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The history of video games (Author: NetEase netizen boy.367) In the past two days of discussion, many questions related to something in the history of video games. Unfortunately, Basically they are inconsistent with historical facts. Here, I just want to list some of the information I found about video games for reference, and hope that everyone will start the discussion on the basis of full respect for history. The real dedicated video game machine was produced in the early 1970s. In 1971, a guy named Nolan Bushnell who was still studying at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) designed the world's first commercial game console. The name of this arcade game was "Computer Space". The theme of "Cyberspace" is that two players each control a space battleship orbiting a planet with strong gravity to launch missiles at each other. The two warships must also pay attention to overcoming gravity while fighting. Whether they are hit by the opponent's missiles or fail to escape the gravity, the spacecraft will crash. This business machine uses a black and white TV as the display screen and a control handle as the manipulator, and is placed in a billiard room. It's a pity that this grandma's business machine failed miserably. The reason for the failure was that players at the time thought the game was too complicated. Compared with the popular pinball in the United States at the time, this game was indeed a bit more complicated, but I still have my doubts. The quality of American players back then. At this point, the first business machine in history ended its fate with failure. Producer Nolan Bushnell admitted failure, but he still believed in the future of video games. The year after the launch of "Computer Space", he and his friend Ted Dabney used $500 to register and establish their own company. This company was Atari, the ancestor of video games. Atari's business focus at the beginning was still on arcade machines. In fact, they were successful. The first accepted commercial machine in the world was Pong, a table tennis-themed game launched by Atari. It is said that Atari engineers placed the machine in a billiards room in Sunnyvale, California. Within two days, the owner of the pinball room came to tell him that the machine was malfunctioning and that the game could not be started anyway. When Atari people went to check it, they were surprised to find the cause of the malfunction - the game players had invested in. Coins filled the machine. In any sense, "Cyberspace" means the beginning of the video game industry, because it is the first dedicated game console and the first tool to expose the public to video games. The subsequent success of Pong marked the beginning of video games being recognized and accepted by the public as a means of entertainment. Having talked about business computers, let’s take a look at the computer games of that year. The earliest computer games can be traced back to 1972, when a guy named Will Crowther wrote a simple FORTRAN program using the most popular DEC PDP-10 host at the time. In this program, Crowther designed a map with traps scattered irregularly, and players must find a path to avoid the traps. This program was later considered to be the earliest computer game program. In 1976, Don Woods, who worked at the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, wrote a similar program using his lab's Xerox mainframe, and added fantasy elements and puzzles. He called this program ColossalCaves, and Woods' program directly led to the birth of computer games. His program was spread everywhere, surprising all computer experts. This work also inspired the thinking of other people, and soon after, various game programs were born. The more famous ones include Zork written by MIT Hackers (this game has a long history, and there are still sequels on sale today) and Adventureland written by Scott Adams in 1978. In 1981, Toolworks Software Company, later called Mindscape, launched the official retail version of Colossal Caves, named "Original Adventure". It's such a fitting name. The era of computer games has arrived. Later, the use of computers to program video games became popular among programmers.

