2 of 2

Write now Article Tools

The history of video games is a surprisingly long one. Most people believe that video games began with the creation of "Pong" for the the Atari game system in 1972, however this is not the case. The first true video game ever made was created by A. S. Douglas in 1952. Titled OXO, it was a recreation of the popular game tic-tac-toe and was played only against the computer. Shortly after this, in 1958, the first player vs. player video game was created by William Higinbotham titled Tennis for Two. Tennis for Two was played from the side view of a tennis court, rather than a helicopter type viewpoint. The ball needed to be shot over the net in order for points to be scored. The game, which was created to entertain visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, was dismantled in 1959.

In1961 Steve Russel, along with fellow students at MIT, created a new game entitled Spacewar on hte new DEC PDP-1 computer system. The game featured two player controlled spaceships capable of firing missles, with a blackhole in the center to add difficulty. It's often credited as the very first influential video game.

The 70's quickly became known as the Golden Age of video games. In 1971, Galaxy Game, the first coin-operated game system, was installed at Stanford University. It was based mostly off the game Spacewar, and in 1972 was expanded to included extra controllers. In the same year, 1971, Nolan Bushnell heped create another coin-operated version of Spacewar called Computer Space. Computer Space was bought by Nutting Associates, who then proceeded to make and market 1,500 game systems in November that same year. However, the game was very difficult to master and because of this it sold very little.

It was after this that Bushnell and Ted Dabney, and associate who also helped create Computer Space, decided to found a new company called Atari, Inc. Atari in 1972 created the first arcade video game: Pong. It saw huge success, selling almost 19,000 systems. It is often regarded as the first video game, but in truth it's the first arcade game realeased. It wasn't until Space Invaders was released in 1978 that the truly Golden Age of the arcade began. Within only two years, many other arcade games would be created, from Asteroids to the first colored games such as Pac-man. An arcade could be seen anywhere from shopping malls, to convienent stores.

The very first gaming console was the Magnavox Odyssey. However, due to the explosion of the arcade scene, few were sold. During the

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about History of the first video games?
We want to hear your view. Write now!