1.
History of video games
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The history of video games goes as far back as the early 1950s, when academic computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations as part of their research. Since the 1980s, video gaming has become a form of entertainment. One of the games was Spacewar. Which was developed by computer scientists, early arcade video games developed from 1972 to 1978. During the 1970s, the first generation of consoles emerged, including the popular game Pong. The 1970s was also the era of computer games. The golden age of video games was from 1978 to 1982. During the 1980s, gaming computers, early online gaming and handheld LCD games emerged, from 1976 to 1992, the second generation of video consoles emerged. The third generation of consoles, which were 8-bit units, emerged from 1983 to 1995, the fourth generation of consoles, which were 16-bit models, emerged from 1987 to 1999. The 1990s saw the resurgence and decline of arcades, the transition to 3D video games, improved handheld games, the fifth generation of consoles, which were 32 and 64-bit units, was from 1993 to 2006. During this era, mobile phone gaming emerged, during the 2000s, the sixth generation of consoles emerged. During this period, online gaming and mobile games became important, the seventh generation of consoles was from 2005 to 2012. In 2013, the generation of consoles emerged, including Nintendos Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, Microsofts Xbox One. PC gaming has been holding a market share in Asia. The term video game has evolved over the decades from a technical definition to a general concept defining a new class of interactive entertainment. Technically, for a product to be a game, there must be a video signal transmitted to a cathode ray tube that creates a rasterized image on a screen. From a technical standpoint, these would more properly be called games or computer games. Today, however, the video game has completely shed its purely technical definition
2.
Early history of video games
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The history of video games spans a period of time between the invention of the first electronic games and today, covering a long period of invention and changes. Video gaming would not reach popularity until the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, video gaming has become a form of entertainment. Initially created as technology demonstrations, such as the Bertie the Brain and Nimrod computers in 1950 and 1951, a series of games, generally simulating real-world board games, were created at various research institutions to explore programming, human–computer interaction, and computer algorithms. These include OXO and Christopher Stracheys draughts program in 1952, the first software-based games to incorporate a CRT display, possibly the first video game created simply for entertainment was 1958s Tennis for Two, featuring moving graphics on an oscilloscope. Throughout the rest of the 1960s, digital computer games were created by increasingly numerous programmers, the term video game has evolved over the decades from a purely technical definition to a general concept defining a new class of interactive entertainment. Technically, for a product to be a game, there must be a video signal transmitted to a cathode ray tube that creates a rasterized image on a screen. From a technical standpoint, these would more properly be called games or computer games. Today, however, the video game has completely shed its purely technical definition. The ancestors to these include the cathode-ray tube amusement device. The player simulates an artillery shell trajectory on a CRT screen connected to an oscilloscope, with a set of knobs, the device uses purely analog electronics and does not use any digital computer or memory device or execute a program. It was patented by Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and this, along with the lack of electronic logic circuits, keeps the device from being considered the first video game. Turing tested the code in a game in 1952 where he mimicked the operation of the code in a chess game against an opponent. The first publicly demonstrated electronic game was created in 1950, Bertie the Brain was an arcade game of tic-tac-toe, built by Josef Kates for the 1950 Canadian National Exhibition. To showcase his new miniature vacuum tube, the tube, he designed a specialized computer to use it. The game was a success at the exhibition, with attendees lining up to play it as Kates adjusted the difficulty up. After the exhibition, Bertie was dismantled, and largely forgotten as a novelty, Kates has said that he was working on so many projects at the same time that he had no energy to spare for preserving it, despite its significance. Using a panel of lights for its display, it was designed exclusively to play the game of Nim, Nimrod could play either the traditional or reverse form of the game
3.
