Computer Space is a video arcade game released in November 1971 by Nutting Associates. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who would both later found Atari, it is generally accepted that it was the world's first commercially sold coin-operated video game — and indeed, the first commercially sold video game of any kind, predating the Magnavox Odyssey by six months, and Atari's Pong by one year. Though not commercially sold, the coin operated minicomputer driven Galaxy Game preceded it by two months, located solely at Stanford University.
Early Arcade History 1971 In the early 1970s, video games were still in their infancy and mainly consisted of computer installations which were not practice for use within the mass market. Although it was to be a while until video games entered the ‘Golden years’, significant events were starting to turn heads in 1971. This was due to the introduction of two of the first arcade machines, ‘Computer Space’ and ‘Galaxy Game’. Computer Space Computer Space is considered the first ever arcade machine, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney (under Syzygy Engineering) in 1971. The machine is held up as the first commercially produced video game, and its creators went on to co-found Atari together in 1972. The gameplay consists of the player controlling a rocket that is battling two flying saucers, which was designed by Bushnell and Dabney as a coin operated game Spacewar (1962). The machine was originally designed to have a wooden cabinet, however the cabinet was finally decided to be made of fibreglass, and curved for a futuristic design. There were many early design flaws present in Computer Space, as Bushnell and Dabney ran into many problems in the engineering of the machine. After months of hard work, the two decided that instead of coding the game on a computer, the most efficient method for creating the game would be to make specific hardware to ensuring that the game ran as it was designed. Initially, 1,500 units were ordered for release in November 1971, as the production company, Nutting, expected an optimistic reception of the game. However, by the spring of 1972 the game had sold 1,000 units. Nutting was disappointed with the sales of the Computer Space, however, after making $1,000,000 from sales Nutting was able to fund production of a two player version of the machine. Galaxy Games Around the same time of the production of the Computer Space, another two young entrepreneurs (Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck) had the similar idea of adapting Spacewar to a coin-operated machine. This machine used a fully operational computer to run the game and it therefore held the capability to play multiple games of four monitors. As this game was produced after the Computer Space it is the second video game that charged gamers per play. The prototype for the Galaxy Games machine cost $20,000 to build, and was designed as a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 minicomputer attached to a wooden cabinet which included a monitor, controls and seats. The game charged players 10 cents per game or 25 cents for three games, with the winner being awarded with one free game. The gameplay was for two players, where players battle by the means of two monochrome spaceships (the ‘Needle’ and the ‘Wedge’), with a gravitational force occupying the central star. The prototype was placed in the Student Union at Stanford University where it had shown to be very successful and was receiving a lot of attention. The second prototype made by Pitts and Tuck and placed in the café in the student union, however it was not used to its capacity, as due to limited space only two monitors out of four were used. Regrettably, when Pitts and Tuck had completed the second prototype, $65,000 had been invested in the project. Pitts and Tuck had no way of making up the cost through just the earnings from the machine or had the ability to commercially produce the machine for a retail market. The two prototypes are kept in the Computer History Museum in California and are still available to play.
For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for History of arcade video games.
