mercredi 16 novembre 2011

A Brief History of Computer Games

By Kyle Briggs


Gaming today is a recognised part of our cultural views, even to people who are over thirty or who can hardly recall the time before arcade computer games were invented. Gone are the days when you would play Pac-Man or the famous Mario Bros game. Although they are still played and enjoyed today, they've been augmented into dimensional games and versions. Folks will always remember the old games and that is a good thing because there is a history here that should not be forgotten.

Gaming is not a recent development. Arcade computer games began many years ago. They were never as sophisticated as they are now. Artifacts from Egypt and Sumeria have proven that our ancestors enjoyed playing boardgames thousands of years gone.

The electronic games we have now required the creation of electronic computers. The early computers were slow and prone to mess ups. Early programmers felt required to waste time by coding these PCs to do things like tic-tac-toe. When WW2 stopped, electronic computers started becoming standard apparatus in the more progressive labs. Soon after, they were incorporated with large firms, firms and corporations. It can be argued that school scholars were the first game programmers, exploring their fantasies and sci-fi visions into digital programs which we are still using. Their mental imagery have turned gaming into a digital masterwork.

The perception of establishing an electronic game system to the screen or the television was created by Ralph Bauer in the early 1950's. This made the first game practical. After that, he introduced and presented his ideas to Magnavox, a television company. The company liked his ideas and inventions so well that they have released a classy version of Bauer's "Brown Box" prototype, known as the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. By today's standards, the Odyssey was ancient, showing only spots of light on the screen. It also needed the use of see though plastic overlays to copy the appearance of the game.

The first really popular console system was called the Atari 2600. It was released in 1977. The Atari used add-on cartridges so as to play a selection of games. The acclamation for Space Invaders was a discovery and it changed into a best seller during that time. The software games written for the TRS-80 and Apple II PCs were attracting interest at this time.

There are a few books and articles about the history of arcade video games. The game machines of today are light years ahead of those that were around in the 1970's and 1980's. The key competition exists between the XBox 360 and the Playstation 3. The Nintendo Wii is also popular and the P.C remains the best game platform as the hardware is continually developing. However the popularity of console gaming means that personal computer game players occasionally have to tolerate poorly converted console titles. The personal computer still reigns for games that require complex interfaces like strategy games and the best PC flight simulator software.




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