Little Big History Paper!

! The history of first known digital video game was traced back to about 1947
when men named Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann created it with a
cathode ray tube. A cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube which electromagnetically
deflects a focused cathode, electron, ray towards a certain point onto a screen. The
game was a missile simulator in which they used the same type of radar displays used
in World War II. Using analog instead of digital, analog is a wave used to take a signal
straight to its target but digital technology is sapped and turned into numbers, which is
more used today. It controlled the beam in order to put a dot on the screen. Graphics
couldnt be drawn at the time. !
! However, a commonly thought creation of the first real video game was in 1858
by Physicist William Higinbotham. Its very similar to table tennis and the later hit game
Pong called Tennis for Two. The technician, Robert Dvorak, spent and two weeks
building the game. This was also invented using a similar cathode ray tube setup.The
game showed a side view of just two lines, one being the court and a one being the net.
The ball was a back and forth moving ball, the game didnt keep score. The game was
made using mostly resistors, capacitors, transistors and relays. Players could turn a
knob to adjust the angle of the ball, and push a button to hit the ball towards the other
player. Balls that hit the ground would bounce like a real tennis ball. When the ball went
off the court or into the net, players hit a reset button to start the next round. The first
version, used in the 1958 visitors day, had an oscilloscope with a tiny display, only five
inches in diameter. The next year, Higinbotham improved it with a larger display screen.
He also added another feature: the game could now simulate stronger or weaker
gravity, so visitors could play tennis on the moon, Earth or Jupiter. After two years,
Tennis for Two was retired. The oscilloscope and computer were taken for other uses,
and Higinbotham designed a new visitors day display that showed cosmic rays passing
through a spark chamber. !
! In 1972 Magnavox released the Magnavox Odyssey, the first HOME console
which could be connected to a television. Ralph Baer's design called for a long row of
switches that would allow gamers to turn on and off certain components of the console
to create slightly different games like tennis, volleyball, hockey, and chase. Magnavox
replaced the switch design with separate cartridges for each game. The Odyssey only
initially sold about 100,000 units, making it somewhat successful, but it was not until
Ataris Pong where they really became popular. By 1975, Magnavox cancelled the
Odyssey and released the Odyssey 100. A second console, the Odyssey 200, was
released with the 100 and added on-screen scoring, up to four players, and Smash. All
three of the new consoles used simpler designs than the original Odyssey with no board
game pieces or extra cartridges. After the release of inexpensive microchips, each
containing a complete console on a single chip, many small developers began releasing
consoles that looked different, but were playing exactly the same games. Most of the
consoles from this era were only playing the games that came with the console.!
! The first handheld game with interchangeable parts was the Microvision which
was designed by Smith Engineering in 1979. Crippled by a small, fragile LCD display
and a very narrow selection of games, it was discontinued two years later. The Epoch
Pocket Computer was released in Japan in 1984. The Game Pocket Computer featured
an LCD screen with 75 X 64 resolution, and could produce graphics at about the same
level as early Atari 2600 games. The system sold poorly, and as a result only 5 games
were made for it. Nintendo's Game & Watch proved more efficient. It established
handheld gaming as popular and lasted until 1991. Many Game & Watch games would
later be re-released on Nintendo's next handhelds. !
! In 1977, manufacturers of older generation consoles sold their systems at a loss
to clear stock and caused RCA and Fairchild to abandon their game consoles. Atari and
Magnavox remained in the home console market, even with the suffered losses in
1970s. In North America this drove most smaller game companies out of business, but
in Europe it had a different impact. The reduction in demand for the chips that powered
first-generation consoles caused the price of those chips to drop dramatically. European
manufacturers such as Hanimex, Secam, and Soundic released cartridge-based game
consoles that contained no CPU. Cartridges for these consoles would contain the same
chips that power later Pong consoles.!
! The video game market boosted back up for the most part in 1980. But in 1983,
the video game business suffered a much more severe crash. A flood of consoles,
industry leader Atari hyping games such as E.T. and a Pac-Man that were poorly
received, and a growing number of computer users caused consumers and retailers to
lose faith in video game consoles. Most companies filed for bankruptcy, or moved into
other industries, abandoning their game consoles. All North American game consoles
were discontinued by 1984.!
! A console by Nintendo, the NES, brought back up the market when it was
released in 1986. Along with that, the Sega Master System and Atari 7800 were also
released, raising the competition and giving people choices. Nintendo, trying to
separate themselves, released the handheld Gameboy in 1989 for $109. NEC released
the first 16-bit console in the U.S. TurboGrafx-16, which was the first system to run
video games on a CD disc. However, another 16 bit console became more of an impact.
The Sega Genesis was released later in the year and, even though about $60 more
expensive, it quickly became more popular.!
! The first 64-bit console was released by Atari in 1993, which ran two 32-bit
processors. The violence in video games became a problem to some people in the
1990s. When Senator of Connecticut and Wisconsin launched a statewide investigation
into the violence, in hopes of initiating a ban on violent games. There was a joint
congressional hearing in 1993 to bring about the growing concern thath the game
market was to irresponsible. Those hearings were largely in part due to the popularity of
the fighting game Mortal Kombat. What ended out of the debate was the creation of
the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Those games ratings on the cases
of games, suggesting an appropriate age or maturity level to play and purchase. The
ratings for games are as follows, early childhood (intended for young children, E for
Everyone, everyone the age of 10 and up, T for ten which is 13 and up, M for mature
being 17 or older, A for Adults Only (18 and up), then an RP which stands for RP. To be
able to purchase games yourself, you have to meet the age requirements. Along with
those ratings, along side it will be a reason for why it was rated how it was. Such as how
immense the language is, the blood and gore, the violence, the humor, any display of
nudity or sexual content and the use of drugs or alcohol.!
! The present-day, one of the powerhouses of the industry, released its first
console back in 1994, the Sony Playstation. Nintendo trying to keep its popularity
released the Nintendo 64 not long after. However, Playstation becomes the most
popular in 1997 after 20 million copies of the console were sold. Later in the next year,
Wal-Mart decided to ban 50 plus video games which were deemed too inappropriate for
minors. Sony beefed up the market again with its next generation of console the
Playstation 2 in 2000. The Playstation 2 demand was so high the it was sold out early
the morning of its release. However, new and old companies, were looking to take them
off their high horse. Microsoft and Nintendo introduced their attempt at taking Sony
down in 2001. Microsoft created the Xbox which was advertised as the most powerful
game experience ever. It came with a built-in memoir and internet port. Nintendos
version, Gamecube, was sold for roughly $100 cheaper than the Xbox and Playstation
2. Later, they also brought out a more advanced version of an older invention that it
literally said it in the name, the Gameboy Advance. !
! 3 years pass, and Nintendo makes yet another handheld, the DS. The next year,
Sony released their own version to compete on the handheld market. Within a one year
span however, the home consoles are set to take a huge step. Microsofts Xbox 360,
Sonys Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii are set to release in 2005 and 2006. The Wii had
a different way of playing, not really used before. The motion of yourself moving the
controller was used for many of its games. Wii crushed the competition at initial
releases, with its roughly 20 million more sold products.