The document provides a comprehensive history of video games, starting from early pinball machines in 1931 to the rise of the multi-billion dollar gaming industry. It outlines key developments, including the introduction of home consoles, notable games, technological advancements, and the evolution of gaming genres over several decades. The document also speculates on the future of gaming in terms of graphics, physics, AI, and immersive experiences.

1. History of Video Games
CS481/CS681
Fall 2007

2. Summary
● 1931 Pinball machine
● 1971, first commercial
game introduced
● 2 game market crashes
● $10,000,000,000 industry
● Seven generations of
hardware
● What’s the future?

3. Pinball
● Bally Manufacturing
● Williams Manufacturing
● Midway Games
● Created the production,
distribution, and consumer
channels used by video
game industry

4. Japan (Pre-history)
● Early coin operated companies established by
foreigners
– Taito, (Sega + Rosen Enterprises = Sega Enterprises)
– 1966 – Periscope
– Imported to the US and Europe, expensive
– Set the 25 cent price for coin operated machines
● Meanwhile, back in the US ... computers rising

5. Electronic / Computer games
(Prehistory)
● 1948: Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device
patent for electronic game. Vacuum tubes
controlled missiles firing at a target
● 1951: Transistors replacing vacuum tubes at
university computers. Students want games.
– Checkers (1951)
– TTT (1952)
– Nimrod played Nim (UK)

6. Birth
● Spacewar, 1962, MIT
students wanted to “test”
the capabilities of their new
DEC PDP-1
● Gravity, warp
● Widely distributed by DEC
● Other games were not
distributed (no internet)

7. Commercialization
● 1971: Galaxy Game
– Clone of Spacewar
– Stanford, 10 cents in student union
– Ran until 1979
● Bushnell, Dabney created custom
arcade hardware for Spacewar
clone - failure...
● June 27, 1972 Bushnell/Dabney
found Atari Inc. ... meanwhile...

8. Games on Television Screens
(Consoles)
● Ralph Baer
– 1967 – chase game
– Light gun -> shooting, paddles -> tennis
– Prototype played multiple games
– No sound, overlays
– 3 dials for vertical, horizontal, and spin
– Magnavox bought it, and managed to sell 100K units

9. Pong
● Al Alcorn, Atari’s first game engineer
● 1972: Implemented Pong
– Atari tried to get Bally’s to manufacture it
● Machine malfunctioned during demo because it
was too full of coins!
● Atari decided to forget Bally’s and go into
manufacturing!
● Many Pong clones competed

10. 70s Creativity, new game genres
● 1974, Tank designed by
Steve Bristow
● 1973, Gotcha, pursuit
● 1974, Gran Trak 10,
Driving/Racing
● 1976, Night Driver, sit
down cabinet
● 1975 Breakout, SP Pong
● 1976 Death Race

11. Golden Age of arcade games (2)
● 1978:Space Invaders, (Taito) high score, no name
● 1979, Star Fire, (Exidy), initials
● 1979, Atari Football, smooth scrolling scree,
trackball controller
● Many Companies entered the business
– Konami, Namco, Irem, SNK, Technos Japan.
– Galaga, Defender, Scramble, Moon patrol

12. Maze Games: Pac-Man
● 1980, Namco, Originally Puck-man but changed
name before releasing in the US.
– Best selling arcade game up to that point
– First identifiable video character
– Cover of Time
– 1981, MIT students enhancement kits for pac-man
ended up producing Ms. Pac-Man (4 mazes)
● 1982, Namco, Pole Position, Racing, POV

13. Platform Games
● 1981, Donkey Kong,
Nintendo
● 1982, Donkey Kong
Junior introduced
Mario
● 1983: Elevator Action

14. Tech
● 1972: handheld TTT
● 1976: game cartridges
● 1977: Joystick
● Vector graphics
– 1979: Asteroids, others (but died after 1983 and raster)
● Laserdisc
– 1983: Dragon’s Lair, animated sequences, interactive
movie

15. 80s
● 1982: EA born
● PCs, game source code printed in magazines
● Commodore 64
● 1983, Snipes, first networked commerical text-
mode game
– Maze War (university research game)
– Spasim (3d multiplayer space sim), precursor to Doom
and Quake
● Handheld LCD console

16. Crash of 1983
● Too many companies, too many bad games
● So many ET the Extra Terrestrial game cartridges
were left over that they had to be buried in a big
hole in NM!
● Lasted One Year!

17. Video game consoles (3)
● Nintendo, NES (Famicon), Super Mario Brothers
– Gamepad
– 8 direction D pad with 2 or more action buttons
● 1986: Dragon Quest precursor to RPG
● 1987: Final Fantasy, Role playing game
● 1986: Legend of Zelda
● 1988: Nintendo Power Magazine

18. 90’s (4)
● Rising to match Hollywood
● 3D graphics, sound cards, CDs, fast PCs
● Internet based distribution, shareware,
● 1992: RTS games, Dune II set the std.
– Warcraft, C&C, StarCraft
● 1993: Myst, and adventure puzzle game
● Sim games: Sim city, SimEarth,...The Sims (2000)
● Mods, Counterstrike, Half Life mod

19. Internet Gaming
● Multi-User Dungeons
● 1996: Quake, FPS
● MMORPGS: Ultima Online, Everquest
– Persistent worlds, large numbers of players
● Java/Flash back to simple games
● Decline of arcades, rise of home consoles, PCs

20. 4, 5, 6, 7 generations
● Sega Genesis, Super NES
● Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, Nintendo 64
– DDR
● Sega Dreamcast, Playstation2, Game Cube, Xbox
– Sims, Halo, GTA, Halo 2, GTA San Andreas, Guitar
Hero
● PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS
– Spore Demo

21. Future
● Where is it heading?
– Graphics
– Physics
– AI
– Immersion, Realism, ...
● Holodeck