Video Games timeline.

As early as 1950, computer scientists were using electronic machines to construct relatively simple game systems, such as Bertie the Brain in 1950 to play tic tac toe, or Nimrod in 1951 for playing Nim.

Inspired by the science fiction novels Russell and his friends enjoyed, these computers “hackers” decided to create a dueling game between two spaceships. The result, called “Spacewar,” caused a sensation on campus and variations on the game soon spread to other universities that had computer engineering programs.

The early 1970s brought the first consumer-ready video game hardware: the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, and the first arcade video games, Computer Space and Pong, the latter which was later made into a home console version.

In 1980, Nintendo released the first of its Game & Watch line, handheld electronic games using LCD screens. Game & Watch spurred dozens of other game and toy companies to make their own portable games, many of which were copies of Game & Watch titles or adaptations of popular arcade games.

It was a decade of marked innovation in video gaming. It was a decade of transition from sprite-based graphics to full-fledged 3D graphics and it gave rise to several genres of video games including, but not limited to, the first-person shooter, real-time strategy, survival horror, and MMO.

The 2000s were primarily dominated by Sony, Nintendo, newcomer Microsoft, and their respective systems. Sega left the console market in 2002 in favor of returning to third-party development, as they once were. Overall the decade saw the last of the low-resolution three-dimensional polygons of the 1990s with the emergence of high definition games and often focused on developing immersive and interactive environments, implementing realistic physics, and improving artificial intelligence.

The smartphone puts a game-playing computer in almost every person's pocket, while online video streaming fuels the growth of esports.