Video game crash of 1983
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The North American video game crash of 1983 was a massive recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985. Revenues had peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, the crash was a serious event that brought an abrupt end to what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. The crash almost destroyed the industry, and led to the bankruptcy of several companies producing home computers. Analysts of the time expressed doubts about the viability of video game consoles. The crash had several causes, including the saturation of the market, the full effects of the industry crash would not be felt until 1985. The North American video game crash of 1983 was caused by a combination of factors. At the time of the North American crash, there were many consoles on the market, including the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Odyssey 2 and the Fairchild II. Each of these consoles had its own library of games produced by the console maker, the first microcomputers such as the Altair 8800 and Apple I were marketed to a niche of electronics hobbyists as most required assembly from a kit. In 1977, pre-assembled machines with BASIC in ROM became available, including the Trio of 77, the Apple II, Commodore PET, the latter two retailed for under $1,000, but lacked game joysticks and high-resolution color video. Third-party developers created games for all of these platforms, the TRS-80 benefited from Radio Shacks retail stores, which displayed computers and accessories locally in an era where many personal computers were mail-ordered from manufacturers. In 1979, Atari unveiled the Atari 400 and 800 computers, built around a chipset originally meant for use in a console. In 1981, IBM introduced the IBM5150 PC with a $1,565 base price, by 1982, new desktop computer designs were commonly providing better color graphics and sound than game consoles and personal computer sales were booming. The TI 99/4A and the Atari 400 were both at $349, Radio Shacks Color Computer sold at $379, and Commodore International had just reduced the price of the VIC-20 to $199, by 1983 consumers found that most predicted uses of home computers were unrealistic, except for games. Children used most home computers—Coleco planned to market its Adam home computer to boys age 8 to 16, the two groups that really fuel computer purchases—so games dominated home computers software libraries. A1984 compendium of reviews of Atari 8-bit software used 198 pages for games compared to 167 for all other software types, because computers generally had more memory and faster processors than a console, they permitted more sophisticated games. They could also be used for such as word processing. Games were easier to duplicate, since they could be packaged as floppy disks or cassette tapes instead of ROM modules and this opened the field to a cottage industry of third-party software developers. Writeable storage media allowed players to save games in progress, a feature for increasingly complex games which was not available on the consoles of the era
4.
Fourth generation of video game consoles
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In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation of games consoles began on October 30,1987 with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics PC Engine. This generation saw strong console wars, Nintendo was able to capitalize on its previous success in the third generation and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation as well. Sega was extremely successful in this generation and began a new franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, several companies started to take notice of the maturing video game industry. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004 and it launched in North America during August 1989, under the name TurboGrafx-16. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format, NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo. In the United States, NEC used Bonk, a caveman, as their mascot. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make an impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system, the Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. In Japan, a number of adult titles were also available for the PC Engine, such as a variety of strip mahjong games. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29,1988, the console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14,1989 under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30,1990 under its original name and their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as Genesis does what Nintendont and the SEGA. scream. Segas version of Mortal Kombat received generally favorable reviews in the gaming press. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II, the Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan, but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide, by late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue the Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn. Nintendos fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21,1990, the machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23,1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Later titles such as Star Fox and Donkey Kong Country would keep the Super Famicom/SNES relevant well into the fifth generation era of 32-, the CD-i format was announced in the late 80s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Phillips CD-i main selling point was that it was more than a game machine, due to an agreement between Nintendo in Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES, Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo franchises
5.
Fifth generation of video game consoles
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The fifth-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles and video game handhelds from approximately 1993 to 2001. For home consoles, the console was the PlayStation by a wide margin, followed by the Nintendo 64. Both were discontinued before the other made their debut. The Neo Geo Pocket was released in 1998, but was dropped by SNK in favor of the fully backwards compatible Neo Geo Pocket Color just a year later, Nintendos Game Boy Color was the winner in handhelds by a large margin. There were also two updated versions of the original Game Boy, Game Boy Light and Game Boy Pocket, there was considerable overlap between this and the sixth generation of consoles, which began with the launch of the Dreamcast in Japan on November 27,1998. The fifth generation officially ended with the discontinuation of the PlayStation in March 2006, early efforts from then-industry leaders Sega and Nintendo saw the introduction of the 32X and Super FX, which provided rudimentary 3D capabilities to the 16-bit Genesis and Super NES. Prime examples of this trend include Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn, Tomb Raider on the PlayStation and Saturn, Tekken and Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation, and Super Mario 64 on the N64. Their 3D environments were widely marketed and they steered the industrys focus away from side-scrolling and rail-style titles, as well as opening doors to more complex games and genres. 3D became the focus in this era as well as a slow decline of cartridges in favor of CDs, due to the ability to produce games less expensively. Publicly, Nintendo defended this decision on the grounds that it would give games shorter load times than a compact disc, however, it also had the dubious benefit of allowing Nintendo to charge higher licensing fees, as cartridge production was considerably more expensive than CD production. Many third-party developers like EA Sports viewed this as an attempt to raise more money for Nintendo. Nintendos decision to use a cartridge based system sparked a small scale war among gamers as to which was better, a Nintendo magazine ad placed a Space Shuttle next to a snail and dared consumers to decide which one was better. Almost every other system used the new CD-ROM technology. Consequent to the storage and cost advantages of the CD-ROM format, there was much confusion over which console was superior to the others. Also, console makers routinely boasted theoretical maximum limits of each systems 3D polygon rendering without accounting for real world in-game performance, the FM Towns Marty is considered the worlds first 32-bit console, being released in February 20,1993 by Japanese electronic company Fujitsu. Never released outside Japan, it was marketed as a console version of the FM Towns home computer. It failed to make an impact in the due to its expense relative to other consoles. While using a 32-bit word length, however, the Intel 80386SX CPU only supports 16-bit bus addressing, despite massive third party support and an unprecedented amount of hype for a first-time entrant into the industry, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayers $700 price tag hindered its success
6.
