Developement of video games essays

Developement of video games essays In three decades, home-computerised gaming has made huge steps towards complete integration into Western homes. In thirty years the video game console has become a multi-billion pound international industry, with a place in millions of homes worldwide. It all started in the 1970s when this new invention was seen as only an experiment within the compounds of technology, yet we can now see that it has made more money than the movie industry, especially in recent years. 1972 was a remarkably important year for technology in which, both the microprocessor (the heart of home computers) and the compact disc (the current mainstream source of audio) completed development. In addition the first home games console was released in America, the Magnavox Odyssey. Ralph Baer, its creator, dedicated several years of his life in his basement building what looked like an ugly, brown box. Little did he know that his home-made experimentation of technology would be the foundation for the future of games consoles. The Magnavox Odyssey only consisted of 40 transistors and 40 diodes, because microchips were so expensive at the time. The console had not been designed with sound producing components, however, this was something that could be developed for future Odysseys. This basic video game system was only able to generate very simple on screen effects and the players had to keep score themselves. In 1976 an American electronics company known as Fairchild released their contribution to the developing game console industry, the Fairchild Channel F. The appeal of this system was that additional games could be purchased in the form of Videocart cartridges. This cartridge based method would remain the standard in the video game console industry for one and a half decades. Following in the footsteps of the Channel F a number of different consoles were released. RCA produced the Studio II. It could only produce black...