Home Video Games seems to be a phenomenon that has only emerged in the contemporary era, but its history can actually be traced back to the Truman administration. Since then, computer scientists have begun fiddling with electronic machines and building basic automatic games, such as the pioneering "Berty", a 3.9-meter-high, tic-toe-toe-playing computer, which was exhibited at the 1950 National Expo in Canada.
is not widely accepted on TV, and most games are played on the board, and consumers are not ready to accept something as radical as interacting with the screen—and of course they are not ready to accept something as bulky as Bertie’s “brain”. By the early 1960s, the first multiplayer video game, Space War! 》 has won the favor of national scientific and technological geeks. However, this game needs to be played on a data processor called PDP-1, which is large and expensive ($120,000) and is mainly sold to university computer labs. It was not until the 1970s that more popular coin-operated, cabinet-based games emerged, giving birth to one of the most popular gaming venues for teenagers in that era: electronic game arcades.
Ultimately, all the roads point to home video games. However, long before the advent of games like Call of Duty, Wild Rugby or Mortal Kombat helped create today’s multi-billion dollar gaming industry, Table Tennis, Pac-Man and a few other games led the trend.
and below are some of the earliest and most influential home video games.
"Table Pong", 1972
Host: The Magnavox Odyssey
Speaking of home electronic game consoles, the first generation of consumer electronic games starts with this device: Magnavox Odyssey. In 1966, Magnavox Odyssey, first conceived by Ralph H. Bell, experienced several prototypes before its release in 1972. Technically, this is not a computer, but a circuit that can directly manipulate video signals and transmit them to a TV. Like most first-generation consoles, these games are hard-connected to the device itself or pre-installed on a single game card that players can purchase separately.
The Magnavox Odyssey, which was priced at $99 at the time, and the original graphics such as monochrome lines, dots and squares, was not very successful in business. In fact, the company added physical accessories such as dice, poker cards and poker chips to the console to make it look similar to the physical board games that were popular at the time, thus avoiding commercial risks. However, despite some success in retail, Magnavox Odyssey selling about 350,000 units, they later earned more than $100 million in profit in infringement lawsuits, targeting companies that used their designs.
Magnavox Odyssey One of the most popular games is Table Tennis, which will give each player a "rack" to move the ball on the "table" and surpass your opponent as much as possible. However, the game does not have electronic scores, so players must operate it manually.
"HOME-PONG", 1975
console: Sears limited edition console and various Atari home game consoles
"Table Pong" may not be the first home video game, but it is the first popular video game - it pioneered the Atari home game console dynasty, and it can also be said to have created the entire game industry. Atari founder and creator of Table Tennis Nolan Bushnell and his partner Teddy Dabney created the arcade version of the game in 1972 and perfected the basic concept of Table Tennis by adding elements such as sound, scores and rotations. However, Magnavox Odyssey was later sued for copyright infringement and eventually paid the exclusive licensing fee. They then adapted it into a family game.
Adari's home gaming console "Pong", originally sold exclusively as Sears limited edition console, became one of the best-selling items of the retail giant in the 1975 holiday season. However, Atari quickly launched its own brand of "Pong", helping to promote its 2600 game console (launched in 1977), becoming the most popular home game console of that era, selling about 30 million units before its production was discontinued in 1992.Later, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for $28 million, and then established more than 20 companies, including Chuck E. Cheese.
"Spitfire", 1977
host: Fairchild F-type game console
Fairchild Channel F is an innovative but very short-lived predecessor, and later the more well-known second-generation video game consoles appeared, such as Intellivision, Atari 2600 and ColecoVision. At $169 (equivalent to $800 today), it is the first home gaming console to be equipped with a microprocessor, joystick and buttons. More importantly, it is the first to use the game to load ROM (read-only memory) cassettes instead of building all the games into the console itself. (It does have two games built in, though: "Hockey" and "Tennis") The technology was designed by Jerry Lawson, pioneer of African-American computer engineer in Silicon Valley , who is now widely hailed as the father of video game cassettes.
Channel F (F stands for "Fun") builds a library of 26 ROM gaming cassettes called "Videocarts" each for about $20. The most popular of these is "Spitfire", an aerial dog fighting game that challenges users to "driving" highly pixelated Red Baron and Blue Max and shoot down each other. This adds a revolutionary feature: players without companions can play with robots, and this is the first time on home consoles.
