EDUARDO JIMÉNEZ (Brief) History of Videogames. Purpose Not an extensive revision of the history of videogames, but visiting some of the most relevant.

EDUARDO J IMÉNEZ

(Brief) History of Videogames

Purpose

Not an extensive revision of the history of videogames, but visiting some of the most relevant titles in history

Centered in 2D games since that’s the main purpose of this subject

Will try to be relatively thorough and follow a historic timeline

1970s – 1st Generation

1972 – Pong by Allan Alcorn. Atari. Sold 19000 Pong machines

1977-1983 – 2nd Generation

1977 – Atari launches Atari 2600. Contained a general purpose microprocessor Could run video games, found in cartridges

1977-1983 – 2nd Generation

1978 – Space Invaders by Tomohiro Nishikado. Taito Helped make the Atari 2600 the most popular system

in the USA at the time

1977-1983 – 2nd Generation

In 1979, Activision was created by disgruntled former Atari programmers "who realized that the games they had anonymously programmed on their $20K salaries were responsible for 60 percent of the company's $100 million in cartridge sales for one year".  It was the first third-party developer of video games.

1977-1983 – 2nd Generation

In 1982, approximately 8 million American homes had a video game console.

It generated $3.2-$3.8 billion a year in revenue. As a reference, arcade machines were generating $8

billion revenue a year (in quarters!)Video game crash of 1983.

Revenue fell from over $3 billion a year to around $100 million (97% drop!)

Led to the bankrupcy of Atari

1977-1983 – 2nd Generation

In the 80s many personal computers (PCs) appeared. They could be used for different purposes including gaming. Some of the most important: Commodore 64. 1982. Had a BASIC programming

environment and ‘advanced’ graphics and sound capabilities ZX Spectrum. 1982 in UK. Very popular in Europe. IBM PC. 1981. It became the standard. Atari ST and Commodore Amiga. First 16 bit machines. Apple Machintosh.

Very early online gaming appeared in the late 70s and the 80s, but it wasn’t really successful until the 90s

Golden Age of Arcades (1978-1986)

The arcade industry entered its ‘golden age’ in 1978 with Space Invaders by Taito. It was a success and inspired others to enter the

market It sold over 360,000 cabinets worldwide and

generated over $2 billion in quarters by 1982At its peak it, arcade machines generated

over $8 billion revenue a year

Golden Age of Arcades (1978-1986)

• Pac-Man was released in 1980, and was one of the first colour cabinets It sold 350,000 cabinets in one year and is estimated to

have generated over $10 billion during the 20th century

1983-1995 – 3rd Generation

The third generation was 8-bitNintendo conquered the american market in

1985 with the release of NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Its influence in other areas wasn’t so important due to

the success of PCs It was a success in Japan too (released in 1983 here)

The Sega Master System was its main competitor at the time, particularly in certain parts of the world, but the American market was dominated by Nintendo.

1983-1995 – 3rd Generation

1988-1999 – 4th Generation

This is the 16-bit generationMega Drive/Genesis debuted in 1988 and gathered

quite some success in the USA In 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog was introduced giving the console

a lot of popularityNintendo responded with the Super NES (SNES) in

1990. SNK’s Neo-Geo was released in 1990. It had the

same hardware that this of the SNK’s arcade machines providing 2D graphics way ahead of its competition It was very expensive though and didn’t find the same amount

of success as SNES or Mega Drive.

1990s - Innovation and 3D

The decade of the 90s games produced a transition from raster graphics to 3D graphics. That was mostly possible due to the increase in computing power. New genres were born that weren’t possible before

like the first person shooters.Handheld gaming became more common

mostly thanks to the appearance of Gameboy in 1989.

Also arcade machines experienced a resurgence and, later on, a decline.

1990s – PC Gaming

Increase of computing power and decrease of costs caused the rise of 3D graphics, first on PC.

In the early 1990s, shareware distribution was a popular method of publishing games for smaller developers. Important companies started out with shareware such

as Apogee (then 3D Realms), Epic Games and id Software

Many new genres appeared such as RTS, survival horror, FPS or MMOs.

1988-1999 – 4th Generation

1993-2006 – 5th Generation

Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation were released on 1994 in Japan and later in 1995 in USA.

