Video Game Technology
Robert de la Rosa
COSC 1301.W01
September 24, 2008
Video Game Technology Humanity has a driving need for entertainment. Writers are constantly coming up with new movies, designers and engineers are always on the hunt for the next big idea for roller coasters and theme parks, and programmers are always designing and improving the most widely available entertainment software, video games. The video game industry generates 6 billion dollars a year, and in a field as large as this, there is a great amount of competition. Companies are constantly interested in creating new hardware and software to keep the competitive edge, which is why the technology behind video games has made huge leaps in the past 42 years. Video games started out as an interactive television built by Ralph Baer in 1966. Baer created a game called chase where 2 dots would pay a game of digital “tag” on a standard television. In 1967, a third dot was added to create a ping-pong type game. A deal was made with the company Magnavox to make the game available for public. Magnavox created and released the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. It was the first video game console; however, home video games reached popularity with the Atari Pong game which was released by Atari after seeing Magnavox’s ping-pong game in a demonstration. This was only the first-generation of video games, and already there was competition over who could get the best product on the market. The second generation of video game consoles is also known as the “early 8 bit years,” which came in the mid 1970’s to early 1983. This is the time where interchangeable game cartridges were created that actually held programs installed on them. Cartridges from the first generation were only a set of jumpers that played a game that was previously installed on the console. The introduction of these new game cartridges allowed for immense libraries of games to be created. The cartridges made early in the second generation were limited
COSC 1301.W01
September 24, 2008
Video Game Technology Humanity has a driving need for entertainment. Writers are constantly coming up with new movies, designers and engineers are always on the hunt for the next big idea for roller coasters and theme parks, and programmers are always designing and improving the most widely available entertainment software, video games. The video game industry generates 6 billion dollars a year, and in a field as large as this, there is a great amount of competition. Companies are constantly interested in creating new hardware and software to keep the competitive edge, which is why the technology behind video games has made huge leaps in the past 42 years. Video games started out as an interactive television built by Ralph Baer in 1966. Baer created a game called chase where 2 dots would pay a game of digital “tag” on a standard television. In 1967, a third dot was added to create a ping-pong type game. A deal was made with the company Magnavox to make the game available for public. Magnavox created and released the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. It was the first video game console; however, home video games reached popularity with the Atari Pong game which was released by Atari after seeing Magnavox’s ping-pong game in a demonstration. This was only the first-generation of video games, and already there was competition over who could get the best product on the market. The second generation of video game consoles is also known as the “early 8 bit years,” which came in the mid 1970’s to early 1983. This is the time where interchangeable game cartridges were created that actually held programs installed on them. Cartridges from the first generation were only a set of jumpers that played a game that was previously installed on the console. The introduction of these new game cartridges allowed for immense libraries of games to be created. The cartridges made early in the second generation were limited
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