Seventh generation of video game consoles
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In the history of video games, the seventh generation includes consoles released since late 2005 by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony Computer Entertainment. The eighth generation began in November 2012, each new console introduced a new type of breakthrough in technology. Some of the Wii controllers could be moved about to control in-game actions, Video game consoles had become an important part of the global IT infrastructure. It is estimated that video game consoles represented 25% of the worlds general-purpose computational power in the year 2007, joining Nintendo in the motion market, Sony Computer Entertainment released the PlayStation Move in September 2010. The PlayStation Move features motion sensing gaming, similar to that of the Wii, Microsoft joined the scene in November 2010, with its Kinect. Unlike the other two systems, Kinect does not use controllers of any sort and makes the users the controller, having sold 8 million units in its first 60 days on the market, Kinect has claimed the Guinness World Record of being the fastest selling consumer electronics device. While the Xbox 360 offers wired as well as wireless controllers as a product, all PlayStation 3 controllers can be used in wired. The Nintendo DS features a screen and built-in microphone. Additionally, the version of the NDS, the Nintendo DSi. The PlayStation Portable released later the year on December 12,2004. It became the first handheld game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc. Sony also gave the PSP robust multi-media capability, connectivity with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, other PSPs, as well as Internet connectivity. The Nintendo DS likewise had connectivity to the internet through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo DS Browser, as well as wireless connectivity to other DS systems, a crowdfunded console, the Ouya, received $8.5 million in pre-orders, launching in 2013. Post-launch sales were poor, and the device was a commercial failure, the business was wound down due to financial problems and sold to Razer Inc. Razer discontinued the Ouya in July 2015, the first discontinued seventh generation console was the Wii, which Nintendo announced it would be discontinuing production of on October 2013. Microsoft also announced in 2016 that they would discontinue the Xbox 360 at the end of April that year, once this happens, the seventh generation of video game consoles will end. Nintendo entered this generation with a new approach embodied by its Wii and this approach was previously implemented in the portable market with the Nintendo DS. This strategy paid off, with demand for the Wii outstripping supply throughout 2007. Since Nintendo profited on each console right from the start unlike its competitors, as in previous generations, Nintendo provided strong support for its new console with popular first-party franchises like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Pokémon, among others
7.
