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The Evolution of Video Games


Hayden Kered

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Video games have been around for quite some time.

 

Video game consoles through the ages

by James Hadfield

 

1972

The world's first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, hits the streets. It isn't very popular.

 

1975

Atari's PONG console takes the world by storm, spawning a flood of deeply cack imitators in the process.

 

1976

Fairchild releases the Video Entertainment System (VES), the first cartridge console. It falls foul of the video game crash the following year.

 

1977

Atari releases the Video Computer System (VCS). Along with Mattel's Intellivision, it comes to dominate the home gaming market, helped no end by the release of Space Invaders on the console in 1980.

 

1983

Previously just an arcade game developer, Nintendo releases its first console, the Famicon, in Japan. Negotiations for a US distribution deal with Atari fall through, so the company goes it alone and – oop! – makes a ****load in the process.

 

1988

Sega's 16-bit Mega Drive hits the streets in Japan (and a year later in the US, as the Sega Genesis). It'll go down in history as the company's one truly successful console.

 

1989

The Nintendo Game Boy takes gaming out of the living room and onto the bus. Or, like, wherever. It eventually sells over 69 million around the world.

 

1990

Nintendo's 300,000-strong initial shipment of its new Super Famicon console sells out within hours in Japan. Later released overseas as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), it sells 49 million worldwide.

 

1991

At the very last minute, Nintendo cancels its deal with Sony to develop a SNES CD-ROM drive. Sony decides to develop its own console instead. D'oh!

 

1993

The Atari Jaguar and 3DO Interactive Multiplayer commence battle for the “least popular kid on the block” title. The Jaguar eventually wins.

 

1994

The CD-driven Sony PlayStation is released in Japan. It becomes the first console to sell over 100 million units worldwide. Trying to get a head-start, Sega rushes the release of its Saturn console, but forgets to line up any decent games for the launch.

 

1996

As its competitors go CD-crazy, Nintendo sticks to its guns and releases the cartridge-based N64. Nice try, but it doesn't pay off.

 

1998

The world (briefly) thrills at the internet-enabled Sega Dreamcast. “Up to 6 billion players” the publicity boasts. It turns out to be more like 10 million.

 

2000

Sony cements its market dominance with the unveiling of the PlayStation 2. It has sold over 106 million worldwide at the time of writing.

 

2001

Nintendo unveils the GameCube, its first CD console. The cheapest and most compact of the 6th generation consoles, it's let down by a lack of good third-party titles.

 

2002

Having debuted in the US in 2001, the Microsoft Xbox hits Japan. With its clunky stylings and lack of Japan-friendly games, it does exquisitely bad business here.

 

2004

The Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) take handheld gaming to a new level of drawing envious glances from commuters on the train.

It is pretty cool to see some thing so popular come so far. 34 years and counting, imagine what the future will bring. Be sure to check out this video I have provided.

 

Evolution of Video Games: Video

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lol @ "lack of Japan-friendly games"

 

Lol i saw that. Can't say im gutted, last thing i want to play is another version of Super Hyper Monkey Mario Kong's Balls Racing 2000.

 

 

And the N64 kicked major ass back then, and still does...

 

QFE! I love the N64, possibly one of the best consoles ever made for it's time. Gamecube has a few good titles too but like it says, it was a let down after about 6 months in the games department.

 

Im still pandering for an X-Box 360, after seeing a CoD3 tech demo of all three next gen consoles, XBox wins hands down. Whilst the Wii by far has the worst graphics.

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Video game history goes back much much further. Nintendo even started off making trading cards.

And i'm still waiting 4 an Xbox 360.

Well you are definatly right about gaming history going back a long way, as a matter of a fact it goes back all the way up until the first home owned console "The Black Box" and may go even further than that. Anyway though out of all of those years and game systems I would still go with the PS3, Xbox 360, and the Wii.

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1972

The world's first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, hits the streets. It isn't very popular.

_That's_ the name of the game I played when I was a little kid. There was a cat-and-mouse version and a haunted house/ghost version. It was pretty much nothing more than 'move a cursor around on the screen'--you had to put different plastic overlays on your TV screen to play each one.

I've played all of the Atari games he showed on that video. :D

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@N64 discussion: The N64 had no decent games 'cept Goldeneye. It sucked in comparison to the old PlayStation...

 

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ... What about Conka's Bad Fur Day ... 'Rogue' Squadron:xp:, Lylat Wars!!! and .... ZELDA!!!!! They were some of the best games on the N64. ... (What am i saying? .. They still are! :D

 

It is interesting to look back on the old stuff and remember how good they were when they came out...

 

What are ya' talking about, lol? They're still good! lol. And always will be, IMO! lol. As some say ... Old school is good school ... (Something like that anyway, haha)

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:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: ... What about Conka's Bad Fur Day ... Rouge Squadron, Lylat Wars!!! and .... ZELDA!!!!! They were some of the best games on the N64. ... (What am i saying? .. They still are! :D

'Rogue' Squadron was okay (never heard of Rouge Squadron though...Some kind of lipstick simulator? :xp: ), but how do any of those games compare to Tekken, Wipeout, Quake, or Worms?

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