The Old Days

Remember way back when you were a kid? Most people around the age of 20-25 probably remember playing Donkey Kong or Mario brothers, never thinking about where that game came from. When you think what the first video game ever was, you probably think pong. A game about two lines hitting a dot back and forth. While that is a good assumption of the first video game ever, the first electronic game to use a video output device was the Cathode-ray Tube Amusement Device created in 1947

 cathode-ray device

Of course making electronic games didn’t stop here. Many people also have the misconception that the Atari was the first at home game console, whereas it was actually the Magnavox Odyssey created in 1972. The Odyssey had no game programs. Instead it had twelve circuit cards which literally reconfigured the electronics inside the console to change game play. At the time the console ran for about $100. It was then challenged by the Atari 2600 which came out in 1977, and in turn used microprocessors to be able to handle cartridges containing game code.

Magnavox Odyssey

As video games continued to evolve, early arcades became more mainstream. They became a social hub for many early gamers in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. This caused a new entertainment source, alongside going to the mall, or going to the movies. Even though the arcades contained what we now consider “primitive” games, the were, and in my opinion still fun. The mainstream evolution brought video games to  have their own genres such as fighting, role-playing, racing etc.

A small contemporary arcade

Video games actually went a long way in just a few years from being just lines on a screen, to filly coded games with sound and color. When you play an Atari 2600 or an Odyssey, you should notice that the colors are limited and the sound effects remind me of a transformer dying. Also there is no music, which makes games from the late 70’s seem dull. For your information, I will end this post with a link of the Atari specifications, and an example of how an Atari game looks and sounds, some of you may recognize the game.

http://nocash.emubase.de/2k6specs.htm

sources ((http://classicgames.about.com/od/classicvideogames101/p/CathodeDevice.htm)(http://www.consoledatabase.com/consoleinfo/magnavoxodyssey/#.UG4NPk3LQSo http://www.atariage.com/2600/index.html?SystemID=2600)