Video Game Timeline

Timeline

1947:

-Device called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the U.S. by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann.

1952:

-A graphical version of tic-tac-toe created by A.S. Douglas at the University of Cambridge.

1958:

-Tennis for Two created by William Higinbotham, featuring a gravity-controlled ball.

1961:

-Group of students at MIT programmed Spacewar!

1966:

-Ralph Baer created a video game named Chase that displayed on the T.V. set, the first to do so.

1971:

-Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created a coin-operated arcade version of Spacewar!, calling it Computer Space. Release of machines in November, first mass production of video game.

-Star Trek created by Mike Mayfield

1972:

-Gregory Yob wrote Hunt the Wumpus, first text adventure.

1974:

-Both Maze War and Spasim appeared, pioneering examples of early multi-player 3-D first person shooters.

-Brad Fortner and others developed Airfight as an educational flight simulator.

1977:

-Kelton Flinn and John Taylor create the first version of Air, first-ever graphical online multi-player game.

-Atari released its ROM cartridge based console called the Video Computer System, later called Atari 2600, became the most popular of all early consoles.

1982:

-The Commodore 64 was released to the public.

1983:

-The "crash" of the video game industry, as well as the bankruptcy of several companies.

1984:

-The IBM PC compatible computer became a technically competitive gaming platform.

1985:

-The arrival of the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga marked the beginning of a new era of 16-bit machines

1989:

-Nintendo released the Game Boy, the first handheld console

1992:

-Alone in the Dark, planted the seeds of the survivor horror genre of today, such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill.

1994:

-Sega released the Sega Saturn and Sony made its debut to the video gaming scene with the PlayStation.

1996:

-Nintendo released its 64-bit console, the Nintendo 64.

1998:

-The Dreamcast was introduced.

-The Game Boy Color introduced.

2000:

-Sony opened the new decade with the PlayStation 2.

2001:

-Nintendo followed a year later with the GameCube.

-Microsoft Corporation introduced the Xbox.

-Game Boy Advance is introduced by Nintendo.

2004:

-Nintendo introduced their DS and Sony premiered the PlayStation Portable (PSP) within a month of each other.

2005:

-Microsoft stepped forward first with the Xbox 360.

2006:

-Sony introduced the PlayStation 3.

Relearning cable

Me and my room mate, Ms. Laurie Pierce, have only been living in our apartment for about 2 months now. And, finally after a 6 month drought of having no cable at all we decided to sign up with Comcast. And, I am barely getting acquainted with OnDemand. I believe this was one of the best ideas that cable could have come up with. Because it allows me to watch all the CSI:Miami episodes that I missed. It also lets me watch movies that I dont have in my own personal collection at any moments notice. This makes it so convenient for all the viewers subscribed to Comcast. I am sure that this feature has attracted many subscribers. I know it is a feature that probably is age old to some people, but being without any cable for a while I am barely learning now how much to appreciate and how to work with all the amazing features that come along with it. :)

Twitter?

So today in class we talked about the different types of interactive media the two presidential campaigns are using. We found out that both candidates have twitter accounts. Barak Obama has 103,000 followers while John McCain had only 3,800 followers. This only proves to me that Obama really has won over the younger audience. It was said that McCain is not so focused on the younger generation because he knows that they already support Obama. The twitter accounts are just an example of the different demographics that each party is focusing their attention on and which demographics each of them has won over. I personally am not affiliated with any party but it is pretty cool to see how these types of interactive media really reach out to the younger crowds and it does show effort at least from both parties.

Big Fan of Fancast

I recently became very interested in this new website Fancast.com when one of our very own classmates did a presentation on it. I think it is amazing to go watch all these different shows and movies from one central location. It is a "free library of full episodes and clips from top networks and movie partners." Well thats what it said when I was reading more about it. It includes clips from networks like CBS, NBC and Fox (provided by Hulu), MTV Networks and BET Networks - movie trailers, short videos and interviews. It has over 3000 hours worth of different media, all free to the public. This really boggles my mind because it has me questioning how or why they are offering so many things and something like that for FREE? I mean Im not complaining because if anything is free I will take it. I love visiting this website, because lets say for instance that I missed a couple episodes of my show because I had to work or had other things to do. And, lets say I dont have TiVo or DVR. Well I can than just search on Fancast.com and bring up the episode I missed and, poof, Im sitting there watching the episodes. Watching them at my own convenience and in my own timing. This than allows me to pause it when I need to so I dont miss any of it. I think this is such a good idea for these networks to offer these shows to the public. It will soon be booming with site visitors and will become big. Well at least thats how I see it. This creates a free, convenient way to keep up with all my favorite shows, allowing me to keep on top of them and remain yet another faithful viewer!