A Brief History Of Video Games

The history of video games is one of the most fascinating areas of world culture in the last four decades. Ever since the first pixel of graphic data was rendered to a monitor back in the early 1960s by Ivan Sutherland, computer scientists have been intrigued with transferring traditional games to the computer screen. With the formation of the American company Atari back in 1972, the world experienced the first coin-op video game Pong, and eventually three years later the first commercially available home gaming console with the same name. The revolution in standup arcade continued well into the 1980s with dozens of cult classics such as Space Invaders and Asteroids.

Eventually the video gaming craze entered the household with the first ever video game home console, the Atari 2600 in October 1977. For the first time families could share their gaming skills right on their television units. Soon to follow was the Mattel Intellivision in 1980 and ColecoVision in 1982. Hundreds of games released for these three platforms and it wasn't uncommon for homes to have two or more of these classic units.

While the video game home console units thrived, so too did the standup arcades. Modern film took a stab with the legendary release of TRON in 1982 where the audience could experience a virtual world from inside the computer. Later came more serious films such as WarGames in 1983. The verdict was in, video gaming was here to stay.

As home computers started entering homes, so too did the video games. With computers such as the Apple II, Commodore 64, Amiga,and the slow to market DOS PC, players were able to have deeper experiences each year as hardware improved. By the late 1980s, games were starting to increase in color, 3D sound, and story depth. Companies such as Electronic Arts began hiring artists to illustrate their games as early as 1982, and by the late 1980s were dominating the market with sports games of all shapes and sizes.

In 1990 a popular Japanese gaming console known as the Nintendo released their next version called the Super Nintendo Entertainment System or SNES. This launched a new era in home entertainment, which up to that point had largely died off as the previous systems had languished in game quality. The SNES took a huge bite out of the PC gaming market and resulted in several companies closing their doors, at least for a while. Classic titles such Mario Brothers captured a hungry market for gamers that wanted something fresh, and something that wouldn't cost $.50 a play.

The 1990s saw an amazing war of the home console video gaming units. Console units debuted from Sega with the Sega Genesis (known as Mega Drive in Japan) and the Sony Playstation, both 32-bit units. The bit rating determined how many colors could appear on screen, and how complex video games could be. The 1990s also ushered in the transformation from 2D hand drawn games to 3D computer rendered games. This was a long and costly transition and led to the end of several companies that either moved too slow or could not transfer their legacy skills into modern 3D techniques.

By the late 1990s early 2000s, the big players in the industry Nintendo, Sega, and Sony where in a dead heat to produce not only the best home console video game unit, but the most friendly developer environment for video game companies. Nintendo was making waves with the soon to be released Nintendo GameCube, while Sega had just released their Sega DreamCast, but it was Sony that led the way with the highly upgraded Sony PlayStation 2. The Nintendo GameCube was a slightly upgraded SNES, and Sega had gained a bad reputation for complex developer tools and had recently doubled the commission rate to video game makers like Electronic Arts. With one decision of the General Manager of EA to hold back the entire EA Sports lineup refusing to be bullied by Sega, the end of the DreamCast was sealed. Sony however dominated the early 21st Century with their PlayStation 2. While all the new units were claiming 64-bit abilities, the Playstation 2 developer tools made it easier than ever to make a game and get it to market.

With the turn of a new century, a transformation of the internet into a gaming console slowly picked up pace. Popular gaming sites like Pogo.com and Yahoo! Games offered a substantial lineup of games for playing through one's internet browser. Easy to download, play, and all within a community environment that allows players to discuss techniques, compare scores and the like. As this trend continued the notion of downloadable 'try before you buy' games were being offered online. As soon as software could be wrapped around a game in such a way that a player could play a game for a short time (often 60 minutes), then make a buying decision, a new exciting market arrived.

STIMULUS.com is a try before you buy depot of over 2,000 video games where the player can quickly and easily find the game of their choosing, in most cases download a free trial, and play the game for 60 minutes before making the crucial buying decision. We work very hard to ensure that our site is not polluted with disruptive content that interferes with your search. We sincerely hope you enjoy your visit and return to find all your entertainment desires with us.