The History Of Gaming
By Natazjah Harrison

Gaming
The gaming era has been around for centuries dating way back to the
1940’s till now. The history of video games goes as far back as then,
when in 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Man invented what
they described as the “cathode ray tube amusement device”, but video
gaming would not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and
1980s, when arcade video games, gaming consoles and home computer
games were introduced to the general public. Since then gaming has
become a popular form of entertainment and a part of culture in most
parts of the world. There are currently considered to be eight
generations of video game console, with the sixth, seventh and eighth
concurrently.

The gaming platforms have increased incredibly through time from having games like
pinball and pacman in arcades and them being developed into games that can be
played on modern day consoles like the “Xbox 360” “PlayStation 1-4”, and the
“Nintendo WII”. Modern day gaming has hugely adapted from then, so virtually every
game now is developed into a disk to be played on either one of these consoles plus
hand held consoles like the Psp , Gameboy and Nintendo DS.
Gaming

1960 Gaming
. The gaming era has been around for centuries, starting with:
.1961-62- Space war, it was developed at MIT using vector graphics on a PDP1.
.Sega release the first arcade game called ‘Periscope’

1970’s Gaming
Magnavox Odyssey is a game console that came out on 1st of
August 1972, consisting of 28 games and it’s the ‘first
generation’ home video game console. In the first year it sold
over 100,000 copies.

1980’s Gaming
Mega Drive is a game console that came out on 29 October 1988, It is its
company, Sega’s most successful console with a estimated range from 29
million to over 40.8 million earned.

1990’s Gaming
.Super Nintendo Entertainment System came out on 21 Nov 1990, it is the
Best-selling gaming console of the 16-bit era, being a global success. It was
Nintendo’s second home console (the first being Nintendo Entertainment
System).
.PlayStation is a game condole that came out on 3 Dec 1994, Other than
playing games, the PlayStation also contains the ability to read and play audio
CDs, which can shuffle playing order, playing songs in a programmed order, or
repeating a single song or the whole disk in order.
.Nintendo 64 is a game console that came out on 23 Jun 1996, Although it is
the most technically advanced console of the fifth generation, the storage
media is limited as it is cartridge-based rather than of Compact Disc format.
This was a disadvantage compared to Nintendo 64’s competitors.
.Dreamcast is a game console that came out on 27 Nov 1998, it’s the first
console with a built-in modern and Internet support for online playing.

2001- present Gaming
.Nintendo GameCube is a game console that came out on 14 Sep 2001, unlike
its’ opponents (PlayStation 2 and Xbox), the Nintendo GameCube uses
MiniDVD-based discs rather than full size DVDs. It does not have the DVD-Video
playback and audioCD playback function as a result.
.Xbox is a game console brought out on 15 Nov 2001, it’s the first game console
with a built-in hard disk drive, which is used for game savings and content that
is downloaded from Xbox live.
.Xbox 360 is a game console that came out on 12 May 2005, this console (from
the Xbox live service) allows players to compete and play online, download
arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, etc. as well as the Windows
Media Center multimedia.
.Wii is a game console that came out on 19 Nov 2006, the remote for this
console is a wireless controller, which can be a handheld pointing device and
also detecting movements in three dimensions.

First Generation Consoles
(1972-1977)
The first home 'console' system was developed by Ralph Baer and his
associates. Development began in 1966 and a working prototype was
completed by 1968 (called the “Brown Box”) for demonstration to various
potential licensees, including GE, Sylvania, RCA, Philco, and Sears, with
Magnavox eventually licensing the technology to produce the world first
home video game console. The system was released in the USA in 1972 by
Magnavox, called the “Magnavox odyssey”. The odyssey used cartridges
that mainly consisted of jumpers that enabled/disabled various switches
inside the unit, altering he circuit logic (as opposed to later video game
systems that used programmable cartridges). This provided the ability to
play several different games using the same system, along with plastic
sheet overlays taped to the television that added color, play-fields, and
various graphics to “interact” with using the electronic images generated
by the system. A major marketing push, featuring TV advertisements
starring Frank Sinatra. Helped Magnavox sell about 100,000 Odysseys that
first year. Philips bought Magnavox and released a different game in Europe
using the Odyssey brand in 1974 and an evolved game that Magnavox had
been developing for the US market. Over its production span, the Odyssey
system achieved sales of 2 million units.

Second Generation Consoles(1977-
1983)
In the earliest consoles, the computing logic for one or more games was
hardwired into microchips using discrete logic, and no additional games could
ever be added. In other words, these consoles were single-purpose computers,
not programmable computers; there was no software, only hardware, so no
change of software was possible. This was and obvious issue for developers;
customers would have to buy a whole new device to attach to their TV sets in
order to play a different game. By the mid-1970’s , game consoles contained
general-purpose microprocessors and video games were found on cartridges,
starting in 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Video Entertainment. Programs
were then burned onto ROM chips (ICs) that were mounted inside plastic
cartridge casings that could then be plugged into slots on the console. When the
cartridges were plugged in, the ROM electrically became a part of the
microcomputer in the console, just as if the ROM ICs were on the same circuit
board with the microprocessor inside the console, and the microprocessor would
execute whatever program was stored in the ROM. Rather than being confined to
a small selection of games included tin the game system, consumers could now
amass libraries of game cartridges.