Most of the electronic games at that time were absolutely aristocratic games made by programming masters to entertain themselves. This was because only the technological elites were exposed to computers at that time, and the general public did not have access to such things. Of course, these so-called aristocratic video games were very crude—so crude that we can’t believe it now. I feel that if one wanted to understand the video games of the time, one had to have extraordinary abstract thinking skills. In the eyes of today's gamers, a white 16×16 dot spot may represent a mosaic, but in video games at the time, they represented big devils, heroes, trees, or anything else. When the first real personal computer II was launched, everything changed. Many old players in China still remember the situation back then, right? The excitement of facing the screen with the green prompt flashing in the Children's Palace? Launched in 1976, the II was designed by Steve Jobs. The II is an entry-level computer for many people, and it is also a powerful real personal computer. Ⅱ and its built-in BASIC program have cultivated countless talents in the computer industry. ⅡThe memory at that time was only 64K. The lack of resources made the computer programs of that year terribly precise. It can be said that the programmers back then were the ones who truly understood the fun of fantasy, and they were able to complete a world in a box. More importantly, II represents a spirit of free development. The difference between computer users and programmers back then was so small. It can be said that every II user is a good BASIC programmer. Today's PCs, due to promotion, are gradually developing into foolproof uses, becoming more like a home appliance. Speaking of games on II, I think the one I should tell you the most is Broderbund. This company, whose icon is composed of three ships, was established in 1980. At that time, it mainly produced some entertainment software and was one of the important software manufacturers on II. one. In 1989, Jordan Mechner produced an action-adventure computer game on the platform based on the ancient Arab legend "One Thousand and One Nights", which achieved unprecedented success in the field of games. This game It has sold 2 million copies worldwide, and countless players still recall and talk about it with relish today. This game is "Prince of Persia". "Prince of Persia" can definitely be said to be the first computer game ACT, and it represented the highest level of computer technology at that time. Players back then couldn't help but marvel when they saw the lifelike prince jumping up and down. The story tells the story of the prince fighting against the evil Sultan in order to save the princess and gain love. In the game, the prince needs to run through various strange and mysterious mechanisms and carefully move through. Avoid moving pillars and spikes in pits, and kill various enemies with an Arabian scimitar. Looking at the memoirs of many old players now, we know that countless children fell in love with computers through this game. "Prince of Persia" has therefore become one of the most enduring themes in the history of computer games. In 1993, the second generation of "Prince of Persia" was launched. During the production of the second generation, Jordan Mechner asked his brother to hang countless wires on his body. Various movements are used to give the prince a realistic action image (this may be the earliest motion capture technology), which is even more popular. In 1999, Broderbund, which had been renamed RedOrb, launched "Prince of Persia 3D" again, but it was no longer popular. This is a story for another time. This era was still the childhood of countless dazzling stars in the computer industry. In fact, many people had already emerged at that time, showing amazing abilities to control computers and computer games. The most representative of these is probably the father of Ultima, Richard Galliot. When he was still in high school at the time, his fascination with paper RPGs and AD&D reached an insane level. In 1979, he launched The first Ultima game, Akalabeth, was released and received a warm welcome. Another famous Bill Gates was tinkering with computers in the computer room of Lakeside Middle School, and he and his classmates struggled to play chess with the machine. Brett W. Sperry studied computer programming in college, while John Carmack was still a young boy who didn't know what he was doing.

It is worth mentioning that Sid Meler, the "godfather" of the game industry, was studying in college at the time. His ambition at the time was to be a hardware designer or a taxonomy expert. Of course, he succeeded. Sid Meler showed great success in "Civilization" Its classification capabilities are enough to put any classification expert in the country to shame. The star of the gaming world during this decade was the aforementioned Atari. Now people often say: Video games were invented in the United States, but they were in the hands of the Japanese. The point of this invention was Atari. During these days, Atari kept making history. In October 1976, Atari released a simulated business console game called "Night Driver". This game has a black and white screen and comes with its own frame (ie, steering wheel, accelerator, brake, etc.). The player needs to play a crazy driver who drives on the highway in the dark. This simple guy is the first 3D game in the history of games. It uses a simple perspective effect (large near, small far) to show the effect of the car moving forward and the road scenery receding. It is the ancestor of 3D games. In addition, it is also the first main-perspective game in history. I think everyone should remember this name. It is the master of Need for Speed, Quake and all 3D games. It must be noted that after Atari developed the arcade market, it turned its attention to the home machine market. In 1977, Atari launched the Atari 2600 game console, which was the world's first professional home game console. In the same year, Bushnell sold his company to Time Warner for $28 million. After that, Nintendo and Sega rose rapidly and completely defeated Atari. The master of the gaming world laid down his body like this, but we will never forget what it once brought us. The history of gaming has turned another page. In the 1980s (1980-1989), for literate people, playing games was a noble enjoyment. I