Games article

Of all the things that the 1970’s produced
there are few that made as big of a cultural impact as video games. There’s no question about it: video games have been a significant force in society and one of the most popular leisure pursuits. Chances are if you’re under the age of 40
you played them
some of us a lot. There was Atari
Intellivision and Colecovision. Don’t forget Sega and Nintendo. Today there are web sites that allow you to download free online games.

And if you remember those days of the late ‘70’s and early 80’s
you recall that the games relied on graphic improvements and better ways of shooting the enemy. It was more or less a solitary pursuit. With the rise of the Internet and online games however
lots of things changed
including the ability to download games and playing online games
making games a more social activity
with lots of players
or opponents playing each other from different countries. This may be the biggest change – and the latest benefit that games have offered the world.

But what about the early days? How did it all start and what were the video games that defined the era?

The Innovators

Many people think that Pong was the home game that started it all
but really it was Magnavox and their "Odyssey" system in 1972. Although it was very simple
it was still the first. It had twelve simple games with graphic overlays. However
there was lots of room for improvement
and that’s where Pong came into play.

Nolan Bushnell created Pong
along with Al Alcorn
the founder of Atari. Rumor has it that when the prototype was tested at a California bar
the machine broke down after two days
because it was so popular. The next logical step was to create a home version. So
one year later
Atari released Pong
complete with built in paddles
and a speaker. Of course
Pong was a huge success and represented a new stage in the evolution of gaming. Over sixty Pong knock-offs would be produced
but Atari dominated the market.

Next was the implementation of the microprocessor
which the entire industry adopted. As a result of this
more complicated systems could be developed. These systems produced groundbreaking and innovative graphical and auditory effects that had never been seen before. Consumers were eating it up. The industry was on fire. In 1981 alone
five billion dollars were spent on video arcade machines and another billion dollars was spent on home video game systems. Atari’s VCS/2600 system remained the dominant player through 1982
when the gaming market experienced a crash.

What were some of the great games? How about Pac Man? Pac Man
the yellow blob that ate up dots and avoided squid-like ghosts
was a worldwide sensation and probably the biggest game of all time.

Space Invaders was another incredibly popular game. In fact
it really marked a turning point for arcade games
bringing them out of bars and into family friendly places like shops and restaurants. The premise of Space Invaders was to stop an alien invasion. This simple formula went on to become the most successful arcade game of all time.

Then there was Super Mario
which was huge as well. It involved an Italian anti-hero who was deliberately designed as a character that everyone could relate to. Soon thereafter came Zelda
Metroid
and other classics.

Rise and Fall of Atari

Atari was the hottest thing in the gaming world in the early ‘80’s. Today
they are a relic of past glory. So what happened? Atari made some bad decisions
and although it’s a little complicated
it’s helpful to understand the situation. At that time in the computing world
magnetic mediums were implemented in the data storage used in Arcade machines. These mediums allowed for a higher memory capacity than ROM cartridges.

In 1982
Atari had the option to include a disk drive in their systems. The price difference would have been nominal
and the memory capacity would have been significant. Atari
however
thought that magnetic media was too “fragile” for the consumer to adequately handle. Atari's "concern" for the customer backfired on them. In the previous years
there had been a very fine line separating arcade game quality from home game quality. With arcades utilizing storage capacities ten to forty-five times larger than home systems that fine line became a chasm. Arcade games seemed to be evolving exponentially
while home systems seemed "stuck in a time warp.”

The public quickly became uninterested in video game specific consoles
and sales plummeted.
This would mark the end of Atari's reign of the video game market.

The Rise of the New

In 1984
everything changed. The reason? Two innovations: The reduction in cost of Dynamic RAM (DRAM) chips which allowed more memory
and the production of higher power 8-bit processors
which lowered the prices of the previous chips. Sega
a new player in home gaming systems
entered the console market with their Master System 2. The Sega Master system would sell very well
but its success would be limited.

The other key player was Nintendo of Japan. The genius of Nintendo was their marketing prowess
as they poured millions into advertisements. These advertisements hit consumers at the perfect time
as evidenced in their sales. In fact
Nintendo couldn’t manufacture enough systems to keep up with demand. After all was said and done
the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) would become the highest selling system in history. They would also become the most notorious
as they were involved in the intimidation of retailers
competing companies
and other suppliers and partners.

Over the next five years Sega and Nintendo would battle for dominance
going back and forth. The consumer definitely benefited from this rivalry.

Today
it’s between PlayStation 2
the Xbox and the GameCube. Xbox has taken the step to merge the past and present
where Xbox "Live Arcade" is a console system that has a "download-like" characteristic where you can buy games via the console itself. One thing in the video game industry will always remain: the classic games of yesterday were great games
helped define an era
and will always be fun.