History of video games

Beginings

Jan 20, 1947

Tennis for Two

first war game

Jan 20, 1955

The long tradition of military wargaming enters the computer age when the U.S. military designs Hutspiel, in which Red and Blue players (representing NATO and Soviet commanders) wage war.

Odyssey

Jan 20, 1968

Ralph Baer patents his interactive television game. Four years later Magnavox releases Odyssey, the first home video game system, based on his designs.

Pong

Jan 20, 1972

Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn of Atari develop an arcade table tennis game. When they test it in Andy Capps Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, it stops working. Why? Because people played it so much it jammed with quarters. Pong, an arcade legend, is born.

Atari 2600

Jan 20, 1977

Atari releases the Video Computer System, more commonly known as Atari 2600.

Space invadors

Jan 21, 1978

Taito's Space Invaders descends on Japan, causing a shortage of 100-yen coins. Within a year, 60,000 Space Invaders machines in the United States tempt Americans to spend millions of quarters driving back the seemingly unstoppable ranks of attacking aliens.

intellivision

Jan 21, 1979

oy-maker Mattel supplements its handheld electronic games with a new console, the Intellivision. Intellivision has better graphics and more sophisticated controls than Atari 2600, and players love its sports games. Mattel sells three million Intellivision units.

pacman

Jan 21, 1980

A missing slice of pizza inspires Namco’s Toru Iwatani to create Pac-Man, which goes on sale in July 1980. That year a version of Pac-Man for Atari 2600 becomes the first arcade hit to appear on a home console.

Sonic

Jan 21, 1991

Sega needs an iconic hero for its Genesis (known as Mega Drive in Japan) system and finds it in Sonic the Hedgehog. Gamers, especially in the United States, snap up Sega systems and love the little blue guy's blazing speed and edgy attitude.

Playstation 1

Jan 21, 1995

Sony releases PlayStation in the United States, selling for $100 less than Sega Saturn. The lower price point, along with the arrival of Nintendo 64 in 1996, weakens Sega's home console business.

Xbox

Jan 21, 2001

Microsoft enters the video game market with Xbox and hit games like Halo: Combat Evolved. Four years later,

Steam

Jan 21, 2003

Valve energizes PC gaming with its release of Steam. The digital distribution platform allows players to download, play, and update games.

Xbox 360

Jan 21, 2005

Microsoft's Xbox 360 brings high-definition realism to the game market, as well as even better multiplayer competitions on Xbox Live and popular titles such as Alan Wake.

angry birds

Jan 21, 2009

Social games like Farmville and mobile games like Angry Birds shake up the games industry.

minecraft

Jan 21, 2010

The indie game movement comes of age with the tremendous popularity of Minecraft, the addictive brick-building game from Swedish developer Markus Persson.