value playing games, it's a valuable habit for me. In this section, the author will focus on commenting on Nintendo and its FC. I feel that this does not conflict with my theme of computer games. Electronic games and computer games are originally from the same mother. Needless to say, Nintendo’s Needless to say, FC's status in the gaming industry is that Nintendo and its FC have given birth to a new culture - gaming culture. If you have never played FC, you cannot be considered a true gamer. The 1980s was an era of booming development of computers and games. During this period, the gaming industry began to truly step down from the altar of the aristocracy and penetrate deeply into the masses. During this decade, video games changed the world's concept of entertainment. Since Atari's success in the field of game consoles, countless electronic companies have identified this market. They have entered the field of electronic games one after another and began to take a share of the pie. As a result, the electronic game market has entered a dark and dark stage. The age of heroes. In 1983, Japan's NINTENDO and SEGA launched their own home game consoles respectively. The two game consoles launched by Sega were named SG-1000 and SG3000. The name of the host launched by NINTENDO is Family Computer. It seems that nothing can be said about this red and white home game console. The FC was priced at 14,800 yen (equivalent to about 1,300 yuan) at the time. It used the 6502 chip as the main CPU and a PPU specifically for image processing. FC can display 52 colors, and can display up to 13 colors on the same screen. The total memory is 64KBYTE, with 2 tones of rectangular wave, 1 ton of triangular wave, and 1 ton of noise. This configuration, which seems inferior and ridiculous now, was second to none at the time. Relying on these configurations, Nintendo had an advantage that no other home game console could match. At the same time, Nintendo also decided on the guiding ideology of "software-led". The company continues to launch interesting software to attract players. By the end of 1983, FC sold 440,000 units. In 1984, game companies such as HUDSON and NAMCO joined the FC producer front. By the end of 1984, total FC sales reached 1.5 million units. On September 13, 1985, Nintendo released a real game masterpiece-Super Mario. This game tells the story of an Italian plumber who defeated the devil, saved the world, and married the princess.

I still remember how obsessed I was with this game at the time. It felt like there seemed to be countless puzzles and mechanisms in this game. What I wanted most at that time was to find every prize mushroom in the 8 levels and 32 small levels of the game. , the location of every invincible star and every piggy bank, however, has always been a regret. Having said that, Nintendo established itself as the dominant player in the gaming industry with this console. In the home console market in 1985, Nintendo had a market share of 98%. In the same year, Nintendo released FC's export model NES (NINTENDOENTERTAINMENTSYSTEM) overseas. Sales that year exceeded 5 million units. FC in 1985 represented almost the entire gaming industry, and Nintendo's influence in the gaming industry was greater than that of any publishing company now. You know, when id's Tom Hall and John Carmack made continuous demonstration animations on the computer, the first thing they did was contact Nintendo. Of course, Nintendo rejected their offer, citing its unwillingness to get involved in computers. This is a good thing for us, otherwise, we might not be able to see Quake. But the real protagonist of our story appeared on August 12, 1981. On that day, IBM launched their personal computer-the thing we are facing now. In the road to the future of Bill Gates, everyone should remember the scene during development - such as the feeling of sweating for confidentiality. In the first few years, the number of software on the PC could not compete with the II, but the PC had one of the biggest advantages, that is, it was completely open. But when I tried to find PC games from 1980 to 1989, it was hard to find. Among the more famous games in this decade are Origin Systems' "Ultima" series. In 1983, Origin Systems announced its establishment. The first released work was Ultima III, which has been released ever since. It can be said that the Genesis series is the most famous RPG game in the history of computers. This series of games has a long history (can be traced back to the 1970s). And he always stands at the forefront of technology every time. The most important thing is that the protagonist in the game-the Saint, is a person with a tolerant and philanthropic personality most of the time (a small part of the time refers to UltimaⅧ, in UltimaⅧ , the Saint was portrayed as a villain who would do anything to achieve his goals, for which Genesis fans strongly protested). There are more than ten versions of the Genesis series released worldwide, and specific sales cannot be counted. The Genesis series has its own team of players, who are all senior players, many of whom are now over 40 years old. It must be noted that paper games provide a basis for the development of RPG. In fact, a long time ago, children in Europe and the United States were keen on playing an adventure game on paper. This kind of adventure game is the D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) series of paper role-playing games (TRPG) launched by TSR (Tactical Studies Rule) company. This type of game requires several players, some paper props and a host. During the game, the player rolls dice to determine the points to advance, and the host tells the story and tells the player what he encountered. Most of the RPGs back then were computer versions of paper RPGs, which meant that the computer replaced the role of host. In 1984, two authors wrote a novel called "Dragonlance Chronicles". The original purpose was to provide a background for TSR's AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons). As a result, it was extremely sensational after it was released, and it was constantly reprinted. TSR's various works have also received unprecedented popularity. Until now, AD&D is still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. For example, Baldur’s Gate uses AD&D2 edition rules. These foundations were laid back then. In the 1980s, WillWcenter and his MAXIS also stole the show.

