A Time Line of Events Relevant to Computer and Video Games
Colby College,
Randolph M. Jones
This document lists some significant events relevant to the evolution
of video and computer games.
As a case study of computer game development,
the document also tracks one particular game series: Ultima.
Compiled from a variety of sources on the world-wide web, including:
- History of
Computer Games, by S. Kent, J. Horwitz, and J. Fielder.
- History
of Computer Games, by J. Laird
- History
of Nintendo, by M. Hosley.
- SEGA
Online Museum, by F. Nomora
- Atari History
Museum, by C. Vendel
- Atari
Timeline, by N. Roughley.
- Computer
History Online, by C. Weller.
- History of Apple
Computer, by G. Sanford.
- Generations
Throught the History of Computing, by Data General Corporation.
- The
Academy of Ultima History, by ``dominio''.
- The
Collectible Ultima, by R. Gregg.
- A
Brief History of Interactive Fiction, by N. Bowers.
- Infocom
Timeline, by P. D. Doherty.
- A Brief History of
``Rogue'', by G. R. Wichman.
- A brief
history of the Dreamcast, by Sharp Gaming Magazine.
1889
- Fusajiro Yamauchi founds playing-card company that will eventually
become Nintendo.
1954
- Service Games Company starts importing pinball machines from US
to military bases in Japan.
1957
- US government forms Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) after
USSR launches Sputnik.
1961
- Steve Russell creates Spacewar on PDP-1 mainframe at MIT
(screen shot).
1962
- Nolan Bushnell plays Spacewar at the University of Utah.
1965
- Service & Games changes name to SEGA and starts developing arcade games.
1966
- Ralph Baer begins research on interactive TV games.
- SEGA releases Periscope shooting arcade game.
1967
- Baer's research leads to simple tennis game (two paddles, simple physics).
1969
- ARPA funds development of initial ARPANET, packet-switched network
linking UCLA, SRI, UC Santa Barbara, and University of Utah.
1970's
- Computers (and computer games) mostly use teletypes, possibly using
printed characters to make graphics.
- Star trek game played on teletype.
- Intel builds the 4004 4-bit microprocessor.
1971
- Magnavox creates Odyssey, a device to play simple tennis on TV.
- Nolan Bushnell creates dedicated-hardware version of
Spacewar,
called Computer Space. First commercial arcade video game, but
not a strong success.
- Nolan Bushnell founds Atari.
1973
- Atari creates Pong arcade game that is
immensely popular,
leading to the creation of many other Pong clones.
1974
- Kee Games spins off from Atari and creates Tank, first game to
use ROM. Kee merges back with Atari.
- Home Pong created, but nobody will retail it.
1975
- 150,000 Home Pong games sold through Sears.
- Crowther and Woods create Adventure, text-based adventure game
(now called interactive fiction) running on PDP-10 mainframe.
Idea was to have a game accessible to non-computer people.
1976
- Many home video games released, including Coleco's Telstar Pong.
- Fairchild releases Fairchild Channel F, first home
console with interchangeable game
cartridges.
- Exidy releases Death Race arcade game. Gain points
by running over people.
- Atari sold to Warner Communications.
- Steve Wozniak develops Apple computer.
- Wozniak and former Atari employee Steve Jobs found Apple
Computer company.
1977
- Atari opens Chuck E. Cheese chain of pizza/arcade restaurants.
- Midway Games releases Gunfight, first arcade game to use microprocesor
instead of hard wiring.
- Atari releases Video Computer System (VCS
2600) for $249.95. Uses
interchangeable cartridges.
- Apple releases the Apple II.
It beats its contemporaries (Commodore Pet and
Radio
Shack TRS-80) largely because it has color graphics and a floppy
disk drive, both of which make it a good game platform.
- Blank, Daniels, Anderson, and
Lebling create Zork text adventure
game.
1978
- First known ``Easter Egg'' put into an Atari video game.
- Bushnell leaves Atari, agrees not to compete with them for five
years, and buys Chuck E. Cheese chain.
- Nintendo releases cocktail tables that play Computer
Othello.
- Atari releases Atari Football using trackball
controller; huge
hit.
- Midway releases Space Invaders; huge hit, causes coin shortages
in Japan.
- Intel develops the 8088 8/16-bit processor.
