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History of Video Game Systems: Knowing About What Started it All
History of Video Game Systems: Knowing About What Started it All
Video games have come a long way in terms of graphics and sound technology. Although video games didn’t exist a hundred years ago, the enhancement in graphics and sound technology revolutionized on what people think of video games today.
Unlike what you see in video games today that has amazing 3D and realistic graphics and sounds, it all started out with a video game called the Computer Space. This video game was released by Nutting Associates in 1970 and was the first coin-operated arcade video game.
In 1972, the Odyssey 100 video game system was introduced. This particular video game can be attached to a standard television to display the graphics and play the game. In the same year, Atari launched Pong. This is a coin operated machine and is played with two short vertical lines that you move up and down to avoid letting the “ball” pass.
The real video game revolution began in the late 70’s. Atari introduced the Video Computer System or the VCS (renamed Atari 2600 later). This system uses cartridges and delivered colored graphics and sounds through the television. The game was played using a joystick or paddles.
The Atari 2600 were the most popular gaming systems ever invented in its time. The system was always in demand that retail stores constantly ran out of stock, especially on the holidays.
However, in early 80’s, more and more video game manufacturers began coming out. An example would be Nintendo. Nintendo’s Family Computer was a worldwide success and sold over 500,000 units all over the world for a short period of two months. In 1985, Nintendo released a similar system in the United States called the Nintendo Entertainment System.
With the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US, it also released the Super Mario Bros. video game that was a total hit. The Super Mario Bros. game reportedly had a worldwide sale amounting up to 40.24 million dollars and was declared as the best-selling game of all time.
In the late 80’s more and more video game manufacturers began releasing their latest video game systems. Sega Enterprises released the Genesis home video game system in the US and was a total hit. It generated sales amounting up to 14 million dollars.
In 1995, Sony Electronics released the 32-bit CD-ROM game system called the PlayStation in the US. It was a phenomenal hit and this was the beginning of the Sony PlayStation legacy.
The popularity of Sony PlayStation paved the way to more advanced graphics system and other video gaming systems manufacturers began to follow suit. The CD-ROM technology to be integrated in a video game system is now the most popular way to play a video game.
Sega Enterprises and Nintendo followed with a similar concept of using a CD-ROM to play its games instead of using cartridges.
Sega released the Dreamcast video game system in Japan in 1998 with features like a 200 MHz processor, 12X speed 1 Gigabyte CD-ROM drive and a 56 kbps modem. However, it arrived too late to threaten the Nintendo 64 and the much anticipated PlayStation 2.
In the year 2000, PlayStation released the PlayStation 2 with great success. About 1 million units were shipped from Japan on the first weekend and have been one of the most popular video game systems ever released since Atari.
Other companies also followed. Nintendo released the GameCube video game system and Microsoft released the Xbox game system in the United States. The Xbox had features that no other gaming system had. It had an 8 Gigabyte hard drive, 733 MHz Pentium III Processor and a 250MHz nVidia graphics coprocessor. Also, it was capable of being connected into a broadband internet connection.
In 2005 Microsoft launched the Xbox 360 video game system in the United States. It has a wireless controller, headset and a 20 Gigabyte hard drive.
As you can see, video game systems are rapidly advancing in graphics and sound technology. You can only wait and see what Sony, PlayStation, Nintendo and other video game system manufacturers can think of next in the near future. Sony even announced the release of the much anticipated PlayStation 3 on mid November 2006 in North America.
Magnavox Odyssey 2: The Game System That Started It All
Magnavox Odyssey 2: The Game System That Started It All
Today, you will see different gaming systems that are integrated with the latest graphics and sound technology. The games that are available in these game systems are even amazingly realistic and can really make you feel that you are part of the game and not just as a person playing it. The realistic and customizable character features in some of these games enables you to feel as if you are part of the game itself.
There are a lot of companies that manufactures gaming console competing in the market today. Some boasts that their gaming console can connect to the internet while other gaming consoles brags that it can have up to four different players playing locally at the same time.
With a wide library of games available today and the different gaming consoles available in the market, it is very hard to imagine that these games have evolved from a very simple and primitive beginning.
Before the Magnavox Odyssey 2 gaming system, the Magnavox Odyssey gaming system was the first to come out. This gaming system was developed by Ralph Baer who worked on the Odyssey gaming system for two years. The Odyssey was first called the Brown Box because it was encased on a wooden box. Baer’s associates showed little interest with idea so he looked for a company that is willing to produce his invention and market it.