Eighth generation of video game consoles
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In the history of video games, the seventh generation includes consoles released since late 2005 by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony Computer Entertainment. The eighth generation began in November 2012, each new console introduced a new type of breakthrough in technology. Some of the Wii controllers could be moved about to control in-game actions, Video game consoles had become an important part of the global IT infrastructure. It is estimated that video game consoles represented 25% of the worlds general-purpose computational power in the year 2007, joining Nintendo in the motion market, Sony Computer Entertainment released the PlayStation Move in September 2010. The PlayStation Move features motion sensing gaming, similar to that of the Wii, Microsoft joined the scene in November 2010, with its Kinect. Unlike the other two systems, Kinect does not use controllers of any sort and makes the users the controller, having sold 8 million units in its first 60 days on the market, Kinect has claimed the Guinness World Record of being the fastest selling consumer electronics device. While the Xbox 360 offers wired as well as wireless controllers as a product, all PlayStation 3 controllers can be used in wired. The Nintendo DS features a screen and built-in microphone. Additionally, the version of the NDS, the Nintendo DSi. The PlayStation Portable released later the year on December 12,2004. It became the first handheld game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc. Sony also gave the PSP robust multi-media capability, connectivity with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, other PSPs, as well as Internet connectivity. The Nintendo DS likewise had connectivity to the internet through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo DS Browser, as well as wireless connectivity to other DS systems, a crowdfunded console, the Ouya, received $8.5 million in pre-orders, launching in 2013. Post-launch sales were poor, and the device was a commercial failure, the business was wound down due to financial problems and sold to Razer Inc. Razer discontinued the Ouya in July 2015, the first discontinued seventh generation console was the Wii, which Nintendo announced it would be discontinuing production of on October 2013. Microsoft also announced in 2016 that they would discontinue the Xbox 360 at the end of April that year, once this happens, the seventh generation of video game consoles will end. Nintendo entered this generation with a new approach embodied by its Wii and this approach was previously implemented in the portable market with the Nintendo DS. This strategy paid off, with demand for the Wii outstripping supply throughout 2007. Since Nintendo profited on each console right from the start unlike its competitors, as in previous generations, Nintendo provided strong support for its new console with popular first-party franchises like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Pokémon, among others
8.
History of Eastern role-playing video games
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Eastern role-playing video games are role-playing video games developed in East Asia, including Japan, South Korea, and, to a lesser extent, China. The countrys computer market was very fragmented at first, Lode Runner, for example, the market eventually became dominated by the NEC PC-8801 & PC-9801, though with some competition from the Sharp X1 & X68000, FM-7 & FM Towns, and MSX & MSX2. A key difference between Western and Japanese systems at the time was the latters higher display resolutions in order to accommodate Japanese text which in turn influenced game design. Due to hardware differences, only a portion of Japanese computer games were released in North America. The Wizardry series became popular and influential in Japan, even more so than at home, early Japanese RPGs were also influenced by visual novel adventure games, which were developed by companies such as Enix, Square, Nihon Falcom and Koei before they moved onto developing RPGs. Japans earliest RPGs were released in 1982, the earliest was Koeis Underground Exploration, released in March 1982. It was followed by Pony Canyons Spy Daisakusen, released in April 1982, based on the Mission, Impossible franchise and it was then followed by Koeis The Dragon and Princess for the PC-8001 in 1982, it featured adventure game elements and revolved around rescuing a kidnapped princess. Following a random encounter, the transitions from a text adventure interface to a separate, graphical, overhead battle screen. Also in 1982, Koei released another early Japanese RPG, Danchizuma no Yuwaku, in June 1983, Koei released Sword & Sorcery for the PC-8001, and it also revolved around rescuing a princess in addition to killing a wizard. That same year, Koei released Secrets of Khufu, a dungeon crawl RPG that revolved around a search for the treasure of Khufu, ASCII released its own RPG that year called Arfgaldt, an FM-7 title also featuring adventure game elements. An important early Japanese RPG was Bokosuka Wars, originally released for the Sharp X1 computer in 1983, the game is also considered to be an early example of a real-time, action RPG. Another important title released that year was Koeis Nobunagas Ambition for Japanese computers in 1983. It was an attempt at combining role-playing, turn-based grand strategy and management simulation elements. This trend continued with its sequels and other Koei games such as 1989s Bandit Kings of Ancient China as well as the Capcom game Destiny of an Emperor released that same year, also in 1983, Nihon Falcom released Panorama Toh for the PC-88. It was developed by Yoshio Kiya, who would go on to create the Dragon Slayer, the trend of combining role-playing elements with arcade-style action mechanics was popularized by The Tower of Druaga, an arcade game released by Namco in June 1984. A rivalry developed between the three games, with Dragon Slayer and Hydlide continuing their rivalry through subsequent sequels, Nihon Falcoms Dragon Slayer, released in 1984, is a historically significant title that helped lay the foundations for the Japanese role-playing game industry. It was a real-time hack & slash dungeon crawler that is considered the first action role-playing game, Hydlide, an action RPG released for the PC-8801 in 1984 and the Famicom in 1986, was an early open world game, rewarding exploration in an open world environment. The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, also in 1984, The Black Onyx, developed by Bullet-Proof Software, led by Henk Rogers, was released on the PC-8801 in Japan
9.