1979
- Atari releases Lunar Lander, using vector graphics.
- Atari releases Asteroids, their all time best seller.
- SEGA releases Monaco GP, two-dimensional, overhead
view driving game.
- Strong year-round sales of VCS for Atari.
- Infocom founded to sell Zork and other interactive fiction games.
- California Pacific Computer releases Akalabeth,
precursor to the Ultima series (screen
shot).
1980
- Atari releases Space Invaders for the VCS.
- Mattel releases Intellivision, first serious competitor with
VCS.
- Atari programmers leave and form Activision, creating competing
software for VCS.
- Atari creates Battlezone tank simulation game, first arcade game using
three-dimensional first-person
perspective. Used for entertainment and by the military.
- Namco releases Pac-Man, all time most popular arcade game.
- Chuck E. Cheese chain becomes a major success.
- SEGA obtains rights to release Atari's Missile
Command.
- Nintendo opens branch in US.
- SNK releases Sasuke vs. Commander in Japan, a shooter featuring
detailed background graphics.
- Infocom releases Zork text adventure game.
- Ken Arnold develops curses package, allowing text-based
``graphics'' on video terminals
- Arnold, Toy, and Wichman create Rogue using curses package.
Role-playing game with randomized maps and objects every time the game is
played (``screen shot'').
- California Pacific relases Ultima graphics
adventure/role-playing game, using tile-based graphics, for Apple II.
1981
- Nintendo creates Donkey Kong, introducing the Mario character.
- Konami releases Scramble, a side-scrolling shooter.
- More Atari programmers leave and form Imagic, creating competing
software for VCS.
- Atari continues to acquire rights to arcade titles (such as
Pac-Man) for VCS.
- Atari releases Centipede, created by Donna Bailey, one of a very few
women in video game engineering at the time.
- Atari releases Tempest, a popular arcade game using color vector
graphics.
- SEGA releases Frogger in US.
- A man dies of a heart attack while playing Berserk arcade game.
- US arcades have revenues of $5 billion, reaching the peak of their
success. Americans spend more than 75,000 person-years playing
video games.
- IBM releases the IBM PC using Intel's
8088 microprocessor. Not
targeted at all toward entertainment. Captures the market in part
because IBM used an open architecture and allowed it to be cloned.
1982
- Coleco releases ColecoVision, home game using cartridges, with
high quality graphics and sound. Licenses arcade games from
Nintendo, SEGA, Konami, and Universal.
- General Consumer Electronics releases Vectrex, the only home console
using vector graphics.
- Atari releases Pac-Man for VCS, but fails because of poor transition
to home consoles.
- Atari releases the VCS 5200 Game Console, based on chips from
Atari
home computers, but fails because there are few new games and the old
cartridges are not compatible .
- Midway creates Ms. Pac-Man, most popular arcade game ever in the
US.
- Namco releases Super Pac-Man.
- Electronic Games released as the first magazine devoted entirely
to video games.
- Atari announces poor sales of VCS, and
Warner stock tumbles 32% in
one day.
- New game companies that create software only for home computers
instead of arcades and consoles: Sierra On-Line,
Broderbund, BudgeCo.
- Sierra On-Line releases Ultima II on a wide
variety of platforms (screen shot).
1983
- Cinematronics releases Dragon's Lair, first arcade game using
a laser disc.
- Coleco releases Adam home computer, which is a disaster.
- Coleco releases expansion module to allow ColecoVision to play
older Atari VCS games.
- Mattel loses $225 million from Intellivision.
- Commodore releases Commodore 64 computer, which also serves as a
powerful video game console.
- Origin releases Ultima III, first in the series
to have a soundtrack, but only on some platforms
(screen shot, music from the
game).
- Video game industry in US collapses from glut of similar games with
similar prices.
1984
- Video game console market in doldrums. Computers becoming more attractive.
Lots of really awful games (Chuck Wagon, Kool Aid, Quaker
Oats).
- Mattel and Coleco get out of video games.
- Atari VCS software dumped for sale in supermarkets.
- Nintendo begins development of Nintendo Entertainment
System (NES).
- Founder of Commodore leaves and buys Atari.
Eliminates VCS 2600
consoles, and begins design of new 8-bit consoles and computers,
and 16-bit computers.
