Time has not been kind to the first widely recognized video game. Pong, now even though less than 40 years-old appears more obsolete than the Ford Model T. Pong was played at video arcades – another obsolete entity. For a child born even 10 years ago, traveling to a location to pay, by the game, for something as simple as electronic table tennis would be so foreign that it would be insulting.

Technology accumulates at such a rapid pace that one generation barely recognize the existence of the next. Growing up in the 70s meant no Internet. Identification did not even include a photo. Perhaps the best way to show the rapid and extreme changes that have occurs can be shown in the area of video and computer gaming. If Pong were art it would be a cave drawing. Compared to the depth of story, art and play of series such as Final Fantasy, Pong looks less like a cave drawing than the scribbles of an infant next to the artwork of a master.
Video games went from tiny pleasure to cultural boiling point in less than a generation. Technology relegated Pong to be without any politics or viewpoints. Pong gave way to Pac-Man, which begat Mario Bros., which became Zelda, Medal Gear Solid and Grand Theft Auto.
As video games evolved it became nearly impossible to dismiss them as a mindless pursuit. Entertainment is a reflection of society and their rapid evolution displayed technology’s effect on society. While change might be healthy and necessary, such a rapid change displays volatility.
For people 100 years ago, it cold be relatively assumed that following in the footsteps of your father would not only be a comfortable path but also the only available option. Now guessing on which industries will exist in five years offers about as much assurance as a coin flip. Or to think about it another way, what students are studying in college now might be considered as important as Pong is considered today by the next generation.

As personal computers began to infiltrate more and more households in the 1980s, computer game companies began to flourish. By today’s standards, many of these early video games were rudimentary at best, but many are still revered today for their playability. In particular, the text adventures created by a small company called Infocom still have a cult following today.

Humble Beginnings

The founders of Infocom met at MIT, while they were working on their undergraduate degrees. After becoming friends, they wrote Zork 1, which went on to sell over a million copies. A text adventure, Zork had no graphics of any kind. Instead, the player read the words on the screen and typed in a command for his character, i.e., “walk north” or “kill troll with sword”. Zork required the player to solve many different puzzles by using maps, items, and in some cases, good timing. It was lauded for challenging the intellect and stirring the imagination of its players.

National Success

From its humble beginnings at MIT, Infocom grew, and over the next several years, it published many bestselling games in a variety of genres. Zork spawned two sequels and even a prequel, and games like Trinity, Sorcerer, and Planetfall were loved by millions of people. Infocom’s games were marked by witty, descriptive writing and brain-teasing puzzles. The company initially offered a phone number that people could call to get hints for these puzzles, but later began publishing “Invisiclues” – booklets for each game with clues written in invisible ink – so the reader could only reveal the hint she needed at the time.

Infocom’s Downfall

Though the matter is up for debate, most posit that the fall of Infocom was brought about by Cornerstone, a financial software product that the company spent a significant amount of time and money developing but that failed to bring in much revenue. Many think that Infocom’s investors pushed the company into producing the product, but perhaps the company’s leaders were overambitious. Regardless, Infocom’s games are still revered among many video gamers.

With video games’ popularity exploding, it certainly feels like the golden age of gaming has arrived. And with the ubiquity of the internet, indie developers can reach wide audiences. The quality of games is at its highest point in history, and with billions of dollars being spent on video games each year, the industry undoubtedly has a bright future. So, what was the industry like in its infancy? Let’s take a look at some classic games that don’t deserve to be forgotten.

Trinity – A Nuclear Text-Adventure

It may be difficult to imagine today, but some of the best-selling “video” games in the 1980s had no graphics at all. These “text-adventures” were played by typing commands into a parser and then reading the results. Sounds boring, but these kind of games stimulated players’ imaginations and tested their logic. Trinity, written by Brian Moriarty, is widely regarded as one the best of these text adventures. The game begins in London in Kensington Gardens, but the setting quickly turns to a Alice-in-Wonderland-like dreamscape ruled by a gnomon’s shadow and populated by surreal characters and happenings. The plot revolves around nuclear testing and nuclear war – topical topics during the mid-1980s, when Trinity was published.

Trinity’s Impact

Though it would be criminal to reveal the solutions to the game’s puzzles, Trinity did involve using a lot of logic and in some cases, a little bit of intuition. One puzzle involves figuring out how to get across magical grass that repels all efforts to walk on it, and another forces the player to figure out how to survive in outer space long enough to complete a specific task. But what many took away from the game was its overt disarmament message; Trinity did not try to hide the devastating effects of a nuclear war. Perhaps that message is what has helped the game maintain a following today. In any case, Trinity features sharp writing, imaginative puzzles, and unforgettable locations.