Speaking of the idea of ????SimCity, it probably dates back a few years. According to Will, he was planning a city planning game in 1980. This was naturally the prototype of simcity. In 1987, WillWcenter and his friend Jeff Braun** *With the establishment of MAXIS. The first game after the establishment of MAXIS was SimCity. In this game, players can quietly build their own cities and plan industrial and commercial areas. This game did not receive much response after its launch. It was later reported and promoted by a senior computer magazine that it became a great success. As I said before, the game production careers of many current celebrities in the gaming industry began in this decade. This is indeed the case. For example, Sid Meler resigned as a systems analyst from General Instrument at that time and founded Microprose with Bill Stealey. John Carmack was teaching himself computer skills at the time. Miss Roberta Williams is preparing to establish On-Line Systems with her husband, which is the predecessor of the now famous Sierra Online company. There is also a guy that everyone is familiar with, that is Brett W. Sperry. This gentleman is the founder of the famous game production group Westwood. At that time, Brett W. Sperry was a penniless freelance programmer, while Louis Castle, the other founder of Westwood, was a student. The two of them worked at a computer store called "23'th Century Computer" in Las Vegas, Nevada. While working, the two of them gradually came up with the idea of ??making games, so...Brett W. Sperry's father remodeled his garage for the two of them, and Westwood Associates was established in this garage. Oh, by the way, many people are guessing what the name Westwood means. In fact, Westwood is a city in California. Louis Castle, the founder of Westwood, likes this city very much - although he has never been there - so the name of this production team was Westwood. When the clock of history passed the last 24 hours of 1989, the whole world was looking forward to the last decade of the 20th century, and they were full of beautiful longings for the years to come. I am trying my best to imagine what the elites in the IT industry were thinking on the last day of 1989. I want to know how John Carmack, Sid Meler and Brett W. Sperry welcomed the arrival of 1990 on that day. People of that year had already It is expected that computers will replace humans in important tasks in the future, but I can guarantee that they never expected that computers will develop so fast. The 1990s (1990-1999) Love games, they will make your life easier; they will lovingly help you understand complex thoughts, emotions and events; they will teach you to respect others and yourself; they will love you World, love for human emotions to inspire the intellect and heart. In this section, the author is confused about how to describe it. It is well known that in this decade-especially the last five years, the progress of the computer game industry is enough to put any kind of propulsion device in the world to shame. So I had no choice but to write wherever I thought. I am very happy to get out of the history of the first two sections and experience what is happening around me with everyone. I will use more subjective words because I think it should be different from the previous two sections. When we look back at history, we will find that the real development and power of computer games occurred from the 1990s to the present. During this period of time, we have been exposed to countless computer games. We have watched many game companies grow from small to large, from programming groups with a few people to development companies with hundreds of people. In the computer programming industry, we have spent 10 years watching It is equivalent to the rise and fall of other industries in 100 years. In the 1990s, the game industry really matured, and I can express my meaning to everyone by evaluating an industry instead of evaluating a person. In this article, this section is the real protagonist.