PlayStation outsold its competition (bar SNES) due to the strength of both hardware and software

Both these consoles were 32-bitIn 1996 Nintendo released its own console,

Nintendo 64. It ‘s 64-bit It used cartridges instead of CDs (like PlayStation) which

proved to be the wrong decision in spite of some benefits (faster access times, resistant to piracy) mostly due to the production costs and the capacity (over 10 times a cartridge).

1993-2006 – 5th Generation

This generation was mostly marked for the transition to 3D and CDs.

1998-2013 – 6th Generation

Sega Dreamcast was launched in 1998 but didn’t find success. Sega retired from the hardware market in 2002.

PlayStation 2 was launched on 2000. It included a DVD player which allowed for up to 4.7GB of capacity for its games and didn’t need a separate DVD player

Nintendo GameCube was released in 2001 but couldn’t find the same success as the PS2.

In 2001 Microsoft entered the market with the original Xbox.

Nintendo still dominated the Handheld market with the Game Boy Advance (2001).

1998-2013 – 6th Generation

This generation continued the trend started by PlayStation of developing increasingly complex, sophisticated and adult-oriented games

2004-present – 7th Generation

In 2005 Xbox 360 debuted getting a lot of attention in the USA.

In 2006 PlayStation 3 was released.Both consoles were very similar in terms of

capabilities, but the price point ($200 higher the PlayStation) and a more complex hardware (games looked better in the 360).

Wii was released in 2006 and, while initially dismissed by many, it ended up selling more than its competitors and starting the motion control trend.

2004-present – 7th Generation

In handheld consoles both Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable were released in 2004.

Mobile games became very important during this time, having evolved considerably from the early games such as the snake that came with Nokia phones in the late 90s and early 2000.

2004-present – 7th Generation

This generation is marked mainly by The drastic increase in development costs Motion controls that attracted the casual market to

consoles

2000s PC Gaming

XBLA, Steam and later PSN revolutionized digital distribution, which is now the main distribution method for PC games. Thanks to this there’s a rise of indie games on all these

platforms that wasn’t possible before Big budgets games are not the only option now.

Casual games rised during this decade, particularly at the end with their introduction in mobiles and social networks (Facebook).

The introduction of the iPhone and later Android phones revolutionizes mobile gaming.

2011-present – 8th Generation

In 2012 Nintendo releases Nintendo Wii U. Which is far from reaching the success Wii enjoyed

In 2013 PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are released too. Still too early to evaluate

In 2011 Nintendo releases Nintendo 3DS, capable of stereoscopic 3D graphics without glasses.

In 2011 PlayStation Vita is released trying to rival the 3DS but finding little success in spite of having superior hardware.

Revolutionary Games

We’re going to discuss now a bunch of games that did something to mark the history of videogames.

We’ll center on 2D games and ignoring most games from 2000-onwards

Pong (1972)

First game made ‘popular’

Space Invaders (1978)

Very popular at the time in arcades

Pac-Man (1980)

One of the first color arcade gamesDefined it’s own genre: maze games

La Pulga/The Flea (1983)

The first (1983) successful Spanish videogame

It reached the UK market with quite some success

La abadía del crimen (1987)

Mostly successful only in Spain, but still technically very advanced and with innovative gameplay elements

Zork (1980)

One of the earliest text adventures Yeah, you read right. Text adventure. No graphics,

only text

King’s Quest (1984)

One of the first graphic adventure games.

The Secret of Monkey Island (1990)

Although not the first it’s arguably one of the best graphic adventure games of all times.

Introduced SCUMM engine, used in many other games of the genre (particularly from Lucasarts)

Zelda (1986)

Started the action-adventure and action-RPG genres. The Legend of Zelda (1986) and Zelda II: The

Adventure of Link (1987) were of the earlier games in these genres

Karateka (1984)

One of the first of the beat’em up genre.Pioneered in using rotoscoped animation.

Budokan (1989)

Relatively advanced graphics and sound for its time

Versus fighting game

Final Fantasy (1987)

This series of games popularized what we now know as JRPGs.

Donkey Kong (1981)

Considered the first ‘true platformer’Allowed you to jump over obstacles and gaps

Super Mario Bros (1983)

No comments needed, right?

