A history of the start of computer games.

1. THE HISTORY OF VIDEO GAMES

2. Christopher S. Strachey was a British computer scientist.
Strachey programmed the first ever music performed by a computer; a rendition of the British National
Anthem "God Save the Queen" on the Mark II Manchester Electronic Computer at Manchester, in 1951.
In his spare time Strachey developed a program for the game of draughts, which he finished by the
summer of 1952, the program could run on a Manchester Mark 1 and play a complete game of Draughts
at a reasonable speed.
STRACHEY DRAUGHTS

3. Tennis for Two was first introduced on
October 18, 1958. Two people played the
electronic tennis game with separate
controllers that connected to an analog
computer and used an oscilloscope for a
screen. The game’s creator, William
Higinbotham, was a nuclear physicist who
had worked on the Manhattan Project and
lobbied for nuclear nonproliferation as the
first chair of the Federation of American
Scientists.
TENNIS FOR TWO

4. ANALOGUE COMPUTER

5. In 1961, a group of students at MIT,
including Steve Russell, programmed a game
titled Spacewar! on the PDP-1, a new computer
at the time. The game pitted two human
players against each other, each controlling a
spacecraft capable of firing missiles, while a
star in the center of the screen created a large
hazard for the crafts.
SPACE WAR

6. The PDP-1 had an equivalent to 9,216
eight-bit bytes of memory. The
magnetic core memory's cycle time
corresponded roughly to a "clock
speed" of 200 kilohertz.
The PDP-1 used punched paper tape as
its primary storage medium.
PDP-1

7. In 1966, Ralph Baer engaged co-worker Bill Harrison in the
project, where they both worked at a military electronics
contractor. They created a simple video game named Chase, the
first to display on a standard television set. With the assistance of
Baer, Bill Harrison created the light gun.
CHASE

8. MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY
The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first
commercial home video game console. It
was released in 1972, predating the Atari
Pong home consoles by three years.
The Odyssey was designed by Ralph Baer,
who began around 1966 and had a
working prototype finished by 1968. This
prototype, known as the Brown Box

9. The system was powered by batteries and had no sound
capability.
The Odyssey uses a type of removable printed circuit
board card that inserts into a slot similar to a cartridge
slot; these do not contain any components but have a
series of jumpers between pins of the card connector.
These jumpers interconnect different logic and signal
generators to produce the desired game logic and screen
output components respectively.
The system was sold with translucent plastic overlays that
gamers could put on their TV screen to simulate colour
graphics, though only two TV sizes were supported.
MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY

10. Units sold 330,000
CPU None
Controller input Two paddles
The Odyssey was also designed to support an add-on
peripheral, the first-ever commercial video "light
gun”. This detected light from the TV screen, though
pointing the gun at a nearby light bulb also registered
as a "hit".
MAGNAVOX ODYSSEY

11. Pong is a two-dimensional sports game that simulates table
tennis.
Pong was the first game developed by Atari Inc.,
incorporated in June 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted
Dabney. Who installed the Pong prototype at a local bar,
Andy Capp's Tavern then released it later that year.
PONG

12. In 1974, Atari engineer Harold Lee proposed a home
version of Pong that would connect to a television.
The idea was to concentrate all electronic components of
the arcade version into one chip. According to today's
standards it's extremely simple: a tennis game on a
television screen. But in 1974, the chip needed was the
most sophisticated ever used in a consumer product.
HOME PONG

13. Christmas 1975, Pong was the smashing hit for Sears. In
several towns people had to wait hours in line for the shops,
not to buy Pong, but to put their name on a list to order it.
Thanks to Pong, Atari in 1975 had a turnover of 40 million
dollars.
HOME PONG

14. Space Invaders
Released in 1978, sparking a renaissance
for the video game industry and paving
the way for the golden age of arcade
video games.
It was originally manufactured and sold
by Taito in Japan

15. Space Invaders
It was one of the forerunners of modern video
gaming and helped expand the video game industry
from a novelty to a global industry.
The game uses an Intel 8080 central processing unit
(8-bit - 2Mhz)
Space Invaders grossed US$2 billion worldwide by
1982.
The 1980 Atari 2600 version quadrupled the
system's sales and became the first "killer app" for
video game consoles.

16. Fairchild Channel F
Released in 1976 at the retail price of
$169.95. It has the distinction of being the
first programmable ROM cartridge–based
video game console, and the first console to
use a microprocessor.
CPU - Fairchild F8 8-bit - 1 MHz-2 MHz
Memory - 64 bytes of system RAM
Output - A resolution of 102 × 58 pixels.(ish)
Input - The controllers are a joystick without a
base. It could be used as both a joystick and
paddle (twist), and not only pushed down to
operate as a fire button but also pulled up.