"Space Invaders", 1980
Host: Atari 2600 VCS
After its new parent company Warner Communications injected more than $100 million into Atari to deal with Fairy Child Channel F, the gaming company quickly released Atari 2600 (also known as Atari video computer system or VCS), which is its own host with optical drive and CPU-enabled host. Just like Channel F, users can play various different games by purchasing standalone video cassettes and plugging them into the console.
Among all the Atari 2600 games, no game is more popular than Space Invaders, and no game has a greater influence on the gaming industry than Space Invaders. The game, which has been licensed in the United States since 1980 (the first time an arcade game has been licensed for family play), raised the standards of graphics, sound and play, injecting a stimulant into the gaming industry, which was dragged by a large number of poorly performed replicas of "Pong". After the game was released, Atari 2600's sales quadrupled, and more than 2 million sets of "Space Invaders" cassettes were sold in the first year.
"Pac Man", 1982
host: Atari 2600 VCS
Another adapted from the popular Japanese arcade game "Pac Man", sold more than 1 million copies for Atari when it was released in 1982. Players control the yellow Pac Man icon and must eat dots in the maze while trying to avoid a team of four colored ghosts.
Commentators criticized Pac-Man for having poor graphics and sound effects, and soon consumers' satisfaction with the Atari brand began to decline. Still, the game became the best-selling Atari 2600 video game of all time, and had a wide cultural influence, spawning a large number of spin-offs, from pajamas, plush toys to school supplies and breakfast cereals, and even a pop song called Pac Mania.
Later, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for $28 million, and then established more than 20 companies, including Chuck E. Cheese."Spitfire", 1977
host: Fairchild F-type game console
Fairchild Channel F is an innovative but very short-lived predecessor, and later the more well-known second-generation video game consoles appeared, such as Intellivision, Atari 2600 and ColecoVision. At $169 (equivalent to $800 today), it is the first home gaming console to be equipped with a microprocessor, joystick and buttons. More importantly, it is the first to use the game to load ROM (read-only memory) cassettes instead of building all the games into the console itself. (It does have two games built in, though: "Hockey" and "Tennis") The technology was designed by Jerry Lawson, pioneer of African-American computer engineer in Silicon Valley , who is now widely hailed as the father of video game cassettes.
Channel F (F stands for "Fun") builds a library of 26 ROM gaming cassettes called "Videocarts" each for about $20. The most popular of these is "Spitfire", an aerial dog fighting game that challenges users to "driving" highly pixelated Red Baron and Blue Max and shoot down each other. This adds a revolutionary feature: players without companions can play with robots, and this is the first time on home consoles.
"Space Invaders", 1980
Host: Atari 2600 VCS
After its new parent company Warner Communications injected more than $100 million into Atari to deal with Fairy Child Channel F, the gaming company quickly released Atari 2600 (also known as Atari video computer system or VCS), which is its own host with optical drive and CPU-enabled host. Just like Channel F, users can play various different games by purchasing standalone video cassettes and plugging them into the console.
Among all the Atari 2600 games, no game is more popular than Space Invaders, and no game has a greater influence on the gaming industry than Space Invaders. The game, which has been licensed in the United States since 1980 (the first time an arcade game has been licensed for family play), raised the standards of graphics, sound and play, injecting a stimulant into the gaming industry, which was dragged by a large number of poorly performed replicas of "Pong". After the game was released, Atari 2600's sales quadrupled, and more than 2 million sets of "Space Invaders" cassettes were sold in the first year.
"Pac Man", 1982
host: Atari 2600 VCS
Another adapted from the popular Japanese arcade game "Pac Man", sold more than 1 million copies for Atari when it was released in 1982. Players control the yellow Pac Man icon and must eat dots in the maze while trying to avoid a team of four colored ghosts.
Commentators criticized Pac-Man for having poor graphics and sound effects, and soon consumers' satisfaction with the Atari brand began to decline. Still, the game became the best-selling Atari 2600 video game of all time, and had a wide cultural influence, spawning a large number of spin-offs, from pajamas, plush toys to school supplies and breakfast cereals, and even a pop song called Pac Mania.
