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First video game
Pong was the first game ever created. It was a very simple game as far as playing it. The object of the game was to hit the "ball" to a point where your opponent could not reach it. Similar to tenis -
First Computer Based Game
MIT student Steve Russell invents Spacewar. Through the decade the game spread to computers all across the country. It was the first time that we saw a game created specifically for a computer. -
Brown Box
The "brown box" was the prototype version of the Magnavox Odessy. It was the first version of what would soon be home consoles. It allowed users to play games like pong, submarine, and analogic. -
Atari "pong"
Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn of Atari develop an arcade table tennis game. When they test it in Andy Capps Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, it stops working, because people played it so much it jammed with quarters. Pong, an arcade legend, is born. -
Video Computer System
Atari releases the Video Computer System, more commonly known as Atari 2600. Featuring a joystick, interchangeable cartridges, games in color, and switches for selecting games and setting difficulty levels, it makes millions of Americans home video game players. -
First Easter Egg
As discovered in March 2017, Atari's 1977 arcade game Starship 1 features an "Easter egg" (a hidden secret or item), in which the message "Hi Ron!" is relayed on-screen and the player is awarded 10 extra lives. -
M. U. L. E.
Multiplayer play takes a huge step forward with Dan Bunten's M.U.L.E. In the game, players compete to gather the most resources while saving their colony on the planet of Irata. -
Mortal Kombat
Concern about bloodshed in games such as Mortal Kombat prompts United States Senate hearings on video game violence. The controversy riles the industry and prompts the creation of a video game rating system. Ironically, that same year the game Doom popularizes "first person shooters." -
Steam
Valve energizes PC gaming with its release of Steam. The digital distribution platform allows players to download, play, and update games. -
Augmented Games
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure becomes the first augmented-reality hit by letting players place plastic figures on a Portal of Power to zap characters into the game. Two years later Disney Infinity joins the ranks of toy-video game hybrids.