Timeline of computer games

Contributors Period Available Names of the Critical issues

Technologies Games
λ A.S Douglas λ EDSAC was vacuum- λ Noughts and Crosses, λ Noughts and Crosses is
1952 tube computer, which a Tic Tac-Toe game considered as the first real
used a cathode ray tube
graphical computer game.
to display the contents of
one of the 32 mercury λ The game was created on
delay lines (which stored EDSAC, first computer.
the programs and data)

λ Willy Higginbotham 1958 λ Analog Donner λ Tennis For Two λ Since the game was played
computer linked to an by two people, this can be
oscilloscope used as called as the first simple
display multiplayer video game.
λ Martin Graetz 1961 λ Vector Graphics on a λ Spacewar λ Although this game looked
λ Stephen Russell DEC PDP-1 computer. like a video game, it did not
λ Wayne Wiitanen use a video display.
λ Realism was considered in
a game firstly.

λ Ralph Baer λ 1966-1969 λ Home TV set, using a λ Ping-Pong, Hockey, λ Birth of the video-game
System that would Soccer, and handball.
Generate video signals
Like those transmitted by
A TV station so that they
could be seen on an
Ordinary TV set.
λ Gerry Martin 1972 λ The circuitry designed λ Magnavox Odyssey λ The first video game system
into the Brown Box at λ People can reach several
Sanders was essentially Games with a game set. This
copied with a few Is the first example of the
exceptions: Unlike the Game-set.
design of the Brown Box,
the 1TL200 unit had one
large p.c. board; a series
a small "baby” boards
were plugged into the
"mother board.”
λ It uses no
microprocessor and has
no need for memory. It is
based on a hybrid analog
and digital circuit design.
Opening the physical
game unit reveals only
discrete components:
resistors, capacitors, etc.
The only semiconductors
are about 40 diodes and
40 transistors.
λ Nolan Bushnell 1972 λ It uses no λ Atari PONG (Arcade λ A simpler and less
λ Ted Dabney microprocessor and has Game) expensive platform was made
no need for memory. It is for playing games.
based on a hybrid analog λ Games were spread to the
and digital circuit design. Masses.
Opening the physical

1
 game unit reveals only
discrete components:
resistors, capacitors, etc.
The only semiconductors
are about 40 diodes and
40 transistors.
λ Harold Lee 1975 λ the use of a single chip λ Atari home PONG λ Tele-games were presented
λ Alan Alcorn that provided games with systems Firstly.
λ Bob Brown digital on-screen scoring
and attractive sound.
1975-1978 λ The Odyssey 100 was λ Other Magnavox
an analog system which Odyssey systems.
used four Texas
Instruments chips. It did
not use cartridges and
played two games:
TENNIS and HOCKEY.
A simple switch selected
the games, and the
system was either
powered by six batteries,
or by an AC adaptor
(such power supplies
were widely used by
other systems).
λ Atari 1976 λ General Instruments λ Car Race, Submarine, λ As technology improved,
(GI) was well known for Breakout, Tank Battle, video game systems became
designing Large Scale Motor-cycle, and other more and more advanced,
Integragion (LSI) chips. games and also cheaper.
In 1975, GI had a
revolutionar idea: the
design of a low-cost chip
playing several PONG
variants, and available to
any manufacturer. This
chip changed the PONG
industry within a year
and marked the end of
discrete components
systems like the
Odyssey 100, 200, 400
and 500.
1976 λ It was the first system λ Coleco Telstar Systems λ Different difficulty levels
to use GI's AY-3-8500 Were dealt with in the games.
chip.
1974-1976 λ Instead of TTL chips λ URL video action
used in VA-II, VA-III systems
used CMOS chips (about
90 of them), which
consumed much less
power, hence the
possibility of using
batteries, which saved
the cost of an internal
mains power supply.
λ Namco 1980 λ Video game technology λ Pac-Man λ Video gaming first real
character
1983-1984 λ Video game technology λ Comodore 64 λ Video game business
turned toward home
λ Nintendo 1984 λ the use of a single chip λ Famicom: duck hunter λ Home console
that provided games with And mario λ The player is the star

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 digital on-screen scoring λ Game character reflects
and attractive sound. player
λ Nintendo 1989 λ Unlike video game λ Hand held video game λ This system allowing
consoles, the controls, System:gameboy. tetris people to carry them and play
screen and speakers are at any time or place.
all part of a single unit. λ Gaming became portative.
1992 λ Mortal Combat λ Violence became popular in
Video games
λ Sanyo, Sony 1994 λ The console had λ 3DO interactive λ 3D objects started to be
advanced hardware multiplayer video game used.
features at the time: an systems λ Different gaming options
ARM60 32-bit RISC λ Playstation CD based started to appear
CPU, two custom video Video games λ Adventure games
coprocessors, a custom λ Myst Dominated the gaming.
16-bit DSP and a custom
math co-processor. It also
featured 2 megabytes of
DRAM, 1 megabyte of
VRAM, and a double
speed CD-ROM drive for
main CD+Gs or Photo
CDs (and Video CDs with
an add-on MPEG video
module)
λ Eidos Interactive 1996 λ Tomb Raider λ Action adventure game
λ Female character put into
gaming
2003 λ GDFest λ Social gaming became
popular
λ Nokia 2004 λ The unit is a λ N-Gage QD handheld λ Gaming became more
redesigned N-Gage, Video game system Comfortable to the gamers.
about 20 percent smaller, λ Gaming was put into cell
with more comfortable phones.
use as a cell-phone. The
speaker and microphone
are mounted on the front,
and the multimedia card
slot is located on the
bottom edge.