- Apple releases the Macintosh, with good graphics, sound,
``friendly'' user interface, and consistent hardware platform.
- Sierra On-Line releases King's Quest, graphical
adventure/role-playing game created by Roberta Williams. Targeted for
IBM's PCjr. Becomes a successful and long running series.
1985
- Nintendo releases NES to test markets, but investors are wary.
Nintendo redesigns case for US market, so it looks like a
``video component'' rather than a toy. Nintendo also releases new
games with the new system.
- NES contains lockout chip and Nintendo
restricts software development to
exclusively licensed companies.
- Broderbund releases Carmen San Diego educational game.
- Origin releases Ultima IV
(screen shot, music from the
game).
- Atari releases 16-bit computer to compete with
Apple's Macintosh.
- Microsoft develops Windows to compete with
Macintosh. Initial
versions are weak.
1986
- Nintendo releases NES to general market, price $199 including
Super Mario Brothers game.
- SEGA releases SEGA Master together with new games, but games are
not as appealing as SEGA's arcade games.
- Atari releases VCS 7800, which is now compatible with
original VCS,
but no significant new games.
- Nintendo outsells competitors 10 to 1. Releases Legend
of Zelda
and new sports games.
- Several software developers begin developing games for NES, including
many who used to design software for Atari.
- Activision buys Infocom.
- Commodore releases Amiga computer, designed to support high-tech
games. Very good technical platform but poor marketing.
1987
- Atari continues to try to recapture market share by releasing new
game consoles, but they are badly designed and fail.
- NEC releases PC-Engine, touted as more powerful than
NES.
- Electronic Arts releases Skate or Die, jumping into the sports
simulation market.
- Origin releases Ultima V, the last Ultima
released for an Apple computer
(screen shot, music from the
game).
- VGA and SVGA graphics cards lead to development of first serious
games for IBM PCs.
1988
- NEC develops agreements with software developers to create new
games for the PC-Engine.
- Atari claims Nintendo has an illegal monopoly and takes them to
court. Nintendo accused of price fixing and anti-competitive
practices.
- Atari releases new versions of old games, Donkey Kong,
Donkey Kong Junior, Mario Brothers.
- Tetris is released and is immensely popular, uncovering the
market for puzzle games.
- Nintendo releases The Adventure of Link (Zelda 2) and
Super
Mario 2.
1989
- Atari figures out a way to bypass the NES ``lockout chip'', and begins
creating NES games that are not licensed by Nintendo. Many lawsuits
follow. Atari gains rights to publish NES versions of
SEGA games,
and also translates its own arcade games to NES.
- SEGA releases Super Monaco GP, three-dimensional driving game.
- Nintendo and Atari fight over rights to
Tetris, Nintendo wins and
Atari must recall its cartridges.
- Nintendo releases Game Boy together with compatible versions of
Tetris and older games.
- SEGA releases Genesis 16-bit console in US for $249.95.
- Atari releases Lynx console for $179.95, as a
competitor to Game Boy,
together with new versions of some good games.
- Origin releases Ultima VI, the first Ultima
with a soundtrack for the PC version. Also introduces a partially
isometric perspective
(screen shot, music from the
game).
- ARPANET completely replaced by "Internet".
- Access to the Internet opened up to general public.
1990
- Nintendo releases Super Mario 3, all time best selling video game
cartridge.
- NES has its best year ever.
- Nintendo sues Blockbuster for renting video game cartridges.
- SEGA continues porting their popular arcade games to the
Genesis.
- Amiga and Atari computers fade away.
- Electronic Arts starts to acquire other game publishers.
1991
- Nintendo releases Super NES console for $249.95.
- SEGA introduces Sonic the Hedgehog, who competes in popularity with
Nintendo's Mario character.
- Galoob Toys releases Game Genie console, which allows players to cheat
on NES games. Nintendo attempts to block sales.
- Capcom releases Street Fighter II, bringing resurgence to arcade
market with hand-fighting and shooting games.
- Sophisticated racing simulations also become popular in arcades.
1992
- Nintendo secures exclusive agreements to put popular arcade games
(such as Street Fighter II) on SNES.
- Nintendo has $7 billion in sales, and higher profits than all US
movie and TV studios combined.
- SEGA releases Sonic the Hedgehog 2, immensely popular competitor
to the Mario Brothers games.