I decided to use a classification method to recall the stars of the computer game industry in the past 10 years. Hardware The development of games and the development of computer hardware are closely integrated, and they can be considered complementary to each other. However, what is interesting is that there are different opinions on who drives whom, games and hardware. The president of Intel said: "We are convinced that development drives demand, and we do not let demand in turn dominate development." But many people say that idSoftware drives the development of the entire computer industry. In fact, compared to us, due to economic conditions, many people are still suitable for the latter one, at least I am. Ever since I came into contact with computers, hardware upgrades have been a nightmare for me, and after I came into contact with computer games, this nightmare has almost become a required homework every day. Everyone knows that computer games are one of the most demanding software on computer hardware, and game fans are the most enthusiastic group to upgrade. The famous Moore's Law has the most perfect embodiment in us. Two years ago we were using P75, but we were dreaming of owning P133. Now we have PⅡ450, but we are coveting PⅢ. What is certain is that no matter how time changes, we will never have a perfect machine. And what is equally certain is that, no matter what, the price we pay is worth it. 1. Intel The reason why Intel is put first is largely due to the feeling that the CPU is the heart of the computer, so it is favored more than ordinary hardware. Initially, the CPU did not play a big role in games, at least before the launch of MMX. But when Intel announced the launch of MMX with 57 multimedia instructions in 1997, everything changed. The impact of CPUs on gaming has increased, and Intel has strengthened its market sales position. I vaguely remember that the third time I upgraded was for a fishing game in Sierra. That low-level game claimed that it required MMX function support. My feeling at the time was...angry and helpless. Those are all old words. In fact, we can see that Intel has been paying close attention to market trends. This is what businessmen should do. For example, PⅢ claims to have added an "Internet acceleration function" to make browsing faster and more gorgeous. web page. Although I really doubt whether PIII has this function, I have to admire Intel's ability to pay attention to trends. It is worth mentioning that AMD’s K7 has been gaining momentum recently, and I wonder what Intel’s countermeasures will be. The other is nRIVA's GeForce chip with its own GPU. This chip will probably reduce the system's dependence on the CPU... What will happen? 2. 3dfx I don’t need to say why, I think there are probably many people who are preparing to ask me to explain why I don’t put 3dfx first - fortunately I have already said it before. 3dfx is another American legend. This little-known company became the most influential display chip production company in the world within a year. I don’t know how many people will be amazed by this achievement. I feel that game graphics are one of the two fastest growing parts of video games in recent years (the other is hardware requirements). From 1996 to now, the progress of game graphics can be described as rapid. Many graphics that were unimaginable two years ago have become commonplace today. Compared to the graphics, the rest of the game is lagging behind. We should really thank 3dfx. At least 75% of the achievements in computer game graphics are due to them. Looking back to 1997, we were still discussing the possibility of 3D games with great interest. I remember that I faced FXFighter every day and imagined how great it would be if a game with a screen like VR Fighter could appear on the computer (SEGA's VR Fighter PC version was launched It was released in 1995, but it required a strange 3D card and the graphics were pretty poor). Then in October 3dfx announced the launch of the VOODOO card, and everything changed in an instant. We can begin to enjoy the seamless and smooth terrain on the computer (MYTH), we can feel the extremely smooth picture passing by our eyes crazily without skipping frames (NFS2SE; WIPEOUT2097), we can face neat and mosaic-free walls, and this Everything, all because there is a piece of 3DFXVOODOO in the chassis.