Three machines dominated the second generation of consoles in North America, far
outselling their rivals:
The Video computer system (VCS) ROM cartridge-based console, later renamed the Atari 2600, was
released in 1977 by Atari. Nine games were designed and released for the holiday season. While the
console had a slow start, its port of the arcade game Space Invaders would become the first killer app
and quadruple the consoles sales. Soon after, the Atari 2600 would quickly become the most popular
of all the early consoles prior to the North American video game crash of 1983. Notably the VCS did
this with only an 8-bit 6507 CPU, (30) 128 bytes (i.e. 0.125 KB) of RAM, and at most 4KB of ROM each
game program cartridge.
The intellivison, introduced by Mattel in 1980. Though chronologically part of what is called the 8-bit-
era, the intellivison had a unique processor with instructions that were 10 bits wide (allowing more
instruction variety and potential speed), the registers 16 bit wide. The system which featured graphics
superior to he older Atari 2600, rocketed to popularity.
The ColecoVision, an even more powerful machine, appeared in 1982. With its port of arcade game
Donkey Kong included as a pack-in, sales for this console also took off. However , the presence of three
major consoles in marketplace and a glut of poor quality games began to overcrowd retail shelves and
erode consumers interest in video games, within a year this overcrowded market would crash.
Activision was created by disgruntled former Atari programmers. It was first third- party developer of
video games. By 1982, approximately 8 million American homes owned a video game console, and the
home video game industry was generating and annual revenue of $3.8 billion, which was nearly half
the $8 billion revenue in quarters generated from the arcade video game industry at the time.

Third Generation Consoles (1983-
1995)
In 1985, the American Video Game Console market was revived with Nintendo’s
release of its 8-Bit console, the Famicom, known outside Asia as Nintendo
Entertainment 8-bit console, the Famicom, known outside Asia as Nintendo
Entertainment System (NES). It was bundled with Super Mario Bros. and instantly
became a success. The NES dominated the North American and the Japanese
market until the rise of the next generation of consoles in the early 1990’s. Other
markets were not as heavily dominated, because of heavy competition from PCS
like the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64. This led to allowing other
consoles the chance to find an audience In the new consoles. The game pad or joy
pad , took over joysticks, paddles, and the keypads as the default game controller
included with the system. The gamepad design of an 8 direction Directional-pad
(D-pad) with 2 or more action buttons became the standard. This generation also
marked a shift in the dominance of home video games from the United States to
Japan to Europe.
But this generation of games ended with the discontinuation of the NES in 1995.

Fourth Generation Consoles
(1988-1999)
The Mega Drive/Genesis proved its worth early on after its debut in 1988.
But Nintendo responded with its own next generation system known as the
super NES (SNES/ in 1990. The TurboGrafx-16 (1987) debuted early on
alongside the Genesis, but unlike in Japan it did not achieve a large following.
The intense competition of this time was also a period of not entirely truthful
marketing. The TurboGrafx-16 was billed as the first 16-bit system but its
central processor was an 8-bit In Japan, the 1987 success of the PC Engine (as
the TurboGrafx-16 was known there) against the Famicom and CD drive
peripheral allowed It to fend off the Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1988. CD-ROM
drives were first seen in this generation, as add-ons for the PC Engine in 1988
and the Mega Drive in 1991. Basic 3D graphics entered the mainstream with
flat-shaded polygons 3D graphics.
SNK's Neo-Geo was the most expensive console by a wide margin when it
was released in 1990, and would remain so for years. It was also capable of
2D graphics in a quality level years ahead of other consoles. The reason for
this was that it contained the same hardware that was found in SNK's arcade
games. This was the first time since the home Pong machines that a true-to-
the-arcade experience could be had at home. This generation ended with the
SNES's discontinuation in 1999

Fifth Generation Consoles
(1993-2006)
In 1993, Atari re-entered the home console market with the introduction of
the Atari Jaguar. Also in 1993, The 3DO Company released the 3DO
Interactive Multiplayer, which, though highly advertised and promoted,
failed to catch up to the sales of the Jaguar, due to its high price tag. Both
consoles had very low sales and few quality games, eventually leading to
their demise. In 1994, three new consoles were released in Japan: the Sega
Saturn, the PlayStation, and the PC-FX, the saturn and the PlayStation later
seeing release in North America in 1995. The PlayStation quickly outsold all
of its competitors, with the exception of the aging Super Nintendo
Entertainment System, which still had the support of many major game
companies.
By the end of this period, Sony had become the leader in the video game
market. The Saturn was moderately successful in Japan but a commercial
failure in North America and Europe, leaving Sega outside of the main
competition. The fifth generation is most noted for the rise of fully adapted
3D games.

Sixth Generation Consoles
(1998-2004)
In the sixth generation of video game consoles, Sega exited the hardware
market, Nintendo fell behind, Sony solidified its lead in the industry, and
Microsoft developed a gaming console. The generation opened with the
launch of the Dreamcast in 1998. While it was initially successful, sales and
popularity would soon begin to decline with contributing factors being Sega's
damaged reputation from previous commercial failures, software pirating,
and the overwhelming anticipation for the upcoming PlayStation 2.
Production for the console would discontinue in most markets by 2002 and
would be Sega's final console before becoming a third party game provider
only. The second release of the generation was Sony's PlayStation 2.
Nintendo followed a year later with the Nintendo GameCube suffered from a
lack of third-party games compared to Sony’s system, and was hindered by a
reputation for being a “kids console” and lacking the mature games for
current market appeared to want.