Technology and the History of Video Games

In the Beginning

• In 1958, a physicist named Willy Higinbotham created "Tennis for Two," the first video game ever. "Tennis for Two" was played on an oscilloscope and featured a "Pong"-like game of tennis.
  
  

Early 1970s

• In 1971, electronics company Nutting released the first-ever arcade game, "Computer Space." In 1972, gaming company Atari was founded and created the iconic "Pong." Also, Magnavox released the first home video game console, the Odyssey.
  
  

Nintendo

• In 1981, after many failed arcade games, Nintendo released its first hit, the iconic "Donkey Kong." The protagonist, Jump Man, was a short, chubby plumber in red who would later be renamed Mario. In 1983, Nintendo released the Famicom gaming console in Japan, which would later become the Nintendo Entertainment System.
  
  

1990s

• With rising popularity, better technology and more affordable parts, the 90s were when video games truly became mainstream. Just a few of the big gaming systems released in the 1990s were the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Gameboy and Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis and GameGear, Sony Playstation and Playstation 2.
  
  

2000 through the Present

• In the early 2000s, Microsoft got into the console gaming fray and released the X-Box to combat the Playstation 2 and Nintendo's newest system, the Gamecube. As gaming graphics reached new heights, Nintendo began looking at ways to innovate the gaming experience and came out with the Wii, the first console with motion-sensing controls.