VIDEO SHORTS 6TH CLASS - VIDEO GAMES

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t, mavo
• Leerjaar 1

History of the Video Game

Welcome!

Video games are awesome!

These days, we can choose from many different kinds of games, graphics, consoles and story-lines. 

That has not always been the case. 

Do you know when the video game was invented? 

What early games looked like? How they were played?

1948 - 1972

To understand the origin of video games, we have to go back to 1948 - 3 years after the end of World War II. 

In 1948  Alan Turing and David Champernowne  developed a chess program called "TuroChamp". This game was never finished, because the earliest computers could not handle the algorithms needed for the game. There are no images or playable versions left of this game. 

But it was the first time someone thought of using computers to make a game - as we will see in the first computer game ever invented. 

So what was the very first video game from 1948 about?

1. monopoly
2. chess
3. checkers
4. tennis

Why doesn't this first game exist anymore?

1. It was too difficult for early computers.
2. It was lost somewhere.
3. It was too hard for people to play.
4. We don't know.

Tennis for Two

This first game would never have been possible without "Turochamp". 

The game was developed in 1958 by American scientist 

William Higinbotham for an open day in his lab. 

The game allows two people to play tennis on an oscilloscope. 

Highbotham himself didn't think the game was anything special and never patented it. It looked like this:

Have you ever heard of a game called Pong?

yes

no

not sure

1972 - Pong

Of course, people couldn't play Tennis for Two anywhere else but in that lab. 

In 1972 the first arcade game, "Pong", was invented by Atari. 

It was a small model that could be played in a bar or a store.

You had to throw in a quarter (a small coin) to play the game. 

Arcade game Pong

Pong

Pong was so popular that often it couldn't be played anymore after an hour, because it would be filled up with quarters. 

Atari realised they could make money from this and decided to make a version people could play at home on their TV. This version came out in 1975 and was a huge hit. 

Many people consider Pong the first real video game. 

Play Pong yourself!

Enough talking about old games - it's much more fun to play one!

Turochamp and Tennis for Two don't exist online anymore, but there is still a version of Pong. 

Give it a go yourself, there is a link on the next slide.

www.ponggame.org

What was it like to play the first ever video game, Pong?

1972 - ± 1982

Of course, other companies saw how popular Pong was and decided to start making their own games and consoles. 

There are too many to mention, but here's a few famous ones:

Early consoles

- Magnavox Odessey (the first home console)

- Atari (naturally!)

- Commodore (the C64 was a big hit)

- Apple (although they spent more time developing PCs)

- Bandai Namco (used to be just Namco)

(Bandai) Namco

And why did I mention Namco?

Because they made one of the most famous and popular games of all time.

Which game was that? Let's check out the next slide. 

Exactly! Pac-man!

Random facts about Pac-Man:

- Made by Toru Iwatani

- He thought of it when he saw a pizza with one slice missing

- It came out in 1980

- Most popular video game EVER

- Mrs Verwoerd always got nervous playing it

And now, we have to try this for ourselves:

pacman.live

How did you like playing Pacman?

The video game crash in 1983

Because video games were so popular, many companies wanted to make money fast and brought out really bad games. In 1982, the game ET came out on the Atari 2600. It is seen as the worst video game ever. 

People were so angry about this game that they sent it back to the company, Atari.

For years, it was said that thousands of unsold or returned copies of ET were buried in the sand in the Alamogordo Desert in America. 

How true is this story? Let's watch a video. 

What do you think, is this story true, were those games buried in the desert?

yes

no

Play ET

What is true is that ET was the cause of the video game crash in 1983. 

And of course, we are going to play this horrible trashy game!

Good luck.... you will need it....

www.retrogames.cz

So, what did you think of ET?

Nintendo

After the crash in 1983, almost nobody wanted to bring out games anymore. Companies were afraid of losing money.

A small Japanese toy company, known for playing cards, decided to try anyway. 

We have all heard of this company, it's still one of the biggest on the planet!

Mario

If you are going to talk about Nintendo, you have to talk about Mario.

Designed by  Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario quickly became an icon. 

Mario started as a  playable character in the arcade game Donkey Kong. His first name was Jumpman.

Let's check it out!

www.free80sarcade.com

So what did you think of the first game Mario appeared in?

Super Mario Brothers / Famicom / NES

In 1985 Super Mario Brothers appeared on Famicom in Japan and in 1987 on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System).

It was seen as the most advanced game ever, because you could scroll in the screen and go vertical. It was sold 40 million times. 

Thanks to Mario and Nintendo, the video game industry was alive again!

The Famicom

The NES

Play Mario!

And of course, we are going to play Supermario Bros!

Still an amazing game. 

supermarioplay.com

Sega and Sonic The Hedgehog

Another Japanese company, SEGA, was a rival of Nintendo's in the 90s.

Their mascot "Sonic The Hedgehog" was really famous. In the end, SEGA lost the console wars because other consoles were better.

But we have to try out Sonic!

www.retrogames.cz

Not just Japan or the USA

Not all good games came from Japan or America. 

In 1984 a Russian called Aleksej Pazjitnov thought up a game that would conquer the world. 

He worked at a university and never made any money from this game. 

Which game is that? You have probably tried it already. Check it out on the next slide - first there's a commercial, but keep going. 

tetris.com

1994

So in 1994, Nintendo had already been at the top for many years thanks to the NES and the Gameboy. 

But there was one other company that wanted a piece of the gaming market. 

In 1994, it brought out a new console....

That's right! The PlayStation

De PlayStation

Sony developed this console with a Dutch company, Philips.

Rayman

One of the first "launch titles" for the PS1 was Rayman. 

This game was developed by a French company called Ubisoft. The game had smooth graphics and gameplay and was a huge success.

Ubisoft is now famous for its "Assassin's Creed" games.

Let's try out this Rayman game!

playclassic.games

Xbox

Microsoft also wanted to get into the gaming industry. They worked on their first console for years. 

In 2001 it came out: the Xbox.

Thank you

For choosing this Be Strong and for your attention and interest!

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