Historians and gamers alike debate the true origins of the video game. The problem lies in the definition of the word ‘video’ and whether or not some preceding scientific endeavours were video games or merely experiments. Generally, it has come to be accepted that video gaming takes place on a raster graphics display (an array of pixels).

The first device specifically designed for interactive electronic entertainment purposes was the ‘Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device’ which was submitted to the US patent office in January 1947. The game itself was unnamed – a missile launch simulator. A dot represented a missile and dials were turned to alter its trajectory. Paper overlays were needed to represent targets. Only handmade prototypes were ever created.

During the 1950s there were a number of developments that could loosely fall into the realm of primitive video games, but these were mostly scientific experiments.

The distinction of the creation of the first mass produced video game belongs to Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, for their coin operated arcade game, Computer Space, launched in 1971. The game was a commercial failure, which Bushnell attributers to poor marketing by the manufacturer, Nutting Associates.

In 1972 Bushnell and Dabney founded Atari, although Bushnell later bought out Dabney, who was concerned about the success of the video gaming market. By the end of 1972 the first version of Pong was completed and introduced as a coin operated arcade game. The game was an instant hit and would help Atari dominate the arcade market until 1975.

Ralph Baer conceived the idea of an interactive game that used a television set in 1951, but only revisited this idea in 1966. By 1967 Baer had created the first game to use a standard television set. It would take five years and seven prototypes before, in 1972, the Magnavox Odyssey was released, heralding the birth of the video game console market. The Odyssey was also Nintendo’s entry into the video game market, and in 1975 they secured the rights to distribute the product in Japan.

The Odyssey used a printed circuit board which was inserted into a slot on the console. The circuit board used jumpers to connect different logic and signal components of the console, and generate the desired game and screen outputs.

Translucent overlays were packaged with the console, which could be used to simulate colour graphics, and had stencils for fields of play and objects to interact with. The package also included dice, scoring chips, and score sheets so that players could keep track of their scores. The Odyssey also supported the first console peripheral add-on, a light gun for a shooting gallery game. However, the console had no audio output.

In 1975 Bushnell began to develop his own video game console. Progress was initially slow until the advent of high-performance, low-cost CPUs. The Atari 2600 was born in 1976. Needing financial support to get the console off the ground, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for US$28 million.

Launched in October 1977, the 2600 (originally marketed as the Video Computer System) was sold with two joysticks and the game Combat, one of nine launch titles. Sales were initially slow and Bushnell left the company in 1978.

By the end of 1979 the console had become a best selling product, and further secured its position with the licensing of Space Invaders in 1978. The console continued to sell well until 1983 when North America suffered the so-called ‘video game crash.’ Variations of the 2600 were manufactured and sold until 1992, making it the longest-lived console in US game history, a total of 14 years and 2 months.

In Japan during 1983, Nintendo was making a killing from their Famicom console, a veritable paragon of video game console design. The device was launched in the US and Europe as the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 to such resounding success, that it revitalised the flailing industry in those markets.

The rest, as they say, is history. We’ve seen Sega consoles come and go, and the rise of the PlayStation and Xbox, all the while the stalwart PC platform continues to evolve daily. As for the future, it seems that some are already looking to the cloud, as is the case with OnLive.

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