NEW MEDIA Videogames Timeline ( )

Transcription

1 NEW MEDIA Videogames Timeline ( ) 1950s 1951 Ferranti designs the Nimrod computer to demonstrate the game of Nim during the Festival of Britain Professor A.S. Douglas creates computer noughts and crosses game at Cambridge University, UK Willy Higinbotham invents Tennis for Two on an oscilloscope at Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York. 1960s 1961 Steve Russell, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), creates Spacewar! on the PDP-1 mainframe computer Engineer Ralph Baer demonstrates fully-functional ping-pong game Ralph Baer develops the Brown Box, the first video games console that works on televisions. 1970s 1971 Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney create an arcade version of Spacewar!, calling it Computer Space Ralph Baer licenses home games console patent to Magnavox and releases the Magnavox Odyssey. Bushnell and Dabney found Atari and release an arcade version of Pong Atari release a home version of Pong. Gunfight is released in Japanese arcades by Taito. Midway license the game for the US and redesign the machine to use a microprocessor instead of hardwired solid-state circuits Coleco releases the Telstar home video game console. Atari release arcade game Breakout. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak both work on the prototype who go on to form Apple Computers. Fairfield Camera & Instrument debuts the Channel F cartridge-based home games console.

2 1977 Atari release the Video Computer System 2600 home games console. Launched with nine games including Combat Taito and Midway introduce Space Invaders into the arcades. Causes a national coin shortage in Japan. Magnavox release the Odyssey 2 games console Atari release Asteroids in the arcades. 1980s Toy company Mattel produce the Intellivision games console Battlezone by Atari is the first 3D game ever created, later used by the US military for training exercises. Williams Electronics release Defender. Japanese video game designer Toru Iwatani creates Pac-Man for Namco. British inventor, Clive Sinclair enters the home computer market with the ZX80. Commodore Business Machines introduce the VIC-20 8-bit home computer. Acorn Computers release the Acorn Atom home computer Nintendo s Shigeru Miyamoto creates Donkey Kong and introduces the world to an Italian plumber called Jumpman (later renamed Mario). Centipede released into the arcades by Atari. Konami develop Frogger. Sinclair Research release the Sinclair ZX81 home computer. The BBC and Acorn partner up to produce the BBC Micro computer Coleco introduce the ColecoVision games console. Tron arcade game released to tie in with the Disney film. Sinclair continue their domination of the British home computer market with the ZX Spectrum. Beam Software release text-adventure, The Hobbit. Commodore 64 is released to compete against the ZX Spectrum. Namco releases Pole Position into the arcades Cinematronics debut Rick Dyer s Dragon s Lair in the arcades. Interactive animation has arrived courtesy of the laserdisc. Atari introduce Star Wars: The Videogame to the arcade. Nintendo introduce the Famicom in Japan. British bedroom coder Matthew Smith designs Manic Miner Russian computer engineer Alexey Pajitnov creates Tetris on an Elektronika 60, later ported to the IBM PC. Cambridge University students David Braben and Ian Bell create Elite. Amstrad release the CPC464 home computer The Famicom is redesigned as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and released in Europe and the US. Super Mario Bros. is released by Nintendo for the NES.