- SEGA releases SEGA CD console for $299.95, but does not release
tools that would make it easy for software developers to create
games.
- Sony and Nintendo have a falling out.
Nintendo begins development
of their own CD console, and Sony begins development of a 32-bit
CD console to compete with Nintendo.
- Atari loses monopoly lawsuit against Nintendo.
- Origin releases Ultima VII in two parts, only for PC platforms
(screen shot, music from
Part 1,
music from Part
2).
- Electronic Arts buys Origin.
1993
- Panasonic releases 3DO console, first 32-bit console, for $699.
- Atari releases Jaguar console, first 64-bit console, but internal
hardware is actually not much better than 16-bit systems, and it
costs twice as much.
- SEGA gains more than 50% of the video game market.
- Sony and Nintendo announce new 64-bit consoles.
- Midway Games releases Mortal Kombat, the first video
game where you celebrate victory by pulling the heart from your opponent's
chest. Outcry over violence in video games leads to the creation of
video game rating system and subsequently even more violent games.
- Intel releases Pentium chip.
- Sid Meier releases Civilization simulation game for
PCs.
1994
- SEGA releases new adapter and 32-bit games for Genesis, including
a version of ID's Doom.
- Nintendo releases Donkey Kong Country, demonstrating that you
don't need 64-bit processing to have amazing graphics.
- SEGA's Saturn console released with a small number of mediocre games
- Sony's PlayStation console released with new versions of successful
arcade games and new games.
- SEGA invests $40 million into Atari, obtaining access to
Atari's patents
- Cyan releases Myst, introducing new level of atmosphere into games.
All time top selling computer game (about 4 million).
- Origin releases Ultima VIII, introducing
a full isometric perspective. The first Ultima where the player
cannot play a female character, reportedly because it would require
too much effort to create parallel animations
(screen shot, music from the
game).
- Bad year in general for video game sales.
1995
- Nintendo releases Virtual Boy, 32-bit portable console for $179.95.
- SEGA releases Saturn 32-bit console.
- Sony releases PlayStation 32-bit console.
- Nintendo delays release of Nintendo 64, 64-bit console.
- Another bad year in general for video game sales.
- Sony's fortunes rising and SEGA's diminishing.
- Microsoft releases Windows 95, including Game
SDK and DirectX.
- Internet and World-Wide Web enormously popular.
- Full-motion video introduced into games.
1996
- Sony lowers price of PlayStation to $199.
- Nintendo releases Nintendo 64 console. 500,000 sell on first day in
Japan. Entire shipment of 350,000 sells out in three days in US.
- Multi-player games, via modem, internet, and private networks,
gain popularity.
- Atari effectively dies, sold to JTS
1997
- Force-feedback joysticks and steering wheels released.
- Three-dimensional graphics accelerators begin to standardize.
- Pentium II's running at 200MHz lead to bigger and more demanding
games like Cyan's Riven, which requires a 100MHz PC with 16MB RAM, 75MB
hard disk space, video and sound cards compatible with DirectX, and
Windows 95.
- Origin launches Ultima
Online.
1998
- Many very good games for PCs.
- Console games still popular on PlayStation and Nintendo
64.
- More games for PlayStation, but Nintendo comes on strong
with Return of Zelda.
- SEGA releases 64-bit Dreamcast with CDROM drive
- JTS sells Atari name and assets to Hasbro for $5 million.
1999
- Connectix releases Virtual Game Station to play
PlayStation games on the Macintosh.
- VM Labs plans to release Project X, combination DVD player and
game engine.
- SEGA plans 128-bit engine using CD-ROM, with built in support for
modem play and Microsoft DirectX.
- Origin scheduled release of Ultima IX, which will
reportedly have a user-configurable perspective on the 3D world, but it
is still ``impractical'' to include a female main character
(screen shot,
promotioncal video
clip).
Future
- Computers double in speed every 2-3 years.
- Memory continues to get cheaper.
- DVD and HDTV are new on the scene.
- Faster networks and VR interfaces continue development.
- Increasing use of real-time, lifelike 3D characters.
- AI becoming an important part of games.
- Many games have movie-sized budgets.
- High-level development environments like DirectX and
OpenGL.
Randolph M. Jones
(rjones@colby.edu)
