The Most Accurate History of Video Games

Introduction

Since their inception over fifty years ago, video games have gone a very long way. You need to take a look at your favourite video games from your youth to appreciate how far video gaming technology has progressed in the past decade or two. Before becoming what it is now, the industry went through several transformations. As a result, video games have grown to become a $100 billion business spanning from home consoles to Mr Bet casino online games.

Baby Steps

Computer scientists started employing electrical devices to build very primitive gaming systems as early as 1950, such as Bertie the Brain in 1950 for tic tac toe and Nimrod in 1951 for Nim. These systems primarily served as demonstration systems at huge shows to demonstrate the power of computers at the time, utilizing electronic light displays.

Arcades and Consoles emerge

The first arcade video game and the first home video game console were developed concurrently in the early 1970s in the United States, which marked the beginning of the contemporary video game business. Sanders Associates, Inc. developed a prototype multiplayer, multi-program video gaming system that could be played on a television in 1967, led by Ralph Baer. “The Brown Box” was the name given to it. Baer licensed his invention to Magnavox, who released the Odyssey, the first video game home console, to the public in 1972.

The crash of 1983

At least 100 third-party firms claimed to be working on one gaming software or another for Atari Inc in 1983. This led to the production of dozens of game titles, and the market became oversaturated with low and average quality games, with only 10% of games accounting for 75% of sales in 1983. Due to this fact, price war and the race to the bottom began. Top-quality games had no choice but to take part in the race. Eventually, everyone hit ground zero. Several North American console and game firms went bankrupt as a result of the 1983 crisis. In 1983, the $3 billion US market had shrunk to $100 million by 1985. The global video game market also shrunk from $42 billion to $14 billion within the 2 years.

Handhelds and Mobile gaming

Nintendo debuted the cartridge-based Game Boy in 1989, the first significant portable game device. Tetris, one of the best-selling video games of all time, was included with the device, attracting many people who would not ordinarily play video games to the handheld. Until the mid-2000s, mobile gaming had minimal success. Mobile phones were a great platform for arcade-style games meant for shorter play sessions; therefore, older arcade games became highly popular. For example, since the Nokia 6110 in 1997, Snake has been loaded on Nokia’s mobile phones. 

3D Gaming

Thanks to advancements in computer technology, video games went three-dimensional. Sega debuted the Saturn system in North America five months ahead of plan in 1995, making it the first 32-bit console to play games on CDs rather than cartridges. This was done to beat Sony’s initial entry into video games, the Playstation, which came later that year and retailed for $100 cheaper than the Saturn. The Nintendo 64, a cartridge-based 64-bit platform, was released the following year.

The Dreamcast, a commercial failure that terminated Sega’s console ambitions, was regarded ahead of its time and one of the finest systems ever produced for various reasons, including its ability to play online games. In 2001, Sega shut down the system and transitioned to a third-party software business.

Games go Modern

Since the turn of the millennium, internet capabilities have skyrocketed, and with it, computer processing technology. This has led the new generation of video games, visuals, and consoles to outperform the preceding. Online casinos where people wager cash on random results online also got heavily influenced by sporadic growth.

The cost of technology infrastructure and internet services has plummeted to the point that lightning-fast internet is now available almost all over the globe. As a result, 3.2 billion people across the world have Internet access, and at least 1.5 billion of these individuals play video games, according to the ESA Video Games Industry Report for 2015.

Timeline

• 1940-1960: Scientists begin to question whether machines can think and play, testing programs and their limits.
• 1960-1980: mainframe computers aid innovation and design, the advent of coin-operated arcade games and consoles.
• 1980-2000: Game wars almost crush the entire industry, designers begin to develop internet games
• 2000-2020: Game-playing, pocket-sized supercomputers in the form of smartphones take sway, a global pandemic causes a surge in growth of electronic games and sports
• 2000- Present: The emergence of crypto gaming, play-to-earn, and the transfer of gaming economy to players and the community. 

Conclusion

Despite its humble origins, video gaming has taken over the globe, and it shows no signs of slowing down. This interactive media has established itself as a multibillion-dollar industry, changed how we interact with technology and has helped in the technical advances that have been found along the road, with both A.I. development and the breakout of VR and AR.