned model of the Famicom for the North American Market. And it also, along with its sister system the Famicom, achieved great success and completely monopolized the home video game market due to greater power, and greater quality of games. -
Sega Master System
Sega's first attempt at a home video game console. It wasn't exactly revolutionary and was massively overshadowed by the NES. And didn't have much of a presence in the North American Market. Although! Oddly enough it's still being sold to this day in Brazil. Couldn't tell you why. -
Sega Genesis / Sega Mega Drive
After the Master System's poor performance, Sega sought to create a more powerful console to compete with Nintendo. Which resulted in Sega Genesis. (Sega Mega Drive in Europe). -
Gameboy
The Game Boy was released in September 1989 as Nintendo's second handheld console to massive success! Selling over 118 million units over the course of its lifetime. Being the third best-selling console in history. (With units combined from its sister system, the Gameboy Color, released in 1998.) -
Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog releasing in June 1991, was exactly what Sega Needed. A mascot. And after a design competition, they settled on an indigo hedgehog in sneakers that can run really fast... Regardless of the concept, it worked for them. And established The Genesis as a key, and really only competitor to Nintendo and the SNES. -
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
Nintendo's far more powerful console. (as the name may suggest). Released in August 1991, was made as an improvement to the original NES. And it also spawned the most notorious console war in Gaming History. The SNES vs. The Sega Genesis. -
The Nintendo-Playstation
An enigma to say the least. The Nintendo-Playstation was intended to be a CD add-on to the SNES. So initially Nintendo worked with Sony on the add-on. But after discovering that Nintendo would keep the majority of the profits, the parties had attempted to work things out, but no conclusion was brought. Instead, Nintendo Sought to work with Philips instead, although it never got very far. But with the knowledge they gained working with Nintendo, Sony used it to develop their own game console. -
Sega Saturn
T-This one.
The Saturn was released as a massive flop for Sega in mid-1995. Having a surprise release during their E3 1995 presentation, four months before it was planned to release. Due to this, some retailers refused to carry the Saturn, and several games planned for the launch were simply unfinished. Sega attempted to clean things up a few years later with the Dreamcast, but at that point, the damage had been done, leading to Sega becoming a software -only developer. -
Playstation
Born from a divorce between Nintendo and Sony, The Playstation was released in September of 1995. Establishing Sony in the Video Game Market. A major factor in the Playstation's success is due to it utilizing compact discs to run games, a cheaper method than cartridges of old, and they store far more information. This gave third parties far more freedom with how much they create for their games. Along with the hardware being streamlined and easy to develop for. -
Nintendo 64
While not as popular as the Playstation, the N64 did sell fairly well and had a major impact on gaming. With the use of an analog stick for 3D gaming, features like rumble, 4 controller ports, and upgradable ram. While a lot of its design choices were in their early stages, they were the first steps to a lot of what gaming is today. -
Super Mario 64
Releasing the same day as the N64, Super Mario 64 was released to mass critical acclaim, is considered to be one the best games of all time, and one of the most important games of all time. Completely setting the standard for 3D gaming and breaking away from linear level design from previous generations of games. In favour of larger areas that would be replayed with different objectives. Despite a lot of rough edges, Super Mario 64 is a fantastic moment in gaming history. -
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII! Considered to be one of the most influential games of all time. Being both critically acclaimed and selling over 12.8 million units. Winning numerous Game of the Year Awards, being hailed as one of the greatest games of all time, for its music, story, gameplay, and graphics, (at the time). And along with a big budget for a video game at the time, of 80 Million Dollars. (Marketing budget included). Square Enix was able to achieve great success and turn millions into RPG fans. -
Pokemon Red & Blue
Do I really have to say anything? Apparently!
Pokemon! This is where it all began! Being one of the best-selling games of all time and spawning the largest media franchise, of all time, Pokemon Red & Blue was released in the fall of '96. And since that has achieved world domination and released 32 core sequels and an untold amount of spinoffs. (And still has a special place in my heart dug-gummit! -
Sega Dreamcast
After the flop of the Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast was released in September of 1999. And was doing quite well initially. But after the release of the PS2 in 2000 the Dreamcast's sales fell off, and on March 31st, 2001, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast, ending their time as home console developers. Resorting to being a software-only developer, which they still are today.
