Oct 12 2009
Early Video Games
Isn't it funny to think back when the first video game systems were thought of as the greatest technology? With all the types of systems to choose from, the earlier models are a joke in comparison to the new systems put out today. Although back in the day, these systems were very popular when they were first released to the public.
The Magnavox Odyssey was the very first game system to be released in the United States. The prototype was called the brown box; it was a crude version of what was going to become the Odyssey. The design of the odyssey was to use cartridges which altered the circuits inside the box.
This game was based on plastic sheets that were attached to the television screen with tape. The sheets added the graphics that were used in conjunction with the images projected onto the screen from the game system. This was released in 1972.
This first video game and the ancestor of the many that are available today cost $100 when released and sold over 100,000 units in the first year of production. The beginning of the home console gaming system had begun, although it was quite primitive compared to the standards today.
Nolan Bushell founded Atari in 1972. The company's name was supposed to be Syzgy, but the name had already been taken so they settled on the name Atari. When developer, Al Alcorn joined Atari the game "Pong" originated at that time. The sales from pong alone were impressive in 1975, when it went on the market. The game was the video game version of ping pong.
Many games were later released in 1976 and 1977 that included some hand-held games. In 1976 Coleco got into the gaming craze with the Telstar. In 1977, Atari released their Atari 2600 home game system. Mattel released their electronic baseball video game for Atari in 1978. The following year, microvision game that had cartridges that changed the games was released by Milton Bradley.
In 1980, Mattel was getting ready to launch their competition to Atari, the intellivision game system. The Nintendo game system was on the horizon. Mario Brother's games came out in 1981, starting out as an instant hit. It gained popularity immediately.
In 1981 Sega was yet another video gaming system that got in on the competition with the release of Turbo. This was one of the first driving video games that simulated reality. In comparison, the only driving game up to this point was Atari's Night Driver and it was not nearly as realistic.
The Atari 5200 super system released in 1982, replaced Atari's 2600 system. Atari's intention was to have this system in competition with the intellivision, but in all reality it became Coleco's competition. The 5200 was just not as big of a hit as they had hoped because there were many design flaws.
The early games and systems were not nearly as sophisticated as today's. The arrival of the Nintendo systems, Play Station systems and the Xbox in 2001 made yesterday's game little more than children's toys. The Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 are setting the trend for further technological advances today.
Related posts:
- Discover How To Copy XBOX 360 Games – Make Exact Copies Of Games If you are the lucky owner of an XBOX 360,...
- How to find the best gaming laptops! When doing a bit of research, you will be astonished...
No responses yet