Computer gaming evolved from controlling Pac-Man to eat dots, joining Mario and Luigi to rescue a prince, to 3D shooting in Fornite. These are all over three generations of video game evolution that has shaped the childhood of several people globally. If you are among the millions of people who play games on consoles, PCs, mobile, or in Australian casino online but have no clue about their back story, this write-up promises to enlighten you. This post will reveal the history and growth of computer games across the different years, beginning from the early years as far back as the 50s.

The Early Years (1950 – 1960)

The back story of video games in the 1950s closely has linkage with the types of computer available – having huge room-sized designs. In the 1950s, early computer scientists began using games to test the limits and potential of their programs. The initial development of games was not for entertainment, as you might have been guessing.

In 1952, using Cambridge’s EDSAC computer, A. S. Douglass created the OXO. At that time, this game was famous as Noughts and Crosses (in the United Kingdom). And it got referred to as tic-tac-toe (in the United States). The creation of this game was to be a part of his research on human-computer interactions.

By 1954, some programmers at the Los Alamos laboratories in New Mexico created the first-ever blackjack program on the IBM-701 computer. And in the same 1950s, Willy Higinbotham created a tennis game with an analog and oscilloscope computer. Showing how much computer gaming had improved from Douglass’s OXO.

The Birth of Gaming Machines (1970 – 1980)

While playing games on computers weren’t yet as rampant, the 1970s brought a whole new change to the gaming world. In 1972, the Atari firm came to being, and it was one of the significant turning points for the video game industry. Atari developed Pong, the first global success game, integrating the computer with a display screen in a box with a coin slot.

In 1974, the original first-person shooter game hit the limelight. Coming exactly two decades before Doom, Maze Wars, this game functions by taking players into a labyrinth of passages designed from wire-frame graphics. By 1977, Atari released a computer gaming system famously known as the Atari 2600. And this new milestone from Atari featured the use of a joystick. Other features include games having colour, interchangeable cartridges, and switches for choosing games and difficulty levels. Towards the end of the 1970s, in precisely 1978, the first-ever Space Invaders hit the world. This new game caused a shortage of 100-yen coins. And within a year, 60,000 Taito’s Space Invaders machine in the U.S. resulted in Americans spending millions to play.

The Start of Today’s Video Games (1980 – 1990)

This gaming evolution period saw the creation of games that are still making names today. The 1980s being the time for many classics like Pac-Man, Ultima, Mario Bros, Tetris, and Sim City. Not only did this period have more consoles, but they were also cheaper and more powerful home computers.

In 1980, Namco Forum Iwatani got inspiration from a missing slice of pizza, which sparked the creation of Pac-Man. That same year, a Pac-Man Atari 2600 version became the first arcade hit game to appear on home consoles. And by 1983, although the year was tough for the industry’s pioneers – going bankrupt, the Mario Bros initiative began breaking errors in its rights. Later, in 1984 sparked the dawn of a simple but addictive puzzle game and lives on till today, the Tetris – created by a Russian mathematician, Alexei Pajitnov. Although the game leaks out from the iron curtain, about five years later, Nintendo adds it to every newly developed Game Boy.

Soon after, 1987 looked promising for fantasy role-playing games. The Legend of Zelda by Shigeru Miyamoto hit the world, winning the video game license for dragons and dungeons, giving adults a different kind of role-playing game.

The New World (1990 – 2000)

This time frame is the period of gaming wars because it saw the production of Sony’s console battling against the Sega. At the start, Microsoft presented a classic card version game, Solitaire, with its Windows 3.0 in 1990. And by 1991, Sega launched its iconic hero in Sonic the Hedgehog. The acceptance of this game was quick in the U.S., as many loved the little blue speeding guy with the edgy attitude.

In 1993, the first-ever Mortal Kombat came into existence. Although there were many controversies regarding the bloodshed and violence, it then prompted the industry to institute ratings on games. The console war truly began in 1995 after Sony released its PlayStation in the U.S., selling for $100 – lesser than Sega’s Saturn. And with the arrival of the Nintendo 64 in 1996, Sega’s claim to being the leading console provider weakened.

The Birth of Online Games (2000 – 2010)

Although at the start of the millennium, the internet wasn’t as top-notch as today, still, gamers got together to play at LAN parties. Players would bring their computers and connect them with a local network to play against themselves. However, by 2004, the gaming industry went online for the first time in games like World of Warcraft. From that moment all the games you want to play are possible to find online, including House of Jack casino.

In 2005, Microsoft launched an upgrade to its 2001 console game, the Xbox. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 brought high-definition realism to gameplay and the market. It offered better multilayer mode competition than the other consoles. And in 2008, the World of Warcraft had surpassed ten million subscribers after its initial release four years ago. It became the most popular Massive Multiplayer Online game ever. This decade produced numerous bestsellers and with the foremost ones being:

• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• The Sims
• Minecraft
• Super Mario Galaxy

Modern Gaming (2010 – the 2020s)

Before this decade, the computer/video gaming industry had already become a billion-dollar business, with profits higher than the music and movie markets. In this decade, video games have become available on all platforms; computers, tablets, consoles, and mobile phones. The modern gaming age brought about the “play anywhere and anytime” idea. By 2016, gamers had started hunting for virtual creatures like Horsea and Pikachu in the real world on the hit game Pokemon Go. It was the gaming sensation of the summer, and it sparked greater possibilities for augmented reality games. And in 2019, millions of players have tuned in to watch virtual asteroids destroy the map of the massive online battle game, Fortnite.

Overall, computer gaming has seen its fair share of growth and development from the onset. Coming from the classic black and white games to coloured online games, and finally to virtual reality gaming. The gaming world can only get better from this point as it stands to use all possible inventive technology to come. The next generation of games might not only be virtual reality-focused but a new means of gameplay.