The company called Magnavox became interested in Baer’s idea and was willing to reproduce it and market it. The Brown Box is an analog system that runs on transistors and capacitors. Baer’s Brown Box underwent a number of refinements and changes before it was released by Magnavox as Odyssey in the year 1972.
Upon release, the Odyssey was the talk of the town. But because of the high price and inefficient and confusing marketing, people thought it needed a Magnavox TV to run. This confusion hurt sales badly but nevertheless, Magnavox sold almost 100,000 units on its first year.
In the year 1978, Magnavox released the new version of Odyssey called the Odyssey 2. This unit was created to compete with the growing gaming console industry. One of the features that made Magnavox Odyssey 2 stand out is the 48-key keyboard to assist in educational games. Odyssey 2 has features that are considered state-of-the-art during its time.
The Odyssey 2 technical specifications were an 8 bit Intel 8048 (1.79MHz) CPU, a 64B RAM integrated in the CPU, 16 colors and 4 on screen, resolution of 280×192, 4 sprites, 1 channel mono sound system, and a 2K programmable game card. These features were considered the latest technology in its time and Odyssey 2 was considered a success with sales that went up to over a million units.
Odyssey 2 gaming console is also integrated with one button digital joysticks, and a QWERTY layout keyboard for educational games.
Odyssey 2 also has expansion modules for different games. It can be integrated with The Voice where it provides speech synthesis and enhanced sound effects. It also had a Chess Module to run the chess program effectively.
So, when you play with the latest gaming consoles that have great graphics and great sound quality, think of where it all began and imagine what may come in the near future. Because of the fast technological development in the gaming console industry, you may assume that more gaming consoles with the best technology available will eventually pop out in the market in the near future.
Just think about it, in less than 30 years, game console developers and manufacturers have developed simple gaming consoles to highly advanced gaming console with the latest technology in graphics and sound in just a little time.
Today, because of the latest development in computer technology and the internet, Odyssey 2 games are readily available for online play. It is defiantly hard to imagine that all the gaming consoles you see in the market today evolved from a simple gaming console developed by a man called Ralph Baer and a company called Magnavox.
Come to think of it, if you played Odyssey 2 before, you would really want to play the old and simple games again. You can play these old games in a number of websites available. Most of Odyssey 2 games are available for online gaming for free.
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Online games started long ago
Online games started long ago
When did the Internet game scene first start? Well not in the early 1990s when mainstream America started to get Internet connectivity in their homes at an amazingly slow dial up speed. Actually, Internet games started almost forty years ago in the late 1960s according to most games fanatics. And, not unlike most great creations, the game field really began to take off in educational institutions across America. Some of the first colleges to introduce games to the world were MIT and the University of Illinois.
A system known as Plato ran games that people could play that were developed for its capacity. These games of course became widely popular amongst students, ate tons of computer resources as usual, got a slap by the administration, and spawned a truly wild game craze. Other games were developed for the Plato system. Some of these games were multiplayer and some were not. Great games like Avatar and Aircraft, and early flight simulators were introduced to the world on Plato. Some trekkie type games were also developed on this early multi player capable platform.
Some other great game developments happened at an educational institution across the pond, in England, at Essex University, throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. The most popular gaming phenomenon that came out of Essex was a Multi User Dungeon (Mud). People at the University loved this game, and its popularity began to spread across the world as users gained access to the source code and started sharing the application with every gamer they knew. Free gaming owes a lot to this wonderful early program.
In the early 1980s, corporations started to the see the possibilities of getting every teenager in the world addicted to their products. A corporation by the name of Kesmai developed games for Compuserve and together they began serving up great product like Islands of Kesmai and Megawars 1. A user basically had to pay by the hour to play some of these early games, and Compuserve was having a blast getting paid some pretty good rates exceeding ten dollars an hour for game play.
In the 1980s, after the success of Kesmai and Compuserve, the gaming industry was beginning to really take off. Companies like General Electric and Quantum Computer were starting to offer monthly subscription fees to access their gaming nirvana. Kesmai at this point really began to elevate the gaming scene when they began introducing the gaming community to Air Warrior. The company also brought gamers Stellar Warrior and Stellar Emperor. Quantaum introduced Rabbit Jack’s casino at this time.
The late eighties saw the introduction of the AppleLink by Quantum for Apple II computer users, and parents everywhere started screaming at their kids to get away from the games. And the parents were of course right, except if you went to go work in the gaming industry, and then you probably made more than your parents.
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