Thanks for reporting this video! An extension you use may be preventing Wikiwand articles from loading properly. If you're using HTTPS Everywhere or you're unable to access any article on Wikiwand, please consider switching to HTTPS (https://www.wikiwand.com). An extension you use may be preventing Wikiwand articles from loading properly. If you are using an Ad-Blocker, it might have mistakenly blocked our content. You will need to temporarily disable your Ad-blocker to view this page. ✕This article was just edited, click to reload This article has been deleted on Wikipedia (Why?) Back to homepage
Please click Add in the dialog above Please click Allow in the top-left corner, Please click Open in the download dialog, Please click the "Downloads" icon in the Safari toolbar, open the first download in the list, Install on Chrome Install on Firefox
 A: Mountain View, California, United States 11/1971 In November 1971 Nutting Associates of Mountain View, California, released the video arcade game Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was an adaptation of Spacewar (1962). Computer Space was the first commercially sold coin-operated video game, predating the Magnavox Odyssey by six months, and Atari's Pong by one year. Share Noisy coin-operated arcade machines have been a familiar sight and sound of every amusement attraction for more than 30 years. Some of the more flamboyant coin-ops feature giant replicas of supercar interiors for players to sit in, or they are housed inside expensive 4D theaters with throbbing peripherals for a more immersive gaming experience. However, it took a far simpler machine 43 years ago to kickstart “coin-ops” domination of arcade halls. That industry-shaping machine was Pong. Pong was invented by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney (both USA), the two Atari founders revered as godfathers of gaming. Bushnell’s dream of “inventing” coin-operated arcade machines dated back to 1965 when he first played Spacewar! while studying engineering in Utah. Spacewar!, a two-player game featuring duelling spaceships, was co-created by technology student genius Steve Russell in 1961 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Although Spacewar! was an outrageously expensive piece of kit, Bushnell saw the potential in digitized gaming to revolutionise mainstream entertainment. In 1970, with computer technology rapidly advancing and costs falling, Bushnell and Dabney set about building their own clone of Spacewar!, a coin-op prototype that could be played in pinball arcades, pool halls and amusement parks. That game was Computer Space. In 1971, the duo sold the Computer Space prototype to quiz machine maker Nutting Associates who manufactured 1,500 machines. Computer Space became the First commercially available arcade videogame. However, despite the machine’s obvious innovation, the public found Computer Space’s space combat too difficult, and its concept too alien. As a result, few people wanted to play it and the machine made little money. Not to be deterred, Bushnell returned to the drawing board. Taking inspiration from the Table Tennis game on the Magnavox Odyssey – the First videogame console and Best-selling first-generation videogame console – he devised a game where players attempted to keep a moving ball alive with an on-screen paddle. It was a more simple and instant concept than Computer Space, and in order to bring the idea to life, he and Dabney founded their own company - Atari, Inc. - naming themselves after a word from the Japanese board-game Go. Al Acorn was Atari’s first employee, and it was Acorn who built the solid-state circuitry in the new game’s prototype. Pong was born, and so too was the basic mechanics for subsequent coin-op machines. Pong featured two paddles, a white dot for a ball and a dashed line “net”, loosely replicating the real sport of table tennis. Its instructions were short and plaintive, telling gamers to “Avoid Missing Ball For High Score”. For consumers who had never played videogames before, this was the perfect introduction. Atari’s fledgling prototype became the first coin-operated Pong machine and was fitted at Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California (USA). Before long, locals were flocking to the bar, turning their backs on traditional jukeboxes and pinball tables to sample Pong’s beautifully simplistic game-play. And when the machine broke down after just a few days, Al Acorn discovered that the machine had become crammed with too many coins, all of which had been packed into its overworked insides by over-eager punters. Yet despite the long queues gathering outside Andy Capp’s, Bushnell and Dabney still couldn’t convince larger companies of Pong’s commercial potential. Like a record company rejecting a youthful The Beatles, Chicago-based pinball giant Bally/Midway was one such company who declined the opportunity to mass-produce Pong. So instead, Atari took the bold decision to build the machines itself. It proved a very wise move. In its first year alone Atari sold 8,000 Pong machines, making it the First commercially successful arcade videogame. Other companies, including (ironically) both Bally/Midway and Nutting Associates would leap onto the bandwagon, creating their own iterations of Pong. Tens of thousands of Pong clones swiftly flooded the market. Magnavox, the makers of Odyssey caught wind of the game’s similarity to its own Table Tennis, and threatened legal action. Atari swiftly came to an out-of-court agreement. So too did coin-op rivals Allied Leisure Industries who tried to sue Midway for supposed copyright infringement of their own Pong clones – The first videogame lawsuit. Yet despite all this competition, Atari’s Pong would still go on to sell 35,000 machines, cementing its place as the market leader in this new “bat and ball” genre. In 1973, Atari remained ahead of the game by producing a four-player sequel called Pong Doubles - The first four-player videogame. And years after Pong’s coin-op launch, the trail-blazing game made another bold step, this time recreated as a miniaturised domestic version for TVs called Home Pong. The game was pre-installed into a console and played with paddle-knob controllers. Curiously, Pong remains enjoyable and playable to this day – proof that simplicity is no bar to videogaming greatness! Share |
When was the first coin-operated video game introduced?
zusammenhängende Posts
Urheberrechte © © 2024 frojeostern Inc.
