Task - Week One

The early history of computer games seems to be a point of contention for some people, especially those who wish to differentiate video games (games that can be played on a home TV set) and computer games. The first computer game was non graphical, and used a system of vacuum tubes to simulate a missile being fired at a target. The targets had to be hand drawn, and stuck in place. The patent application for this game was filed on January 25th, 1947.

The first video game was designed by Ralph Baer in 1952. He worked for a television company, and was challenged to build the best TV set in the world. He decided to push the boundaries by adding a new concept to his design – the ability to play games on your TV set at home. His Boss wasn't very taken with the idea, and it would be more than ten years before he came back to the idea, and built his own prototype models.

The CRT missile game was soon followed by a more graphical computer version of tic tac toe, where the player was pitted against the computer. The game was part of a thesis about human interaction with computers by A.S. Douglas.

The first video game was designed by someone who was pushing the boundaries of his work. He knew that his designs needed something extra, and he hoped that the first gaming system on a normal TV set would take him that extra distance. In the end he achieved his success by building his own prototypes, although it took him ten years to take up the idea again.

The first computer games were designed by academics, sometimes as part of other projects and sometimes as a hobby, but their access to the modern technology of the time was crucial to their success. This access depended on their positions at the time. Also, their understanding of the technology and how to get the most of what they wanted out of it meant they could adapt their ideas around its restrictions.



Personally, the first game I was allowed to own and play to any length was probably one of the various Pokemon off shoots. Computer or video games and gaming is generally held to be a boy's thing in my family, and a waste of time and a lot of money. Before that it would have been the educational games from school, things like the Zoombinis. There was always a fight for the single computer in our classroom to play that one.

http://www.jesperjuul.net/thesis/2-historyofthecomputergame.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_and_video_games
http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/pong.html
http://www.pong-story.com/intro.htm
http://www.pong-story.com/inventor.htm
http://www.pong-story.com/RHB_getting_things_straight.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoombinis