Back to the beginning: A history of the video game
Beep, boop. Beep-boop
WATERLOO (CUP) These are the sounds my friend Jesse and I heard after hooking up his Atari® 2600, the first-ever home video game console to feature the luxury of removable cartridges, not to mention wood panelling.
The game was Pong, the one-ball wonder. After a few minor soldering adjustments, since it was physically impossible to hook the unit up to a modern TV set, we were ready to jump back 30 years into a realm of gaming that was rumoured to destroy the minds and eyesight of youth.
When the game began, we chuckled at the bulky mechanical controllers and scoffed at the game select switch, which allowed us to choose one of more than 30 games on the cartridge — all of which included a ball and paddle of some sort.
Two minutes into the game of virtual tennis, my mind was focused on one thing: keeping that friggin' ball out of my end of the screen and shooting it into the other side.
Somehow I had completely forgotten just how terrible the graphics were and was actually enjoying the game, bent on declaring myself the more skilled player. This must have been the feeling that ran through millions of gamers when they first laid hands on Pong in the early '80s.
Businesses and software developers were quick to catch the wave, releasing countless games made with poor quality and craftsmanship, leading to an eventual video game crash.
However, in 1984, a quiet Japanese company released a home entertainment unit known as the Famicom, selling over half a million units in its first year.
The company was Nintendo, and in 1985, after a troubling dispute that ended a partnership with Atari, Nintendo took on the North American market all on its own, giving its console a new look and name, the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Can you say Duckhunt? Zelda? Super Mario Bros? Nintendo ensured no second-rate games would ever be produced by ensuring that every one had an official seal of approval before it was allowed on shelves.
For a while this worked, and with no real competition Nintendo dominated the North American video gaming market.
Enter Sega. Boasting a 16-bit processor, double that of the NES's 8-bit, and catchy marketing slogans, such as “Sega does things that Nintendon't,” the Sega's blue hedgehog was suddenly running laps around the mushroom-munching, turtle-jumping mascot of the NES.
Other consoles receiving minor success in an attempt to dethrone Nintendo were the Matellivision and the more popular Turbografx 16, which relied on its more advanced processor and young adult niche market for commercial success.
With technology becoming outdated, and competition arising from every avenue, Nintendo ventured forth into the 16-bit world, introducing the Super Nintendo in 1994. Super Mario World became one of the bestselling game titles ever at the time.
After a deal to develop a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES with Sony went sour, the technology was taken on a separate path, becoming the 32-bit Sony Playstation. Slowly but surely, Sony took a fair share of videogame profits out of the hands of the then infamous-Nintendo.
Over the past 10 years Sony, has secured its grasp as the leader in game development and innovation, with the Microsoft Xbox coming a close second, Nintendo a far third, and Sega completely wiped off the console market.
From Pong, to Mario, to Mortal Kombat, to Goldeneye, to Grand Theft Auto 3, games have gone from neat, to fun, to cool, to intense, then crazy and morally suspect.
With the introduction of yet another new Mario — and a new Nintendo system, Wii — on the horizon, it could be the beginning of a new era for the highly skilled plumber. Boop.
WATERLOO (CUP) These are the sounds my friend Jesse and I heard after hooking up his Atari® 2600, the first-ever home video game console to feature the luxury of removable cartridges, not to mention wood panelling.
The game was Pong, the one-ball wonder. After a few minor soldering adjustments, since it was physically impossible to hook the unit up to a modern TV set, we were ready to jump back 30 years into a realm of gaming that was rumoured to destroy the minds and eyesight of youth.
When the game began, we chuckled at the bulky mechanical controllers and scoffed at the game select switch, which allowed us to choose one of more than 30 games on the cartridge — all of which included a ball and paddle of some sort.
Two minutes into the game of virtual tennis, my mind was focused on one thing: keeping that friggin' ball out of my end of the screen and shooting it into the other side.
Somehow I had completely forgotten just how terrible the graphics were and was actually enjoying the game, bent on declaring myself the more skilled player. This must have been the feeling that ran through millions of gamers when they first laid hands on Pong in the early '80s.
Businesses and software developers were quick to catch the wave, releasing countless games made with poor quality and craftsmanship, leading to an eventual video game crash.
However, in 1984, a quiet Japanese company released a home entertainment unit known as the Famicom, selling over half a million units in its first year.
The company was Nintendo, and in 1985, after a troubling dispute that ended a partnership with Atari, Nintendo took on the North American market all on its own, giving its console a new look and name, the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Can you say Duckhunt? Zelda? Super Mario Bros? Nintendo ensured no second-rate games would ever be produced by ensuring that every one had an official seal of approval before it was allowed on shelves.
For a while this worked, and with no real competition Nintendo dominated the North American video gaming market.
Enter Sega. Boasting a 16-bit processor, double that of the NES's 8-bit, and catchy marketing slogans, such as “Sega does things that Nintendon't,” the Sega's blue hedgehog was suddenly running laps around the mushroom-munching, turtle-jumping mascot of the NES.
Other consoles receiving minor success in an attempt to dethrone Nintendo were the Matellivision and the more popular Turbografx 16, which relied on its more advanced processor and young adult niche market for commercial success.
With technology becoming outdated, and competition arising from every avenue, Nintendo ventured forth into the 16-bit world, introducing the Super Nintendo in 1994. Super Mario World became one of the bestselling game titles ever at the time.
After a deal to develop a CD-ROM attachment for the SNES with Sony went sour, the technology was taken on a separate path, becoming the 32-bit Sony Playstation. Slowly but surely, Sony took a fair share of videogame profits out of the hands of the then infamous-Nintendo.
Over the past 10 years Sony, has secured its grasp as the leader in game development and innovation, with the Microsoft Xbox coming a close second, Nintendo a far third, and Sega completely wiped off the console market.
From Pong, to Mario, to Mortal Kombat, to Goldeneye, to Grand Theft Auto 3, games have gone from neat, to fun, to cool, to intense, then crazy and morally suspect.
With the introduction of yet another new Mario — and a new Nintendo system, Wii — on the horizon, it could be the beginning of a new era for the highly skilled plumber. Boop.