While we are obsessed with beautiful image effects, display chips are still developing at an alarming rate. In 1998, 3dfx launched VOODOO2. At the end of the same year, 3dfx launched Banshee. In early 1999, VOODOO3 appeared in front of us. Yes, although some people like nRIVA, and although many people are now using TNTUltra, I still like 3dfx, and 3dfx deserves this honor. Although there are many things. Here are some famous figures in the gaming industry who created and promoted the development of this emerging industry. In a sense, they are still changing the way we live and our world. These people are also true digital heroes. 1. Sid Meler Sid Meler's name has appeared many times in the above article. In fact, this also reflects his status in the gaming industry. Many people respectfully call him "The Godfather", which is really his A great portrayal. Sid Meler is the most influential, accomplished and wisest design master in the entire computer game industry. Just this year, he was inducted into the Association for Interactive Electronic Entertainment Hall of Fame, the highest honor in electronic entertainment. Sid Meler's games are not necessarily the most beautiful, but they are definitely the most fun. His works are numerous in number and variety, but there are also many excellent ones. "Civilization", "Railroad Tycoon", "Gettysburg", "Pirates", "Alpha Centauri", etc., these games are all enduring or a hit. Civilization is, of course, Meyer's greatest masterpiece and the most influential game of all time. The impact mentioned here does not just mean the impact on game players, but the impact on society. Civilization is a game that can be rejected by mainstream society. Its connotation and expression fully embody Meyer's game design philosophy. In many middle schools and universities in the United States, teachers even leave civilization as an assignment to students, requiring them to play the game and experience the development of history and the power that dominates human civilization. SidMeler's games always put playability first. In his view, the life of a game lies in the sense of involvement brought by interactivity. The graphics of computer games will never catch up with movies, and the sound will never catch up with records. If it wants to survive, it must grasp the fundamental element of interactivity. While other games are desperately trying to use hardware performance to display gorgeous graphics, SidMeler is still making some games that "look outdated". Yet strangely enough, these games are always incredibly successful, and even those who have always despised gaming appreciate him. Of course, none of this is accidental, because he is indeed a master. Now, it would be ridiculous for a game designer to say that he had never been influenced by Sid Meler, just like a film director saying that he had never seen a Hitchcock film. In the world of computer games, Sid Meler is Hitchcock and Spielberg. His design ideas rooted in human nature will be more valuable than all current or future technologies and will last forever. 2. John Camark If there is one person in the gaming industry who can guide the entire industry to follow his footsteps and move in the direction he directs, then this person is John Camark. As the most well-known programmer in the entire gaming industry, Camark's design skills are extraordinary. In the industry, Camark's programming skills are a model for all programmers. If Sid Meler is the godfather of game design, Camark is enough to serve as the father of programming. If you doubt this, don't show it, or you'll be considered a psycho by other programmers. Surprisingly, Camark never went to college, and his programming skills were acquired through self-study and study. Camark is born with the talent of a programmer. He understands and masters new technologies very quickly. He is very hungry and knowledgeable about all computer knowledge related to games. In 1990, when Camark was still a young man, he developed a method for smooth scrolling on the EGA (16-color display mode) screen, which was incredible at the time. In the same year, idsoftware was established. Later, they released id's first game-Wolfenstein 3d, which achieved unprecedented success.

You may still be able to find this game on some machines now. Its excellent frame rate that does not rely on any hardware acceleration function and its rigorous maze design all reflect Camark's hard work and technology. Camark is a pure programmer who believes that everything can be done with programming and hates all proprietary interfaces. At the same time, he is also a rich man. He owns more than 20 luxury sports cars and is worth a lot of money. But he was still obsessed with his programming work, often working late into the night. We can only appreciate and envy such people. Sometimes you have to admit that God was not biased when he created humans. 3. Richard Garriott Richard Garriott is the most famous figure in the field of RPG games. If you don't understand this enough, then the game "Genesis" can tell you why. "Ultima" is the most popular and longest-lasting RPG game in the history of computer games. So far, it has been released for eight generations, and the ninth generation is under production. It is said that this will also be Origin's last single-player game. In the future, they will abandon this field and focus on making online games. In fact, "Ultima Online" has already become a model for new RPG games. Its reputation and influence have spread all over the world. Even in some countries where the Internet is not yet developed, "Ultima Online" is a game that players want to participate in. Galliot started experimenting with making games when he was in high school. He became obsessed with RPG games. He was obsessed with studying Dungeons and Dragons manuals all day long, and then inputting those things into the computer terminal. In 1979, he produced his first graphic RPG game called Akalabeth, which was the original "Genesis". Unexpectedly, his game was so popular. By 1983, he and his brother Robert founded Origin Systems and began selling Ultima III and subsequent sequels themselves. "Genesis" has been ported to game consoles and PCs on various platforms, and has been widely distributed around the world with more than a dozen versions. As for the specific sales volume, it is difficult to count. RPG games always have the most loyal and fixed player base. If measured by this standard, the "Genesis" series can even be regarded as the best game.