1970 in video games

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At the beginning of the 1970s, video games existed almost entirely as novelties passed around by programmers and technicians with access to computers, primarily at research institutions and large companies. 1970 marks the beginning of a commercial games industry as the first companies begin work on commercial video game hardware. This includes Syzygy, later known as Atari, which began development for Computer Space (1971), and Magnavox's work on what would become the Odyssey (1972).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnavox Odyssey 2</span> Second generation home video game console

The Magnavox Odyssey 2, also known as Philips Odyssey 2, is a second generation home video game console that was released in 1978. It was sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil and Peru as the Philips Odyssey and in Japan as Odyssey2. The Odyssey 2 was one of the five major home consoles prior to the 1983 video game market crash, along with Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Intellivision and ColecoVision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computer chess</span> Computer hardware and software capable of playing chess

Computer chess includes both hardware and software capable of playing chess. Computer chess provides opportunities for players to practice even in the absence of human opponents, and also provides opportunities for analysis, entertainment and training. Computer chess applications that play at the level of a chess grandmaster or higher are available on hardware from supercomputers to smart phones. Standalone chess-playing machines are also available. Stockfish, Leela Chess Zero, GNU Chess, Fruit, and other free open source applications are available for various platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnavox Odyssey</span> First commercial home video game console

The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September 1972 and overseas the following year. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two rectangular controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots and one line of varying height on the screen in monochrome black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. Players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements for each game, and one or two players for each game control their dots with the knobs and buttons on the controller by the rules given for the game. The console cannot generate audio or track scores. The Odyssey console came packaged with dice, paper money, and other board game paraphernalia to accompany the games, while a peripheral controller—the first video game light gun—was sold separately.

<i>Computer Space</i> 1971 video game

Computer Space is a space combat arcade video game released in 1971. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in partnership as Syzygy Engineering, it was the first arcade video game as well as the first commercially available video game. Computer Space is a derivative of the 1962 computer game Spacewar!, which is possibly the first video game to spread to multiple computer installations. It features a rocket controlled by the player engaged in a missile battle with a pair of hardware-controlled flying saucers set against a starfield background. The goal is to score more hits than the enemy spaceships within a set time period, which awards a free round of gameplay. The game is enclosed in a custom fiberglass cabinet, which Bushnell designed to look futuristic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1971 in video games</span> Overview of the events of 1971 in video games

1971 saw the first public demonstrations of Computer Space that November, the first commercially released title. However in this period computer games were still primarily limited to organisations such as universities that had access to early mainframe computers.

1972 saw the release of the first commercially successful video arcade game, Pong, and the first video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey.

The year 1972 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.

1978 saw the release of new video games such as Space Invaders. The year is considered the beginning of the golden age of arcade video games. The year's highest-grossing video game was Taito's arcade game Space Invaders, while the best-selling home system was the Atari Video Computer System.

Georgy Maximovich Adelson-Velsky was a Soviet and Israeli mathematician and computer scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First generation of video game consoles</span> First video game console generation, including the Magnavox Odyssey

In the history of video games, the first generation era refers to the video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1972 to 1983. Notable consoles of the first generation include the Odyssey series, the Atari Home Pong, the Coleco Telstar series and the Color TV-Game series. The generation ended with the Computer TV-Game in 1980 and its following discontinuation in 1983, but many manufacturers had left the market prior due to the market decline in the year of 1977 and the start of the second generation of video game consoles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kotok-McCarthy</span> Early computer chess program

Kotok-McCarthy also known as A Chess Playing Program for the IBM 7090 Computer was the first computer program to play chess convincingly. It is also remembered because it played in and lost the first chess match between two computer programs. A pseudocode of the program is in Figure 11.15 of.

Kaissa was a chess program developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. It was named so after Caissa, the goddess of chess. Kaissa became the first world computer chess champion in 1974 in Stockholm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ROM cartridge</span> Replaceable device used for the distribution and storage of video games

A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments.

The history of video games spans a period of time between the invention of the first electronic games and today, covering many inventions and developments. Video gaming reached mainstream popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, when arcade video games, gaming consoles and home computer games were introduced to the general public. Since then, video gaming has become a popular form of entertainment and a part of modern culture in most parts of the world. The early history of video games, therefore, covers the period of time between the first interactive electronic game with an electronic display in 1947, the first true video games in the early 1950s, and the rise of early arcade video games in the 1970s. During this time there was a wide range of devices and inventions corresponding with large advances in computing technology, and the actual first video game is dependent on the definition of "video game" used.

Magnavox Odyssey is the general brand name of Magnavox's complete line of home video game consoles released from 1972 through 1978. The line includes the original Magnavox Odyssey console, the Magnavox Odyssey series of dedicated home video game consoles, and the Magnavox Odyssey 2 ROM cartridge-based video game console released in 1978. Philips Odyssey is the brand name that includes the Philips Odyssey series of dedicated home video game consoles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Arlazarov</span> Russian computer scientist

Vladimir L’vovich Arlazarov (Russian: Арлазаров Владимир Львович) is a Russian computer scientist born in Moscow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VideoWriter</span> Electronic typewriter

The Philips/Magnavox VideoWriter is a standalone, fixed-application, electronic typewriter / dedicated word processor produced by Philips Home Interactive Systems (PHIS), a division of the Dutch electronics company Philips. It includes a 10" CRT amber screen with a wide aspect ratio, a black and white thermal transfer printer, a 3.5" floppy drive for saving documents, and dedicated computing hardware, all enclosed in a single case. The keyboard is separate and a custom design whose unusual features include a STYLE key and not just an UNDO key but also a DO key. The VideoWriter is not a freely programmable computer but a typewriter replacement appliance. It is not a laptop machine but was designed to be transportable in either a cloth or hard plastic carry case accessory.

Albert Lindsey Zobrist is an American computer scientist, games researcher, and inventor of the famous Zobrist Hashing, which was published in 1970. He is further author of the first Go program in 1968 as part of his PhD Thesis on pattern recognition at the Computer Science Department of the University of Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970s in video games</span> Video game-related events in 1970s

The 1970s was the first decade in the history of the video game industry. The 1970s saw the development of some of the earliest video games, chiefly in the arcade game industry, but also several for the earliest video game consoles and personal computers.

References

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  2. Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. pp. 57–58. ISBN   978-0-9643848-1-1.
  3. Adel'son-Vel'skii; Aralazarov; Bitman; Uskov (1970). "Programming a computer to play chess". Russian Mathematical Surveys. 25 (2): 221–262.
  4. Kozdrowicki, Edward; Cooper, Dennis (July 1973). "COKO III: The Cooper-Koz Chess Program". Communications of the ACM. 16 (7): 411–427.
  5. "Awit Wita Readme".
  6. "ACM COMPUTER CHESS by Bill Wall". ed-thelen.org.
  7. "myBitBox » Highnoon".
  8. Unknown (1970). "Ex-champion rallies, loses on points". Data Processing News. IBM.