Gaming Trends: Looking Back Through The History
With as far as games have come along through history, it’s tough to say where we could possibly go next. I mean really, we have witnessed the evolution of the board game into the computer game, then the computer game to the arcade game as well as the television requiring console (we’ll call it the early console- like Atari), then, from the early console evolved the high graphic output consoles and portables of today. The latest console phenomenon, the Wii, has even taken the gaming experience a bit further to add the first “virtual” aspect to gaming in the form of a 3 dimensional sensing remote!
So, where does gaming go next? Will it ever go completely virtual? I guess only time will tell but it appears that just about anything is a reality and the gaming industry continues to push the envelope to give gamers the most realistic experience possible.
Here is a breakdown of the history behind the gaming trends:
1947- The Cathode-Ray Tube was developed and patented by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr and Estle Ray Mann. It was used to simulate missile firing patterns at a target and had knobs to adjust curve and speed of the path
1952- “OXO”, an early version of Tic-Tac-Toe was created by A.S. Douglas as a demonstration of human-computer interaction.
1958- William Higinbotham created a game called “Tennis for Two” on his analog computer and amused visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York
1960s- People started creating their own games from university mainframe computers as a hobby since access to computers was still scarce. Games like “Spacewar!”, “Chase”, and “Space Travel” were created.
1970s- The Golden Age of Gaming. Computer game development took several different directions- arcade machines, handhelds and personal computers. Galaxy Game became the first coin operated arcade game and Atari was released.
1908s- Publishing Houses appeared and games in various genres emerged. Pseudo-3D graphics began to be used. This was the era that Pac-Man, Zork and the Legend of Zelda were released. It was also the beginning of online internet gaming, handheld LCD games and the first Nintendo Console.
1990s- This period was all about maturing what was already developed. It was about perfection. It was also the time period that the Sims series emerged. Arcade games declined and handhelds started to take the shape they are in today. MMORPGs took shape and Playstation emerged.
And that takes us to today… Xbox, Playstation, Wii- systems with extreme graphic abilities and tons of realism. I don’t know how it could possibly get much better….
Filed under Hobbies and Games