History of Western role-playing video games
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Western role-playing video games are role-playing video games developed in the Western world, including The Americas and Europe. A later series of isometric role-playing games, published by Interplay Productions and Blizzard Entertainment, was developed over a time period. Computer role-playing games are once again popular, subgenres include action role-playing games, roguelikes and tactical role-playing games. The earliest role-playing video games were created in the mid-to-late 1970s, as offshoots of early university mainframe text-based RPGs that were played on PDP-10, PLATO and these included Dungeon, written in 1975 or 1976, pedit5, created in 1975, and dnd, also from 1975. These early games were inspired by pen-and-paper role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons, which was published in 1974, and J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings trilogy. PLATO was a system that supported multiple users and allowed them to play simultaneously. Games of this era were influenced by text adventures such as Colossal Cave Adventure and Zork, early MUDs, tabletop wargames such as Chainmail. The popular dungeon crawler Rogue was developed in 1980, for Unix-based systems and it used ASCII graphics, and featured a deep system of gameplay and a multitude of randomly generated items and locations. Later examples of roguelikes include Angband, Ancient Domains of Mystery, the keyboard was frequently the only input supported by these games, and their graphics were simple and often monochromatic. Some titles, like Rogue, represented objects through text characters, such as @ for the main character, the early Ultima and Wizardry were definitive games which began to build the genre. These ideas included the use of tiled graphics and party-based combat, a mix of fantasy and science-fiction elements, the games written narrative was an innovative feature that allowed it to convey a larger story than was found in the minimal plots common at the time. Most games, including Garriotts own Akalabeth, focused primarily on basic gameplay mechanics like combat, Ultima III is considered by many to have been the first modern CRPG. It was originally published for the Apple II, but was ported to other platforms and influenced the development of later titles, including such console RPGs as Excalibur. Garriott introduced a system of chivalry and code of conduct in Ultima IV, the players Avatar tackles such problems as fundamentalism, racism and xenophobia, and based on his or her actions is tested periodically in ways that are sometimes obvious and sometimes unseen. This code of conduct was in part a response to the efforts among some Christian groups to mitigate the rising popularity of Dungeons & Dragons, continuing until Ultima IX, Ascension, it covered a range of virtues that included compassion, justice, humility and honor. This system of morals and ethics was unique at the time, as video games allowed players to be lauded as heroes by the game worlds denizens. In Ultima IV, on the hand, players were forced to consider the moral consequences of their actions. According to Garriott, Ultima was now more than a mere fantasy escape and it provided a world with a framework of deeper meaning a level of detail diversity of interaction that is rarely attempted
10.
Magnavox Odyssey
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The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. It was developed by a team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates and released by Magnavox in the United States in September 1972. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box which connects to a television set and two rectangular controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots on the screen in black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. The idea for a game console was thought up by Baer in August 1966. The seventh, known as the Brown Box, was shown to several manufacturers before Magnavox agreed to produce it in January 1971, the console spawned the Magnavox Odyssey series of dedicated consoles, as well as the 1978 Magnavox Odyssey². One of the 28 games made for the system, a ping pong game, was an inspiration for Ataris successful Pong arcade game, in turn driving sales of the console. The release of the Odyssey marked the end of the history of video games. The Odyssey consists of a black, white, and brown oblong box connected by wires to two rectangular controllers. The reset button does not reset the game, but instead is used by different games to reset individual elements, the system can be powered by six C batteries, which were included. An optional AC power supply was sold separately, the Odyssey lacks sound capability and can only display monochrome white shapes on a blank black screen. Internally, the Odyssey architecture is composed of digital computing parts, the circuitry is implemented in diode–transistor logic using discrete transistors and diodes, rather than the newly emerging transistor–transistor logic integrated circuits, due to cost concerns. The games themselves do not use cartridges like later consoles, and these cards modify the internal circuitry like a set of switches or jumpers, causing the Odyssey to display different components and react to inputs differently. Multiple games use the cards, with different instructions given to the player to change the style of game. The Odyssey is capable of displaying three square dots and a line on the screen. Two of the dots are controlled by the two players, and the third by the system itself, the main console has two dials, one of which moves the vertical line across the screen, and one which adjusts the speed of the computer-controlled dot. Different games direct the player to adjust the dials to different positions, the games include plastic overlays which stick to the television via static cling, to create visuals for the game. Different games that use the game card can have different overlays, which can change a game with the same controls from, for example
11.
