Pac Man to Pokemon: History of video games

The history of video games goes as far back as the early 1950s, when academic computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations as partof

their research. Video gaming did not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and 1980s.

1950 - 1959:

The first games known to incorporate a monitor were two research projects completed in 1952, a checkers program by Christopher Strachey on the Ferranti Mark 1and a tic-tac-toe program called OXO by Alexander Douglas on the EDSAC. Physicist William Higinbotham created the first video game. A very simple tennis game.

1960 – 1969:

The first interactive computer game. In 1961, Steve Russell created SpaceWar at MIT.

That wasn’t the first actual video game developed however it was first intended to be played on computers.

1970 – 1979:

The 1970's saw the birth of the video games industry. During this decade, the best gaming technology was found in arcades. At home, the first and second generation of gaming machines began to establish what would ultimately become a multibillion dollar entertainment industry. But not without a few ups and downs beforehand.

In 1972, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney decided to strike out on their own and incorporated their preexisting partnership as Atari. They programmed SapceWars to be played on Television screen. Together they created the first Arcade Machine which operated at 25 cents per 90 seconds.

Other famous Arcade games from 70s – Pong, Space Invaders, Tank, Galaxian etc.

1980 – 1988:

Video games evolved immensely from 1980 to 1989. At the beginning of the decade, we still had to go to the arcade for the better graphics, but by the end of the decade, most of the games could be played just as easily at home. First the Atari system dominated the video game scene, then Nintendo burst through with their original NES console that seemingly everyone bought.

Few hits from 80s - Pac Man, Super Mario, Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong, Street Fighter, Tetris etc.