-
Nintendo is founded
Founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi in 1889 and began making playing cards in Kyoto, Japan (Nintendo.co.uk) Nintendo will later in time be the pioneer of mainstream video gaming with their massively successful consoles -
The first electronic computer is built
ENIAC is built in 1945 under the Manhattan Project, making it the first electronic computer ever built (Benov, 78). This is the first step toward technology being built later in time for making video games. This version shown was being built in England in November 7th 1946 -
The first "red vs blue" team wargame named Hutspiel is made
Hutspiel is a wargame made by the US military in which red vs blue forces (NATO VS USSR) wage war (Museumofplay.org). The Red vs Blue concept will later be put into team vs team games like Halo. -
Ralph Baer conceives the idea of gaming on a tv
On September 1, Ralph Baer waits for his colleague at a New York City bus station and comes up with the idea of playing games on a television. In 1967, he develops the Brown Box, a video game prototype that lets people play games on a tv (Museumofplay.org) -
Pong is released by Atari
Released in 1972 by American game manufacturer Atari Inc, it is a game where two players paddle a ball along a screen (Encyclopedia Britannica) -
Adventure is released
Will Crowther's Adventure is the first electronic adventure game ever made and began the spread of computer role playing games for decades to come (Hosch, Encyclopaedia Brittanica) -
Space Invaders becomes massively famous
Created by Japanese game designer Niskikado Tomohiro and produced by Taito Corp in 1978, Space Invaders was a pioneer is shooting games, introducing top down gameplay where you shoot swarms of aliens from reaching the bottom of the screen (Encyclopedia Britannica). -
Pac-Man releases worldwide
Created by Namco's Iwatani Tohru, he wanted to make a nonviolent game that appealed to females and was inspired by food and eating. It became the most successful arcade game in history even getting later edtions like Ms. Pac-Man. (Lowood, Encyclopedia Britannica) -
Donkey Kong releases
Created by Nintendo in 1981, Donkey Kong becomes one of the most successful games of all time and introduces two of Nintendo's flagship characters, Donkey Kong and Jumpman. Jumpman would later be known as Mario. (Encyclopedia Britannica) -
The NES releases worldwide
The Nintendo Entertainment system revives the American video game industry when brought over from Japan by Nintendo. -
Legend of Zelda is created
Shigeru Miyamoto creates Legend of Zelda and becomes one of the most influential and successful role playing game to ever release, pushing the genre to new heights (Museumofplay.org). -
The world of football enters video games
EA Sports creates John Madden Football, and due to success later becomes Madden NFL, the most successful video game franchise pertaining to an American sport (Encyclopedia Britannica). -
The era of handheld gaming begins
Nintendo popularizes handheld gaming with interchangable cartiridges with the Gameboy (Museumofplay.org). The Gameboy would reap large success and have later versions of the Gameboy be released such as the Gameboy Advance and Gameboy Color. -
Sonic the Hedgehog is created
Sega creates the iconic hero Sonic for the Genesis system in 1991 and quickly becomes popular in the US (Museumofplay.org) -
Mortal Kombat unleashes bloodshed
Mortal Kombat is created by Midway in 1992 and becomes one of the most successful fighting games of all time with a huge franchise still living on today. This game introduced elements of gore and bloodshed as well as controversy into the video game industry, leading to the formation of the ESRB, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (Encyclopedia Britannica). -
Playstation Era begins
Sony's Playstation releases in the United States, selling for $100 less than the Sega Saturn and was a competitor along with the Nintendo 64 (Museumofplay.org) The Playstation would be home to the first games in successful franchises such as Gran Turismo, Tomb Raider, and Crash Bandicoot. -
Ocarina of Time changes time forever
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time takes the Zelda franchise to 3D for the first time the rich world of Hyrule, full with engaging characters, puzzles and one of the most memorable soundtracks in gaming history (Museumofplay.org). Many even say that Ocarina of Time is the most important game in recent history and of all time. This game and Super Mario 64 in 1996 revolutionized gaming in 3D and changed the industry forever. -
The most successful game console of all time
Picture of the Playstation 2The Playstation 2 releases in 2000, offering DVD playability and internet play, changing gaming forever as millions were introduced to gaming and entertainment in one console (Encyclopedia Britannica). The Playstation would go on to sell over 100 million consoles and have a library of nearly 2000 games like Gran Turismo, Grand Theft Auto, Killzone, Need for Speed and several other franchises. -
Microsoft enters the console market
Microsoft releases the Xbox in 2001 and releases hit games like Halo: Combat Evolved (Museumofplay.org) changes online play with the Xbox Live service in 2002 and gains millions of users and fans with the release of the Xbox 360 years later. -
Valve releases Steam
Valve releases the Steam service on PC in 2003, allowing digital distribution of games on PC very accessible to the masses and still is to this day (Museumofplay.org). -
Nintendo releases new generation of handheld consoles
After the successful line of Gameboy handheld consoles, Nintendo unveils the new line in handhelds, the Nintendo DS. This time around, the Nintendo handheld has multiplayer online capabilities, two processors and a touchscreen (Museumofplay.org) -
Microsoft releases the Xbox 360
Microsoft's Xbox 360 releases in 2005 and brings HD quality to gaming as well as revolutionzing online gaming with improvements on Xbox Live (Museumofplay.org). The 360 also brings apps to consoles like Netflix and Youtube, as well as party chat systems to engage with friends and other players online. -
More family friendly gaming arrives with the Wii
The Nintendo Wii is released in 2006 and is designed with motion sensitive remotes, making gaming more active and more family friendly games as well. This lead to a huge success and introduced millions of new gamers who never before liked videogames (Museumofplay.org) -
MMOs on the rise
By 2008, Blizzard's Warcraft series reaches a new milestone with their massive multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft, reaching over 10 million subscribers (Museumofplay.org). Few years after and more MMO's are being released and become a massive community in the gaming universe. -
Indies and Mobile Gaming
Markus Persson and Mojang Studios create Minecraft, an indie game all about creation and creativity in brick building form, becoming massively popular around the world. Also around this time, mobile gaming is becoming more and more popular with releases like Angry Birds, Facebook games like Farmville, and many more (Museumofplay.org). Gaming is reaching into new markets and more people are aspiring to create games. -
The current generation of gaming
November 2013, the Playstation 4 and Xbox One are released and we are now on the current generation of console gaming. Stronger processing power, online Cloud storage for memory, more apps like Hulu and Amazon Instant video and entertaining experiences like livestreaming is also introduced onto consoles. Games like Grand Theft Auto V make billions of dollars, smashing records, the current generation of gaming is here and constantly growing. -
2016 and Beyond
The popular summer gaming convention known as E3 is apporaching and the world of gaming will stand still for this event where new games, software, even consoles, will be revealed, and more history will be made. Even virtual reality is a component being considered for gaming. Technology is always advancing and with that, so will gaming.