3 Atari release the 520ST home computer. Ed Logg designs Gauntlet arcade game at Atari Sega release the Master System to compete against the NES. Twins, Philip and Andrew Oliver design the first Dizzy game. Taito release Bubble Bobble into the arcades Commodore release the Amiga 500 home computer. Taito follow up Bubble Bobble with the release of Rainbow Islands. The Legend of Zelda is released for the NES Peter Molyneux forms Bullfrog Productions and releases god-game, Populous. 1990s Atari enter the handheld market with the release of the Lynx. Sega release Golden Axe in the arcades. Will Wright creates SimCity The Nintendo Game Boy is released in the UK. Sega release the groundbreaking 16-bit Mega Drive console in the UK. The Secret of Monkey Island is released by Lucas Arts for Amiga and PC Capcom introduce Street Fighter II into the arcades. DMA Design release Lemmings for the Commodore Amiga. Sega respond to the Game Boy by releasing the hand held Game Gear console. Sega introduces the world to a blue hedgehog called Sonic. Nintendo release the Super Nintendo to compete against the Mega Drive. The acclaimed Super Mario World is included as a launch title Midway respond to Street Fighter II with the release of Mortal Kombat. Sega release Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Megadrive. Jon Hare designs Sensible Soccer. Sega launch Virtua Racing into the arcade. Brothers, Oliver and Peter Collyer, develop Championship Manager Sega launch the first 3D fighting game, Virtua Fighter, in the arcades. Atari release the Jaguar home games console. id Software release first-person-shooter Doom for the home PC. Broderbund create Myst for the Macintosh computer. Nintendo release Super Mario Kart for the SNES Sony release the Playstation in Japan. Bullfrog release Theme Park Westwood Studios release Command & Conquer for the home PC. The Sega Saturn arrives in the UK. Psygnosis release racing game Wipeout on the Playstation 1.

4 Windows 95 is released by Microsoft. Millions idle away office hours playing Minesweeper and Solitaire The Tamagotchi virtual pet is released in Japan. British studio, Core Design, develop Tomb Raider and introduce Lara Croft. id Software release Quake. Capcom release Resident Evil. Nintendo develop Pokemon for the Game Boy Nintendo 64 released in UK. The groundbreaking Super Mario 64 is included as a launch title. Nokia release the 5110 mobile phone and include the game Snake. The PlayStation sells 20million units worldwide. Rare develop GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64. Scottish studio, DMA Design release Grand Theft Auto for the PC Sega release the Dreamcast games console. 2000s Nintendo release the Game Boy Color. Valve Software develop Half-Life for the PC. Arcade sensation Dance Dance Revolution is released by Konami. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is released for the Nintendo Sony release the Playstation 2 in the UK. Will Wright s, The Sims, is released on the PC Nintendo release the Game Boy Advance in the UK. Sega announce that it will no longer manufacture hardware. Grand Theft Auto III is released for the Playstation Microsoft release the Xbox games console in the UK. Includes Bungie Software s Halo as a launch title. Nintendo release the GameCube in the UK EyeToy: Play released for the Playstation Blizzard release online role-playing epic, World of Warcraft. Nintendo release the DS handheld. Valve Software release Half-Life 2. Sony London Studios develop SingStar for the Playstation Sony release the PSP. Harmonix develop Guitar Hero for the PlayStation 2. Microsoft launch the Xbox 360. Relentless Software release Buzz: The Music Quiz 2006 Nintendo release the Wii. Wii Sports included as launch title. Dr. Kawashima s Brain Training is released for the DS

5 2007 Sony release the Playstation 3 in the UK. Apple launch the iphone Media Molecule release Little Big Planet for the PS3. Grand Theft Auto IV released by Rockstar Games Nintendo release the DSi 2010 Sony release Playstation Move motion controller. Microsoft release the controller-free Kinect for the Xbox Nintendo release the 3DS, a handheld 3D gaming device that doesn t require glasses. Rockstar Games publishes L.A. Noire. Nintendo announce the Wii U console. Further Reading Stewart Brand, Spacewar! Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums: Rusel Demaria and Johnny L. Wilson, High Score! (New York, New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004) Steven L. Kent, The Ultimate History of Videogames (New York, New York: Random House, 2002) Bruce Lambert, Brookhaven Honors a Pioneer Video Game: James Newman and Iain Simons, 100 Videogames (London: BFI publishing, 2007) Office of Scientific and Technical Information, Videogames, Do They Begin at Brookhaven?: 1UP.com entry on Spacewar!: Steven Poole, Trigger Happy: The Inner Life of Videogames (London: Fourth Estate, 2001) David Winter, Noughts and Crosses The Oldest Graphical Computer Game: David Winter, The Pong Story Introduction: Updated June 2011 National Media Museum Bradford BD1 1NQ Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44(0)