Another classic game that has perhaps escaped the notice of many of the gamers of today is Loom. Written by Brian Moriarty, who previously had created games like Wishbringer, Trinity, and Beyond Zork, Loom was an adventure game that combined text and graphics. But what made the game most interesting was its integration of music into its puzzles. Loom became a bestseller and still has many fans today.

The Music Of Loom

As one might imagine from its title, one of Loom’s themes involved the idea that the characters’ fates were controlled by magical threads. The player assumes the role of a young boy – Bobbin Threadbare – who travels from his home village in search of a solution to a catastrophe. The player guides the character’s movements and can make him walk from place to place, manipulate objects, and also play notes on a distaff. Many puzzles in the game are solved by playing the appropriate series of notes, and having an ear for music can help. This innovative way of solving puzzles was what made the game memorable for many. When the notes are played, an effect is created similar to casting a spell. For example, one of the tunes, when played, can color fabric. When this tune is played backwards, it bleaches fabric.

Loom’s Plot

In the beginning of the game, Bobbin’s entire village is transformed into swans, and he ventures forth in search of a way to turn his people back. Along the way, he encounters several puzzles, and meets a variety of characters with whom he must interact to gain knowledge. Eventually, he learns that an evil character has unleashed a chaotic force into the world. In the end, Bobbin is able to defeat the cleric responsible for the chaos, though the game has somewhat of a cliffhanger ending, which was designed to leave the door open for sequels.

Unlike most video game companies, one company was ruled by the inspiration of the movies of yesteryear. Cinemaware had its heyday in the early nineties, and published several games that were based on monster movies, World War II movies, and medieval epics, to name a few. One of its most exciting games, Rocket Ranger, is largely unknown today but deserves recognition for its plot and playability.

Concept

Rocket Ranger was set during World War II and focuses on the Germans’ attempted subjugation of Europe. As the game progresses, the protagonist (Rocket Ranger) must attempt to prevent the Nazis from gaining too much of a stronghold. He operates from Fort Dix, and uses his rocket pack to fly around the world to complete a variety of missions that each help combat the enemy. One of the game’s plot devices involves the idea that the moon is a source of “lunarium” – a coveted mineral that both powers the Germans’ war machine and the player’s rocket pack.

Plot

At the game’s outset, the Nazis only control Germany, but as time passes, they control more and more countries. The player flies to various countries and completes tasks like punching out a German guard and shooting down zeppelins. To determine which country to fly to, the player must use a decoder wheel that determines the correct amount of lunarium to use. This wheel was actually designed by Cinemaware to be a somewhat unobtrusive form of copy protection, since without it, the player cannot control his direction.

Significance

Rocket Ranger was praised for its stirring music, sharp writing, and variety of action sequences. It certainly pays homage to many World War II movies, but adds its own unique blend of humor and even pathos as the player encounters both funny and dire situations. Though difficult, the game also features a rewarding ending that makes the struggle worthwhile.

If you’re a fan of the Fallout series of video games, and you’re in the mood to play a classic game, it may be worth your while to seek out a game that was published in the 80s called Wasteland. Published by Interplay, Wasteland was a role-playing game set in the post-apocalyptic future, in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear war. The player controlled a party of characters who had to solve puzzles, fight enemies, and gain experience.

Concept

When beginning the game, the player must create characters with varying statistics (e.g. strength, intelligence, etc.) and varying skills (like lock picking and marksmanship). These skills are particularly important as the game progresses, and many of them make it easier for the characters to accomplish certain tasks. The game is set in the desert, and the player’s characters walk from location to location, occasionally encountering foes along the way. These foes must be battled using a variety of weaponry that players find in the desert.

Plot

The plot revolves around survival, but the player must also solve various puzzles and use items to complete tasks. The game was sold with a manual that includes a series of passages that that the game directs the player to read at certain points. This manual also serves as copy protection since, without it, the player misses information crucial to solving some of the game’s puzzles. Many of the puzzles involve finding and using interesting technology, and most of this technology is fiercely guarded by “non-player” characters like a heavily armed brotherhood of monks.

Significance

Wasteland was lauded for its non-linear gameplay, interesting plot, and detailed non-player characters. Many gamers also remember it fondly for the arsenal of weaponry that could be used, and for the witty writing and challenging puzzles. It deserves a spot in any classic video game hall of fame.