17. Atari 2600
Released in 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is
credited with popularizing the use
of microprocessor-based
hardware and cartridges
containing game code

18. Atari 2600
CPU - MOS Technology 6507 running at 1.19 MHz
Primary Memory – 128 bytes of RAM
Secondary Memory - ROM (game cartridges): 4 kb
maximum capacity (they got this up to 32 kb later)
Input - joysticks, paddles, keyboards, etc.
Output - 160 x 192 pixels, 128 colors were
available.

19. Atari 2600 Controllers

20. Atari 2600 Games

21. Intellivision
Released by Mattel in 1979.
Over two million Intellivision
consoles had been sold by the
end of 1982, earning Mattel a
$100,000,000 profit

22. Intellivision
Intellivision can be considered the first 16-bit
game console.
The Intellivision was also the first system to
feature downloadable games (via cable TV).
Although, without a storage device the games
vanished once the machine was turned off.
Intellivision was the first game console to
provide real-time human and robot voice.
Intellivision was the first console to feature a
controller with a directional pad.
Intellivision was also the first console to have a
complete built-in character font.

23. Intelevision
CPU - General Instrument
CP1610 16-bit microprocessor.
0.9 MHz)
Primary Memory -1456 bytes of
RAM
Output - 159 pixels wide by 96
pixels high 16 color palette.

24. Handhelds
In 1979, Milton Bradley Company
released the first handheld system
using interchangeable cartridges,
the Microvision.

25. Game and Watch
In 1980, Nintendo released its Game & Watch line
over the next eleven years 43.4 million copies of the
59 games were sold worldwide. It was the earliest
Nintendo product to garner major success.
Different models were manufactured, with some
having two screens and a clam-shell design (the Multi
Screen Series). The Nintendo DS and Game Boy
Advance SP later reused this design.
The modern "cross" D-pad design was developed in
1982 by Yokoi for the Donkey Kong handheld game.

26. Commodore VIC-20
Released in 1980. The VIC-20 was the first computer
of any description to sell one million units.
CPU MOS Technology 6502 @ 1.02 MHz
(NTSC)
Primary Memory 5 - 64 kB
Secondary Storage – Tape and Cartridge
Graphics VIC 176 x 184

27. Commodore 64
Released in 1982
Sales totaled between 12.5 and 17 million units
CPU MOS Technology 6510@ 0.985 MHz
Primary Memory 64 kB RAM + 20 kB ROM
Secondary Storage IEEE-488 floppy 170 kilobyte drive for 5¼" disks, Tape, Cartridge
Output Graphics VIC-II (320 × 200, 16 colors)

28. ColecoVision
Released in 1982. The ColecoVision offered near-arcade-quality
graphics and gaming style, and the means to expand the system's
basic hardware.

29. ColecoVision
• CPU: Zilog Z80A @ 3.58 MHz
• Output Video processor: Texas
Instruments TMS9928A
• 256×192 resolution 32 Sprites
16 colors
• Sound:
• 3 tone generators
• 1 noise generator
• Storage: Cartridge: 8/16/24/32
KB

30. Game Boy
In 1989, Nintendo released the
Game Boy, the first handheld
console since the ill-fated
Microvision ten years before.
CPU: Custom 8-bit Sharp
LR35902at 4.19 MHz
Primary Memory 8 kB -32 kB)
Secondary Memory 2 MB, 4 MB
and 8 MB cartridges

31. Nintendo Entertainment System
Released in 1983 (Asia) 85 (US) 87
Australia
CPU Ricoh 2A07 @1.66 Mhz
Primary Memory 2 Kb + 2Kb video
Secondary Memory Cartridges 32Kb – 384
kB
Output 256 x 240 x 54 colours

32. Nintendo Entertainment System

33. Amiga
The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home
computer. The best selling model, the Amiga 500, was
introduced in 1987
The Amiga was the first multimedia computer
CPU - Motorola 68000 @7.1 Mhz
Primary Memory – 500 Kb (expandable)
Output 320x256 (32 colours) to 640x256 (16 colours) HAM
mode allowed for 4096 colours.
The Amiga was one of the first home computers for which
inexpensive sound sampling and video digitization
accessories were available. As a result of this and the
Amiga's audio and video capabilities the Amiga became a
popular system for editing and producing both music and
video.

34. Amiga

35. Empire
1973
It's significant for being quite
probably the first networked
multiplayer arena shooter-
style game.
Networked Games

36. Other Notable Gaming Computers
The ZX Spectrum an 8-bit personal
home computer released in the
United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair
Research Ltd.

37. Other Notable Gaming Computers
The Atari ST is a home computer
released by Atari Corporation in
June 1985.
Comparable to the Amiga but but
not as good for games.
The ST was also the first home
computer with integrated MIDI
support. Thanks to its built-in MIDI,
it enjoyed success for running
music-sequencer software and as a
controller of musical instruments
among amateurs and professionals
alike.