Narrator: Hey kid! Have you heard of the ‪Magnavox Odyssey‬?
Boy: Oh no sir, I haven''t.
Narrator: Don't interrupt me boy!
It's the brand new electronic gaming device. Invented back in 1966 by Ralph Baer, this
new fangled device marked the beginning of a new industry.
The rest of the story I will tell you now, in this short visual history of video games.
In 1972, the great Nolan Bushnell invented a game called Pong. The game was a hit, and
many more were to follow, like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Plus Atari
had something else up their sleeves.
In '77 came the 2600. It took a generation by storm.
The first third-party developers formed and the industry grew at a phenomenal rate. However,
the market became saturated. Then in 1982 came the game by Howard Scott Warshaw: E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. With the loss
of consumer confidence, the industry crashed.
It seemed like the end of this fad, known as 'Video Games', but one Japanese company
had a different plan. In 1985, Nintendo released the NES to the world. It was a great success
and just what was needed to revitalise the industry.
But a new competitor was on the horizon. Sega's Master System challenged the NES. However,
it was no match for Nintendo's overwhelming popularity.
Sega's Mega Drive waved in the 16-bit era. Super Nintendo was their competitor's response.
With aggressive marketing like "Sega does what Nintendon't" and "Now you're playing
with power", gaming fans were heavily divided over which console was better.
In '95 came the Sega Saturn, but it's thunder was stolen by a new contender in the form
of the Sony PlayStation. It's 32-bit graphics were revolutionary, and more mature games
appealed to all. Nintendo in comparison looked childish and lame.
But Nintendo was not to worry. The Nintendo 64 had 64-bit graphics, and colourful games
for a younger audience. It was twice as powerful as the Sony PlayStation, and was totally twice
as fun.
The late nineties was certainly a wonderful time to be a gamer. PlayStation 2, like a
giant monolith, launched the next generation in the year 2000. The Xbox came down, enormous
in girth - Microsoft's first try at a gaming console. It was followed by Nintendo's GameCube,
which was...purple.
Sega also released the Dreamcast which was their last attempt at a console, but sales
were poor and few people cared.
Now, the current generation takes over. With more processing power and more realistic graphics,
the future certainly looks bright for this budding industry.