History of games

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORY

Presented By Ziad Feghali


Early Days


• Games have always been an integral part of societies throughout the past.

• Its roots can be traced throughout India, Arabia, and Japan.

• Games can be considered as a form of social expression.

• Some were parts of rituals (ex: Mayas) and others were entertainment

• and or/noble sports (ex: Knights, Gladiators).

Early Days

History of Games

Early games examples:• Dice 3000 BC• Backgammon 2500 BC• Chess 500 AD• Dominos 800 AD

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORYEarly Days

History of Video Games• The first video game was a

cathode ray-tube based missile defense system developed in the late 1940s and were later formed into simpler games in the 1950s and 1960s.


History of Video Games• In 1958 “Tennis for Two”

was created using an oscilloscope and an analogue computer. The game was used to entertain visitors at the Brookhaven Laboratory.


History of Video Games• The first commercial video game was

Computer Space developed in 1971 (by the soon to be founders of Atari).

• After founding Atari, Bushnell and Dabney released Pong in 1972.

• Pong was the first arcade video game unit with widespread success. Selling over 19,000 Pong units.


• The Magnavox Odyssey was the first home console released in 1972.

• Over its production span, the Magnavox sold over 2 million units.


The Console Era• In the earliest consoles, the computer

code for a game was hardcoded into microchips using discrete logic. So No additional games could ever be added.

• By the mid 1970s, video games started to appear on cartridges and game programs were burned onto ROM chips that were set inside plastic covers and then plugged into consoles.

• Examples of such “cartridges” consoles can be seen in the: o Video Computer System (Later renamed

as the Atari 2600) 1972o The Intellivision 1980o The Coleco Vision 1982


The Console Era( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORY

The 2D Era

• Publishing houses appeared (ex: Electronic Arts)• Technically innovative games and genre-defining games were

developed in the early 80s:• Action Adventure: The Legend of Zelda (1986)• Action Role Playing: Dragon Slayer 2 (1985) Zelda 2(1987)• Adventure: Zork (1980), Mystery House (1980), King’s

Quest (1984).• Beat ‘em up: Kung Fu Master (1984).• Cinematic platformer: Prince of Persia (1989)• Fighting Games: Karate Champ (1984)

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORYThe 2D Era, The 1980s, The Golden Age of Video Games

• Hack and Slash: Golden Axe (1988)• Interactive movies: Astron Belt (1983)• Platform games: Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong

(1981), Mario Bros (1983).• Maze Game: Pac-Man (1980)• Platform Adventure: Metroid (1986)• Racing game: Turbo (1981), Pole Position (1982)• Survival Horror: Haunted House (1981)

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORYThe 2D Era, The 1980s, The Golden Age of Video Games

• The era of transition from raster to 3D Graphics.

• New genres were created due to 3D (First person shooter, real time strategy, MMO)

• Video Game industry is now a mainstream for of entertainment.

• Faster and more performing VGAs, sound cards and CD Roms.

• Early 3D games had flat shaded graphics and some had simple texture mapping (Wolfenstein 3D).

• In 1991, with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, started the rivalry between Sonic (Sega) and Mario (Nintendo) began.

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORYThe 3D Era, Faster, Smaller, More Entertaining! The 1990s

• In 1992, Dune 2 was released. It was not the first in its genre (real time strategy), but set path to games like Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and Command and Conquer.

• In 1992, Alone in the Dark was also released to pave way to games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill later on.

• Lucas Arts ‘ Monkey Island series started the concept of “point and click” gaming.


• 3DFX Interactive released the Voodoo chipset, leading to the 3D accelerator cards for pcs.

• In 1996 Quake was one of the first to take advantage of this technology. It also pioneered online gaming for first person shooters.

• Internet multiplayer capability became a necessity for all FPS games.

• Other emerging games included:o Age of Empires, Heroes of Might

and Magic, StarCraft, Warcraft, Grand Theft auto 3

• Development of Web browser plugins started and paved way for Flash and Java simple web based games.



Mobile

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORYMobile

The beginning • Snake. Nokia released the Nokia 6110 in 1997 in,

this was the game which is already in the 70s played in the arcade

• Snake was programmed by Taneli Armanto, a designer at Nokia

• Worldwide, the game sold over 400 million times

Early years and the N-Gage experiment:• welcome J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) and BREW(Binary

Runtime Environment for Wireless).• In early 2003 Nokia decided to change the phone game

with the announcement of the N-Gage - a mobile phone, which is also a handheld game system.


IPhone changes it all.• Apple has provided an innovative device which enables

developers to create smooth, compelling, visually attractive games for the mobile users, together with a business model offering a highly competitive revenue share for developers

• One of the advantages the iPhone has over its competitors is the tight integration of the App Store. This makes browsing, buying, downloading, and installing games over the air easier than on most rival platforms.


The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and a glance to the future• The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY – an Android phone

offering a dedicated gamepad especially designed for gaming on the go.


Portable


1977: Auto RaceMattel racing game is largely considered to be the first-ever all-digital handheld game

( brief ) VIDEO GAMES HISTORYPortable

1979: MicrovisionThe short-lived system featured such titles as Star Trek: Phaser Strike, Connect Four, Block Buster, and Super Block Buster.


1980: Nintendo Game and WatchThe name “Game and Watch” derives from the fact that all of the titles featured a built-in alarm clock.The company produced 59 of these single game LCD handhelds, including versions of such familiar titles as Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., Frogger, and The Legend of ZeldaThe system sold 43 million games in all. Nintendo would repurpose the dual-screen design for the popular DS in 2004.


1989: Game BoyIt was 1989′s Game Boy that cemented the company’s position as the undisputed leader in the space. The Game Boy–and its successor the Game Boy color–would go on to sell 118 million units during their combined life span.


Atari LynxLynx was the first system with a color screen.

1991: Game GearRiding high on the success of Genesis, Sega released this color screen portable in 1991, utilizing much of the hardware from its Master System.


• 1995: Virtual Boy

1995: Virtual BoyThe portability of this system is debatable–especially since you can’t really do all that much with the giant mask on.


1995: Virtual BoyTiger took its shot at the Game Boy by releasing this system a bit too far ahead of its time. Game.com featured a stylus-controlled touchscreen and could be connected to a 14.4kbps modem for saving scores, checking e-mail, and Web surfing.


1998: Game Boy ColorNintendo finally released its long awaited color portable gaming console in 1998.


2003: N-Gage


2004: Nintendo DSNintendo released a number of successors to the Game Boy in the intervening years, but it wasn’t until 2004 that the company really reinvented its


2005: PlayStation PortableWith its PlayStation, Sony managed to deliver the world a gaming console actually capable of competing with Nintendo’s offering, in terms of sales. The company duplicated the feat with its portable system best known as the PSP.


2011: Nintendo 3DSWith its PlayStation, Sony managed to deliver the world a gaming console actually capable of competing with Nintendo’s offering, in terms of sales. The company duplicated the feat with its portable system best known as the PSP.


Sony PSP 2Sony claims the portable system is as powerful as the PS3


Entertainment & Humor

History of games