Pong
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Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games and the first sports arcade video game. It is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade games such as Computer Space came before it. The game was manufactured by Atari, which released it in 1972. Allan Alcorn created Pong as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, which later resulted in a lawsuit against Atari. Surprised by the quality of Alcorns work, Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney decided to manufacture the game, soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied Pongs gameplay, and eventually released new types of games. As a result, Atari encouraged its staff to more innovative games. The company released several sequels that built upon the gameplay by adding new features. During the 1975 Christmas season, Atari released a version of Pong exclusively through Sears retail stores. It was also a success and led to numerous copies. The game has been remade on numerous home and portable platforms following its release, Pong has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows and video games, and has been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions. Pong is a sports game that simulates table tennis. Players use the paddles to hit a back and forth. The aim is for player to reach eleven points before the opponent. Pong was the first game developed by Atari, after producing Computer Space, Bushnell decided to form a company to produce more games by licensing ideas to other companies. The first contract was with Bally Manufacturing Corporation for a driving game, soon after the founding, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn because of his experience with electrical engineering and computer science, Bushnell and Dabney also had previously worked with him at Ampex. Prior to working at Atari, Alcorn had no experience with video games, to acclimate Alcorn to creating games, Bushnell gave him a project secretly meant to be a warm-up exercise. Bushnell told Alcorn that he had a contract with General Electric for a product, in 2011, Bushnell stated that the game was inspired by previous versions of electronic tennis he had played before, Bushnell played a version on a PDP-1 computer in 1964 while attending college
12.
Microprocessor
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A microprocessor is a computer processor which incorporates the functions of a computers central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic, Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system. The integration of a whole CPU onto a chip or on a few chips greatly reduced the cost of processing power. Integrated circuit processors are produced in numbers by highly automated processes resulting in a low per unit cost. Single-chip processors increase reliability as there are many electrical connections to fail. As microprocessor designs get better, the cost of manufacturing a chip generally stays the same, before microprocessors, small computers had been built using racks of circuit boards with many medium- and small-scale integrated circuits. Microprocessors combined this into one or a few large-scale ICs, the internal arrangement of a microprocessor varies depending on the age of the design and the intended purposes of the microprocessor. Advancing technology makes more complex and powerful chips feasible to manufacture, a minimal hypothetical microprocessor might only include an arithmetic logic unit and a control logic section. The ALU performs operations such as addition, subtraction, and operations such as AND or OR, each operation of the ALU sets one or more flags in a status register, which indicate the results of the last operation. The control logic retrieves instruction codes from memory and initiates the sequence of operations required for the ALU to carry out the instruction, a single operation code might affect many individual data paths, registers, and other elements of the processor. As integrated circuit technology advanced, it was feasible to manufacture more and more complex processors on a single chip, the size of data objects became larger, allowing more transistors on a chip allowed word sizes to increase from 4- and 8-bit words up to todays 64-bit words. Additional features were added to the architecture, more on-chip registers sped up programs. Floating-point arithmetic, for example, was not available on 8-bit microprocessors. Integration of the point unit first as a separate integrated circuit and then as part of the same microprocessor chip. Occasionally, physical limitations of integrated circuits made such practices as a bit slice approach necessary, instead of processing all of a long word on one integrated circuit, multiple circuits in parallel processed subsets of each data word. With the ability to put large numbers of transistors on one chip and this CPU cache has the advantage of faster access than off-chip memory, and increases the processing speed of the system for many applications. Processor clock frequency has increased more rapidly than external memory speed, except in the recent past, a microprocessor is a general purpose system. Several specialized processing devices have followed from the technology, A digital signal processor is specialized for signal processing, graphics processing units are processors designed primarily for realtime rendering of 3D images