Dragon’s Lair (1983)

First interactive movie. It’s hardly a game, but still, a feat for the time

Commando (1985)

First influential run & gun shooter.It featured a character instead of a vehicle

(first one to do so of its genre)

Metal Gear (1987)

One of the first stealth gamesMixed action adventure with stealth

Street Fighter 2 (1991)

Popularized the 1v1 fighting gamesHelped the revitalizing of arcade games in

the 90s

Mortal Kombat (1992)

The use of rotoscoped real pictures of people was very innovative

Lot’s of gore that gave it a lot of controversy

Golden Axe (1988)

One of the first popular beat’em ups in arcades

Could be played cooperativelyDistinct styles for the different characters

Prince of Persia (1989)

First ‘cinematic platformer’Used rotoscoped animation that run very

fluidly

Robocop (1988)

Popular 2D run & gun beat’em up game

Metal Slug (1996)

Another high exponent of the run & gun genre

Still quite alive these days (in Steam)

Double Dragon (1987)

One of the first highly successful beat’em up

Final Fight (1989)

Another exponent of successful beat’em up.

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

Helped popularize the Mega Drive consoleVery fast, intense and unique platformer at

the time

NBA Jam (1993)

Highly successful sports game in arcadesNot exactly like the current NBA or FIFA

franchises

Windjammers (1994)

Popular sports game based on a non-existent sport

Could be even loosely considered inspired in Pong

QiX (1981)

Original arcade game

Arkanoid (1986)

Brick breaker subgenre.

Pang (1989)

Quite an original arcade gameCould be played cooperatively

Snow Bros (1990)

Platform arcade game with original mechanics

Tetris (1984)

One of the first and best exponents of the puzzle genre

Beyeweled (2001)

Another great example of puzzle gamesIts core mechanics are still very relevant

1942 (1984)

One of the first hits from CapcomVertical scrolling shoot’em up

Ikaruga (2001)

One of the best shoot’em upsBullet hell makes sense in this context

Raptor: Call of Shadows (1994)

In my opinion one of the best exponents of the shoot’em up genre

Shareware

Operation Wolf (1987)

In arcades it was particularly popular due to the use of a toy gun for aiming

It had a storyline too

Cabal (1988)

One of the first successful exponents of the gallery shooter genre

Innovative for its time

Bomberman/Dynablaster (1983)

Strategic maze game

Lemmings (1991)

Interesting mix of genres: puzzle-platformer

Worms (1995)

‘Artillery strategy’ gameCurious mix of puzzle, platformer, shooter

and turn strategy genres

SimCity (1989)

One of the first resource management gamesStill alive these days

Railroad Tycoon (1990)

One of the first business simulation gamesThere are many others that followed suit

(Pizza Tycoon, Theme Park, Theme Hospital, SimFarm…)

Civilization (1991)

Possibly the best turn strategy game of all times

Age of Empires (1997)

Could be considered a mix between Civ and Warcraft

Meet a lot of success and have had lots of sequels

Dune 2 (1992)

Stablished the format for the real-time stragegy (RTS) genre for decades

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994)

Stablished the RTS genre and made it popular

Made online playing ‘feasible’ (not the first one to support it but the first one to make it easy)

Command & Conquer (1995)

Main competitor to WarcraftHad lots of different games and a spin-off series

(Red Alert)Funny tone and live action cutscenes

Diablo (1996)

Action RPG that made the genre popular again

Randomized parts of the game made it very replayable as well as the looting system

Wolfenstein 3D (1992)

The grand-father of FPSsVery revolutionary for its time2.5D

Doom (1993)

The father of the FPS genreHuge successStill 2.5D

Geometry Wars (2003)

Initially released as part of another game (Project Gotham Racing 2)

Made popular dual-stick shooters

Super Meat Boy (2010)

A good exponent of what you could get to do with a 2D platformer

Castle Crashers (2008)

Very successful 2D beat’em up from this century

Lone Survivor (2012)

Horror can be done in 2D too

World of Goo (2008)

Very original puzzle game

Braid (2008)

There’s still room for innovation even in the platforming genre in 2D

Fez (2012)

2D can play with 3D as well…

References

History of videogames: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_games

Spanish videogames http://www.emezeta.com/articulos/10-grandes-

videojuegos-espanoles