It kind of disturbs me that I can't find my Atari console or any of my cartridges anywhere. Did Atari just fall off the face of the Earth when Nintendo and Sega came out?
The formal history of video games is broken up into six categories. These have been termed the first, second (and so on) generations of video game complexity. The first generation is considered to span the years from 1972-1977, and hosted such games as "Magnavox Odyssey," "Atari Pong," and "Home Pong." The description of "Pong" makes me think of "Arkanoid," one of my personal favorites, which was on my computer and at the arcades. It was just one of those games where you attempt feverishly to keep the ball bouncing around the screen, and when it finally falls down into the black abyss, your heart would beat as rapidly as if you yourself had fallen. I loved the eighties.
Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, can be thanked for all of our mediocre 4th grade report cards as he lured us in to the world of home arcade games. He was first exposed to video games with "Spacewar" (an early version of what we now know as "Pong"). This game had been programmed by Steve Russel, an MIT student, in the early 60's. The game circulated in computer labs across the country. Bushnell spent several years trying to reduce the game onto a smaller, inexpensive computer. He and two co-workers eventually started the company, "Atari," which means check. In the early 70's, Bushnell's "Pong" was tested in a bar called Andy Capp's. It was a hit from the beginning, and on its second night, there was a line around the corner of people waiting to play. As a result, its milk carton coin container overflowed into its electronics.
Atari released "Home Pong" in the fall of 1974, allowing it now two markets--home and arcade.
1976 was an important year for video game technologically. The first microchip, a small wafer of silicon was created by RCA, but this company did not stand a chance as ATARI came out with its VCS 2600. Due greatly to this machine, the second generation, "The Golden Age" of video games, would come into existence.
If we look at the VCS 2600 from a twenty-first century point of view, we laugh at its primitive construction--its corrugated plastic top (that had the word 'TOP' written on it), its wood grain front piece, and its black simple joystick. However, back then, it was the coolest. Actually, I remember having to whack mine a few times before it would work, but what the hell. "Frogger," "Jungle Hunt," and "Egg-O-Mania" were a few of my favorite games. "Pac Man" was also released during the second generation. It was designed by Mr. Toru Iwatani of Japan. An interview with Iwatani showed that he had spent a few too many hours in the computer lab. He seemed quite concerned that the game would contain "pretty colors to please the women who play..." Also when questioned about Pac Man's personality, he stated, "he's an innocent character. He would be the type to rush out and eat guns..."
The early 80's saw a boom of new Sega video arcade games, and this was referred to as the third generation. Popular games were "Monaco GP," "Astro Blaster," "Space Fury," "Pulsar," "Frogger," and "Pengo." These were mostly racing, dodging, or space invader games. At this time, Atari started on a downward spiral. It had manufactured the ATARI 5200, and the ATARI 7800, and neither were successful. The third generation (from 1981-1984) was termed the "Dark Ages" for Atari as sales started to decrease.
The fourth generation of video games was called the 8-bit era, and lasted from 1985-1989. The Nintendo Entertainment System and its competitor, the Sega Master System were released in 1985. Closely following these was the Nintendo Game Boy in 1988. In its first five years of production, the NES surpassed Toyota as Japan's most successful company, with "Super Mario Bros. 3" as its most popular game. Although Sega used the idea of virtual reality with its 3-D glasses, it still only had a fraction of the number of games that Nintendo had at the time. Luckily for Sega, it released its line of "Game Gear" in 1990 which boosted sales.
Naturally, the 16-bit era followed the 8-bit era, and lasted from 1989-1995. Sega Genesis's graphics blew away all competition. Nintendo came out with Super NES at this time, but its CPU could not keep up with that of Sega's. The people at Sega were very smart. They decided to invent a game that would purposely expose the weaknesses of Super NES. "Sonic the Hedgehog" was born, and it was all over from there. Sega now had a mascot, and a game with unprecedented speed. Sega's sales started to soar which allowed the company to experiment with a CD system.
The past six years (1995--the present) have been termed the sixth generation of video games. This includes the 32 and 64 bit systems of which Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, Sega Dreamcast, and Nintendo 64 are a part. Some of these involve CD-ROM technology which allows for higher resolution graphics, and an overall better quality of gaming. Speeds are higher, and more information may be stored on a CD than on a cartridge. This means more possible scenarios, moves, and backgrounds for the games.
I guess we can thank the competition between the several video game companies for the innovations which kept the games new by adding to their complexity. It will be fascinating to see where technology will take video games in the future, but I have to admit that I liked Atari best. It was simple, and still completely exciting at the same time. I'll have to take another look around my dusty attic to try to find my old games.
