Video Game History

By miriofolding234

  • 1940

    For the westinghouse display at the world's fair, edward u. condon designed a computer that played traditional game nim in which players try to avoid picking up the last matchstick, in 1947 thomas t. goldsmith jr and estile ray mann file a patent for a cathode ray tube amusement device.

  • 1950

    Claude shannon laid out the basic guidelines for programming a chess playing computer article, "programming a computer for playing chess." the same year both he and englishman alan create chess programs.

  • 1961

    1961
    The raytheon company develops a computer simulation of global cold war conflict for the u.s. joint chiefs of staff. although it is sophisticated and even models the benefits of arms control, the simulation proves too complex for users unfamiliar with computers.

  • 1970

    Scientific american publishes the rules for life in martin gardner's "mathematical games" column. in this simulation, isolated or overcrowded cells die, while others live and reproduce.

  • 1980

    1980
    a missing slice of pizza inspires namco's toru iwatani to create pacman, which goes on sale in july 1980. in 1981 video fans go ape over nintendo's donkey kong, introducing a character that went by the name jumpman, later to become the world famous mario making him the star of nintendo

  • 1990

    1990
    sega needs an iconic hero for its genesis system, and it finds it in sonic the hedgehog. gamers especially in the united states snap up segas game systems an dlove the little blue guy's blazing speed and edgy attitude.

  • 2000s

    2000s
    Will Wright's The Sims models real life. It is not the first simulation game—Utopia on Intellivision (1982), Peter Molyneaux's Populous (1989), Sid Meier's Civilization (1991), and Wright's own SimCity (1989) preceded it—but it becomes the best-selling computer game ever and the most popular game with female players.

  • 2001

    2001
    Microsoft enters the video game market with Xbox and hit games like Halo: Combat Evolved. Four years later, Xbox 360 gains millions of fans with its advanced graphics and seamless online play.

  • 2010

    2010
    The indie game movement comes of age with the tremendous popularity of Minecraft, the addictive brick-building game from Swedish developer Markus Persson.

  • 2015

    One year after being acquired by Amazon, online video streaming service Twitch fuels the growth of eSports. Thirty-six million viewers watch the League of Legends World Championship, rivaling and surpassing viewership of some of the most popular athletic events in the world.