The debate over the first video game is often argued, but the graphics based computer game OXO (aka Noughts and Crosses) predates them all.
The Early Years
“Tennis for Two” was a science experiment, created by William Higinbotham. His aim wasn’t to kick off the multibillion-dollar game industry — he just wanted to “liven up the place” with his invention.
The Early Years
Computer Space is the world's first commercially sold coin-operated video game.
The Early Years
Snake first emerged in the Seventies on early modern computers, but it found a global audience when Nokia pre-loaded it on its mobile phones in 1998.
The Early Years
The one-slice-missing-from-a-pizza character the world knows as Pac-Man was actually born under the name of Puck-Man. This was soon changed, as the authorities were concerned that unruly arcade-goers might vandalise cabinets by changing the P to an F.
The Early Years
While Donkey Kong would later become famous for the angry ape of its title - not to mention introducing an early version of Super Mario to an unsuspecting world - the game had originally started life as a Popeye game.
The Early Years
The video game crash of 1983, also known as Atari shock in Japan, was a massive recession of the gaming industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985. Revenues had peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, then fell to around $100 million by 1985.
The Video Game Crash
Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris while working for the Soviet Academy of Sciences at their Computer Centre in Moscow. The myth goes that the game had to be locked away by Moscow officials because the addictive game was distracting all the staff.
The 2D Generation
Nintendo revive the gaming industry with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. The largest NES game took up 1 megabyte of space, or 60 seconds of an mp3 – a fraction of storage, compared to the monster machines of today.
The 2D Generation
Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Super Mario Brothers, has mentioned numerous times that the kung-fu master Jackie Chan was a major source of inspiration for the Super Mario Brothers game.
The 2D Generation
Game Boy was released, and to date, was the first video game console to be played in space. The player? Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Serebrov. The game? Tetris
The 2D Generation
The first ever Sonic the Hedgehog game, and some say the best, was released on the Sega. Inspired by Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse, Sonic’s original name was “Mr. Needlemouse.”
The 2D Generation
Virtua Racing is Sega's first ever 3D polygon-based racing game. And, it’s now regarded as one of the most influential games of all time.
2D to 3D
The very first Virtua Fighter game is considered the first 3D polygon-based fighting game, and the first fighting game to allow movement on a 3D plane that would later provide the inspiration for other 3D fighting series' like Tekken and Dead or Alive.
2D to 3D
The original PlayStation was so popular, games were still being made for it throughout the lifespan of the PS2. 2,418 titles were released, with sales of almost 962 million units.
The 3D Generation
Time Magazine named the N64 their 1996 Machine of the Year.
The 3D Generation
The PlayStation 2 was released in the year 2000, it used a sleek modern design that made it stand out. It turns out that the design was actually based off a prototype Atari console called the Falcon030 Microbox, which was created in 1993.
The 3D Generation
The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
The 3D Generation
The PlayStation 3 is the world's most sophisticated video game console to date. Even the US Air Force have built a supercomputer, with 1,760 PlayStation 3's.
The 3D Generation
Wii sold 101 million units; in December 2009. The Wii sensor bar doesn't communicate with the console — it just provides infrared light to the Wiimotes. You could easily substitute an alternate light source, such as a candle.
3D to Virtual Reality
The Nintendo 3DS system is designed for gaming on-the-go. The Nintendo 3DS family of systems combined have sold 52 million units.
Virtual Reality
A TV show from the early 1990s called Red Dwarf depicted the last humans that were lost in space in the future, desperate to get home.One of the big ways they stayed entertained was with a holographic headset that let them play in hyper real worlds. It was always thought that idea would never come true. But the HTC Vive has taken the first steps into this virtual world.
Virtual Reality
Project Morpheus is 3-plus years in the making, and Shuhei Yoshida said that the headset is designed to "push the boundaries of play." Since it's a prototype, we predict a consumer release date of 2016.
Virtual Reality
Oculus’ virtual reality headset Rift set the gaming world on fire with its potential, even as it still hasn’t made it to the mass market yet. Facebook bought the hot virtual reality gaming company Oculus VR for a cool $2 billion.
Virtual Reality
Read the full blog post on Fortune Frenzy.
