Monday, September 13, 2010

Video Game History (based on Discovery channel) Part 1

I happened to switch on to the Discovery channel to watch Rise of the Video Game: Level One.
Did you know?

Pong by Atari

The first video game EVER created was "Pong" by Atari in 1972?
If you're at least an 80's baby, you would know Atari.
Images googled online

I've played the computer version of this game. It's a 2 dimensional sports game which simulate table tennis. It's interesting to find that the creator used the simplest sound to make the hitting sound. You can try playing the classic version here. The console used for this game is so huge and bulky so unlike the new Playstation in the market.
Images googled online


Space Invaders by Taito

"Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting game and the aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible" (taken from wikipedia).

I remember playing this game in the computer too or was it in a video game console? Lol. You just have to shoot the aliens which are slowly approaching you at the bottom of the screen. As the aliens reach nearer, the music beat gets faster making you more agitated. In the documentary, they mentioned the sounds were made based on 4 notes to follow the heart beat. Guess that's why it was so addictive then. ;) You can try playing it here. It's nice to relive your childhood. haha...

Images googled online

Pac-Man by Namco

This game was created especially for girls as the games then were more to shooting and male-orientated. The Japanese game designer, Tōru Iwatani explained that he derived the idea from watching girls eating dessert. Hence from the pizza shape - he got Pac-Man. Lol (This was shown in the documentary).

Pac-Man’s name comes from the Japanese dialect word: paku-paku, which means eating. In principle, the game was called Puckman in Japan which changed to Pac-Man later. In order to give a strong dose of excitement to the game, the ghosts are equipped with a bit of artificial intelligence.

Each mission had its own ghost, Blinky (red) chasing Pac-Man, Pinky (pink) is directed towards a short distance from the mouth of Pac-Man, the rest moves randomly. (I didn't know this. I thought all of them were chasing Pac-Man... hahah)

The player controls Pac-Man through a maze, eating pac-dots. When all dots are eaten, Pac-Man is taken to the next stage, between some stages one of three intermission  animations plays. Four enemies (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) roam the maze, trying to catch Pac-Man. If an enemy touches Pac-Man, a life is lost. When all lives have been lost, the game ends. (taken from Wikipedia)

Somehow this classic game is still being played today. And I still get enraged when I lose! Lol You can play it at sites like this to relive that experience.

Conclusion
Wow..... I was so excited watching that, I had to share it here. I can't wait to catch the next episode which talks about the all-favourite Mario! I have the mp3 in my handphone but am too shy to use it as a ringing tone. Lol

I would like to share the 2-dimensional pc games I used to play or watch others play in the big black floppy disk which is obsolete now. Till the next entry!! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not entirely accurate - Atari did not create Pong, they were only responsible for the most successful home console version.

Pong was already around YEARS before the Atari 2600 console rolled along, and was available for earlier consoles such as the Magnavox Odyssey.

PiggiYing said...

OOOhhh.. thanks for that trivia... this is sooo YOUR thing.. lol..
When u getting blu-ray again?? I want tumpang?