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Physicist Willy Higinbotham invents and plays the very first video game, tennis.
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Steve Russell, creates the first interactive game. The graphics are made of ASCII text characters.
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Ralph Baer and team created two interactive TV games—a chase game and a tennis game. They are also able to manipulate a toy gun so that it detects spots of light on the TV screen.
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Computer Space becomes first video arcade game ever released. 1500 games are distributed. Public consensus is that it is too difficult to play.
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When it first came out it had only one game tennis, followed by golf, mazes and other basic games.
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Atari's Pong (their first game) is released with help from Sears Roebuck, which helps in the production of 150,000 units. It becomes the best selling Christmas present.
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Fairfield Camera & Instrument debuts its Video Entertainment System which is known later as Channel F. The first programmable home game console, it allowed player to change games by switching cartridges that resembled 8-track audio tapes.
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Atari introduces its first cartridge-based home video system called the Video Computer System which later becomes known as the Atari 2600. It retails for $249.95.
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Midway introduces Space Invaders into arcades. It is the first arcade game that tracks and displays high scores.
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Atari develops a handheld console that displays holograms. Named "Cosmos," this product was never released.
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(again we don't know the exact date)
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Battlezone is first 3-D game ever created. It is set in a virtual battlefield and was later enhanced by the U.S. government for training exercises.
also radars were introduced on a few games to give an easy veiw of the game
300,000 units of Pac-Man are released worldwide by Namco. -
Cinematronics debuts Rick Dyer's Dragon Lair, the first video game to feature laser-disc technology.
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Nintendo releases the handheld Game Boy for $109.
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Resulting from the Senate investigation, the Entertainment Software Rating Board is created. Rating are now given to video games and are marked on the games' packaging to indicate the suggested age of players and violent content.
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The Tamagotchi virtual pet becomes an instant sensation in Japan. It is released in the U.S. in May of that year selling all of its 30,000-unit supply in 3 days.
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PlayStation is considered by many in the industry as most popular game console as the 20 millionth unit is sold.
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Billy Mitchell attains a score of 3,333,360 in the game Pac-Man. This is the highest possible score a player can get.
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The Sims is released, and quickly becomes a hit. It eventually (in 2002) surpasses Myst as the best-selling PC game ever.
Sony's PlayStation 2 launches in the U.S. for $299.99 and is sold out by early morning. Cause the demand is so high and only 500,000 units are available, it is very difficult to buy a unit during this first shipment. -
Microsoft claims its Xbox offers "the most powerful game experiences ever." The product (estimated retail price of $299.99) comes with a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port.
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Nintendo releases the Nintendo DS, a portable system with two screens, one of which can be used as a touch screen.
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Sony releases the PSP, a portable system with a large, high-resolution display.
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Nintendo releases the Wii, a gaming system that lets gamers use the controller in revolutionary ways, such as swinging it like a tennis racket, holding and tilting it like a steering wheel, and more.
Sony also debuts the Playstation 3, a very sophisticated and expensive game system.