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Integrated circuits originated in the 1940’s and 50’s, but were much larger and had the fraction of the power they do today. Nothing we know of would be the same if there were no microchips, digital signal processing chips, or semiconductor circuits. They are built in to almost every appliance there is, and the small scale of these chips has enabled smaller and smaller devices to exist. For example, cell phones that hold enormous amounts of information and even provide access to the Internet operate on very small circuits designed to fit in their small dimensions.

Circuits are found in almost everything, in addition to cell phones. Regular telephones, printers, microwave ovens, radios and even televisions include sophisticated circuitry. The ICs themselves are manufactured by companies that specialize in the advanced technologies that go into making them. Manufacturers of televisions or computers, for example, can order circuits according to the memory they support or the speed or bandwidth a device can achieve by using them.

Another important specification is the package type, such as the ball grid array, that is defined by the size of the chip and how it connects to the circuit board. The connection is usually dependent on the number of connecting pins the IC has built in. A circuit chip can be a microprocessor that controls an entire computer system, or a tiny device that has a specific purpose, such as managing the timing of signals. Something like this is called an application specific integrated circuit, or ASIC. There are some of these that are measured in millimeters they are so small.

Without the IC in the form that it is in today, many technologies wouldn’t exist, such as HDTV’s. It is only the processing power of these chips that enable such high resolution. The Internet, with its high speed and density of information, would not be the worldwide information source it is without the proper circuitry in the devices that store data and drive interconnected networks.

Technology does not always survive commercially by outperforming its competitors. While natural selection might ensure that a particular species survives while another becomes extinct, no such force exists in the area of consumer preference. Otherwise the Betamax format might be remembered as something other than a failure.

The Video Cassette Recorders- VCRS first became widely available in 1972. The Philips Video Cassette Recording system might have been innovative, but it did not prove to have much staying power. Price might have been part of the problem as consumers could have been hesitant to fork over more than $2000 for a new and unproven technology.

By 1975 the marketplace had shifted and selling VCRs to the public became a profitable endeavor. The idea of bringing a portable movie studio into living rooms proved exciting to the public, while Hollywood Executives predicted that the machine could destroy their industry.

Luckily for movie lovers bringing VCRs into homes proved to have the opposite effect of destroying the movie industry. VCRs became a staple in homes, and the only question that remained was VHS or Beta?

The Betamax emerged first on the market and offered superior picture and sound. VHS offered two hours of recording time. Quantity won out over quality as the public desired time to record movies and television events.

But pricing and marketing also doomed Sony’s VCR. VHS was cheaper, and once JVC’s VCR began to gain market share it partnered with movie studios to offer a wider selection of offerings. Despite being first and better quality, Betamax proved to be the lesser of the two VCR offerings. By the 1990s the Beta was a dead technology.

While Beta had a short shelf life, the format war between the two systems has become a marketing case study. The rapid introduction of new technologies to the market place means that companies will always remember the lessons of the Sony Betamax, while desperately hoping that their products do not suffer a similar fate.

Computers are essential to life as we know it today. They are everywhere, but just who invented them? The computer is something that has evolved from many different designs and inventions, developed over time by various people over many years.

A mechanical calculator was built in Germany in the 1930’s. This was considered the first binary computer and was used to do mathematical calculations. It was refined by the 1940’s to use old movie film to store programs and data; the first not to use paper tape or cards. A 1941 version had a memory of 64 words.

What were referred to as personal computers from then through the 1950’s and 1960’s were able to do mathematical calculations. They weren’t able to do everything like the computers of today, but were sophisticated for the time. Their concept and the ideas of their builders were still visionary nonetheless. The different types that appeared throughout the time period featured switches and dials built into bulky large boxes.

The paperclip computer was a device in the late 1960’s based on a book that described a working computer built out of homemade supplies. Programs were stored on a magnetic drum and the device had units for input, output, control, and arithmetic. The main units of this system correspond to most modern digital computers, even though the machine looked nothing like a home computer.

Machines that began to take on the appearance of modern PCs in the early history of computers began to appear in the 1970s. The first successful mass produced computer was made by Apple in 1977, while IBM and Microsoft developed several computers in the 1980’s. Several entered the mainstream, such as Atari, as computerized video games became a cultural phenomenon, but it is also impossible to leave out the Commodore 64, since it was one of the most popular individual computer types on the market.

The reliance on more powerful gaming systems, as well as word processors, secured the high demand for better computers. Today, there are computers everywhere and inside just about anything electronic.