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Today’s video games are sophisticated and labyrinthine beyond the wildest dreams of those who plugged in the earliest Atari home consoles or typed code into their Commodore 64s in the 1980s. From the primitive gaming programs developed by computer scientists in the 1950s and 60s to the massively multiplayer online games and open world universes of today, the combination of rapidly advancing technology and leaps in artistry and imagination has seen gaming grow in complexity at a fantastic rate. To say that computer games now compete with film for realism and special effects is actually understating the case, as films now use computer techniques taken from gaming in order to achieve the spectacular results seen in most big summer blockbusters. With fully immersive virtual reality just around the corner, video games have come from incredibly basic beginnings to become the modern world’s most complex and adventurous art form.
From Humble Beginnings
The first computer game to gain any kind of distribution (albeit just within university computer science departments) was Spacewar! Developed in 1962 for the PDP-1 computer, this simple space-set dogfight game pitted two spaceships (“the needle” and “the wedge”) against each other in a minimal black and white environment dominated by a single star into which one might accidentally fall.
Spacewar! influenced the first commercially available video arcade game, which, like the earliest personal computers, were made possible by the development of medium state integration transistor-transistor logic circuits, which combined multiple transistors on a single microchip. In 1972, Atari created the hugely influential arcade game Pong, in which players moved blocks up and down to bat a single dot back and forth across a monochrome screen.
Also launched in 1972, the Magnavox Odyssey was the first home console that plugged into your TV, and it came packaged with 12 different games. Unfortunately, graphics were limited to just three dots and a line, so different games required different plastic sheets to be stuck over your TV screen for gameplay and differentiation. Physical game elements such as cards and dice were also used.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Odyssey wasn’t a big success, but in 1975, Atari’s Home Pong console did capture the public imagination, and it was followed by the Atari 2600 console, which brought in such innovations as joysticks, color screens and different difficulty levels, as well as a selection of cartridge-based games.
The Next Generation
The 1980s saw the second generation of consoles and games, as well as the golden age of arcade games ushered in by the arrival of Space Invaders in 1979. This arcade classic introduced such innovations as tracking the highest score and continuous backing music, as well as an enemy that fought back! The same year, Mattel’s Intellivision console had much improved graphics, but the market was once again dominated by Atari when it brought out a programmable console that included home versions of arcade classics such as Space Invaders, Asteroids and Missile Command.
The early 80s saw the introduction of character-led games such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, where mazes and multiple moving platforms had to be negotiated to pick up (or devour) items while avoiding being killed or eaten yourself, while the soundtrack also became an important element. Home computers became easily affordable, and games could be programmed in by hand in the code that was distributed in books and magazines. Loading games from cassette was only slightly less error-prone and time-consuming.
Survival of the Fittest
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 was the first 8-bit gaming console, with better graphics, gameplay and audio. From this point on, gaming began to evolve almost exponentially as different manufacturers and game publishers sought to outdo each other in a fiercely competitive market. 1989 gave us the first 8-bit handheld console – the Nintendo Game Boy – as well as Sega’s 16-bit Genesis Console, which introduced the world to Sonic the Hedgehog, while the 90s were dominated first by the 16-bit Super NES and later the first Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo 64.
While greater memory space allowed for better playability, the arrival of VGA graphics in the late 80s was followed by the development of 3D graphics and texturing in the early 90s. Dedicated sound cards first became a thing in the late 80s, leading to much improved audio. The 2000s saw a tech race between the PlayStation and Xbox threaten to leave PC gaming in the dirt, but broadband internet came to the rescue, allowing for reliable online gaming and the development of massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft.
The Present Day
Since then, we’ve seen open world games go beyond mere gaming by creating vast, immersive and interactive universes where play can mean much more than winning or losing, scoring points or trying to survive. In games series such as Grand Theft Auto, The Witcher and Skyrim, it’s possible to lose yourself in a rich, complex and multi-layered world that seems to expand almost to infinity.
At the same time, there is a growing trend towards retro gaming that combines nostalgia with a genuine desire to play straightforward games with a simple, achievable objective. Sometimes, old classics are classic for a reason, and many traditional casino games don’t need to be radically updated in order to work online. Slot machines can be adapted to feature multiple levels, narrative elements and fancy graphics, but many players prefer the classic old-school simplicity of the Starburst slot from one of the longest-running and most well-respected online gaming providers, 888Casino. These simpler games are also well-suited to casual gamers, who make up nearly half of the total market. Playing on their phones and mobile devices, they’ve made the likes of Candy Crush a huge success.
The Future
Gaming will continue to evolve and become more complex, with fully immersive virtual reality games set to become reality over the next few years. Greater complexity will also mean greater choice, however, meaning that those who prefer simpler games and classics will still be catered for. Undoubtedly, games will also become more interactive and social: something that we can live inside as well as just play. Story, narrative, graphics and sound will combine to further develop a true 21st-century art form.
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