In the year 1967, the first video game console debuted and because of it being a rectangular wooden box, it was known as the "Brown Box (15)." It was invented by Ralph H. Baer, who is also called "The Father of Video Games." It had two wooden controllers that could be plugged into it and it was able to plug into any TV set. The few games on it were ping-pong, tennis, handball, volleyball, chess, and a light-gun shooter (16). The Brown Box inspired others to make consoles as well. In 1972, Magnavox, a new company, made the first official home video game console known as the Magnavox Odyssey (17). The console, however, did not have any sound and, compared to today's standards, the graphics were very low quality (18).
The popular game Pong made by Atari in 1973, was so popular that Atari decided to make a home console version in 1975 (19). During this same time, Magnavox wanted to improve its Odyssey, therefore releasing two new versions: the Magnavox Odyssey 100 and 200 (20). During 1976 and 1977 Magnavox released a number of different Odysseys, each with only slightly better graphics and improvements but pretty much the same games (21). At the same time, Atari came out with many consoles as well to compete with Magnavox (22). There were also other companies such as Fairchild, RCA, and Coleco making their own consoles that were a lot like the Odyssey 300 and they had various levels of success (23). From 1977 to 1979, the game company Nintendo, a major company in today's world, for the next three decades made a series of video games (24). However, the color TV game series from Nintendo was exclusive to Japan and the games were a lot like the ping-pong games from Atari (25). On the other hand, Coleco continued making consoles of their own. Some of their games included shooters, car racing, and pinball games (26).
In the 1980s, the "golden age" for video games arrived and with this, industries began to broaden their horizons and drift away from ping-pong like games and more to fighting, platform, and adventure games (27). During this time classics such as Pac-Man (1980), Mario Bros. (1983), The Legend of Zelda (1986), and Final Fantasy (1987) were released (28). To go along with the changes, console began switching from built in games, to cartridge based gaming, such as in the Nintendo 64.
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The popular game Pong made by Atari in 1973, was so popular that Atari decided to make a home console version in 1975 (19). During this same time, Magnavox wanted to improve its Odyssey, therefore releasing two new versions: the Magnavox Odyssey 100 and 200 (20). During 1976 and 1977 Magnavox released a number of different Odysseys, each with only slightly better graphics and improvements but pretty much the same games (21). At the same time, Atari came out with many consoles as well to compete with Magnavox (22). There were also other companies such as Fairchild, RCA, and Coleco making their own consoles that were a lot like the Odyssey 300 and they had various levels of success (23). From 1977 to 1979, the game company Nintendo, a major company in today's world, for the next three decades made a series of video games (24). However, the color TV game series from Nintendo was exclusive to Japan and the games were a lot like the ping-pong games from Atari (25). On the other hand, Coleco continued making consoles of their own. Some of their games included shooters, car racing, and pinball games (26).
In the 1980s, the "golden age" for video games arrived and with this, industries began to broaden their horizons and drift away from ping-pong like games and more to fighting, platform, and adventure games (27). During this time classics such as Pac-Man (1980), Mario Bros. (1983), The Legend of Zelda (1986), and Final Fantasy (1987) were released (28). To go along with the changes, console began switching from built in games, to cartridge based gaming, such as in the Nintendo 64.
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Timeline of Famous video games
Year Game Company
--1983--Mario Bros.----------------Nintendo
--1984--Tetris------------------------A. Pajitnov
--1985--Super Mario Bros.--------Nintendo
--1986--The Legend of Zelda----Nintendo
--1986--Metroid---------------------Nintendo
--1987--Mega Man-----------------Capcom
--1987--Final Fantasy-------------Square
--1989--Tetris (Gameboy)--------Bullet-Proof
--1991--Sonic The Hedgehog---Sonic Team
--1991--Street Fighter II----------Capcom
--1992--Wolfenstein 3D----------id
--1993--Doom----------------------GT Interactive Software
--1993--Star Fox-------------------Nintendo
--1996--Super Mario 64----------Nintendo
--1996--Pokemon Red/Blue-----Game Freak
--1996--Resident Evil-------------Capcom
--1997--Golden Eye---------------Rare
--1997--Grand Theft Auto--------DMA Design (now Rockstar North)
--1983--Mario Bros.----------------Nintendo
--1984--Tetris------------------------A. Pajitnov
--1985--Super Mario Bros.--------Nintendo
--1986--The Legend of Zelda----Nintendo
--1986--Metroid---------------------Nintendo
--1987--Mega Man-----------------Capcom
--1987--Final Fantasy-------------Square
--1989--Tetris (Gameboy)--------Bullet-Proof
--1991--Sonic The Hedgehog---Sonic Team
--1991--Street Fighter II----------Capcom
--1992--Wolfenstein 3D----------id
--1993--Doom----------------------GT Interactive Software
--1993--Star Fox-------------------Nintendo
--1996--Super Mario 64----------Nintendo
--1996--Pokemon Red/Blue-----Game Freak
--1996--Resident Evil-------------Capcom
--1997--Golden Eye---------------Rare
--1997--Grand Theft Auto--------DMA Design (now Rockstar North)
Overview
Many of the games, game series, and companies mentioned here have gone through a lot of evolution over the past 50 or less years including sequels, now with better quality. For example, Final Fantasy and Super Mario Bros. both have a multitude of different games, each of which is different in some way. Today, they are still making games of those series, with graphics that have been extremely improved. In the last 50 years, video games have gone through extreme changes and, even now are still going under changes.
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