Editing History of video games (section)

==1970s==
{{Main|1970s in video games}}

===Mainframe computer games===
[[File:ADVENT -- Will Crowther's original version (vector).svg|thumb|right|The on-screen instructions from [[Will Crowther]]'s 1976 game ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]''.]]
In the 1960s, a number of computer games were created for mainframe and [[minicomputer]] systems, but these failed to achieve wide distribution due to the continuing scarcity of computer resources, a lack of sufficiently trained programmers interested in crafting entertainment products, and the difficulty in transferring programs between computers in different geographic areas.  By the end of the 1970s, however, the situation had changed drastically. The [[BASIC]] and [[C (programming language)|C]] high-level [[programming language]]s were widely adopted during the decade, which were more accessible than earlier more technical languages such as [[FORTRAN]] and [[COBOL]], opening up computer game creation to a larger base of users.  With the advent of [[time-sharing]], which allowed the resources of a single mainframe to be parceled out among multiple users connected to the machine by terminals, computer access was no longer limited to a handful of individuals at an institution, creating more opportunities for students to create their own games.  Furthermore, the widespread adoption of the [[PDP-10]], released by [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEC) in 1966, and the portable [[UNIX]] [[operating system]], developed at [[Bell Labs]] in 1971 and released generally in 1973, created common programming environments across the country that reduced the difficulty of sharing programs between institutions.  Finally, the founding of the first magazines dedicated to computing like ''[[Creative Computing]]'' (1974), the publication of the earliest program compilation books like ''[[101 BASIC Computer Games]]'' (1973), and the spread of wide-area networks such as the [[ARPANET]] allowed programs to be shared more easily across great distances.  As a result, many of the mainframe games created by college students in the 1970s influenced subsequent developments in the video game industry in ways that, ''Spacewar!'' aside, the games of the 1960s did not.

In the arcade and on home consoles, fast-paced action and [[Turns, rounds and time-keeping systems in games#Real-time|real-time]] gameplay were the norm in genres like [[racing game|racing]] and [[shooting game|target shooting]].  On the mainframe, however, such games were generally not possible due both to the lack of adequate displays (many computer terminals continued to rely on [[teleprinter|teletype]]s rather than monitors well into the 1970s and even most CRT terminals could only render character-based graphics) and insufficient processing power and memory to update game elements in real time. While 1970s mainframes were more powerful than arcade and console hardware of the period, the need to parcel out computing resources to dozens of simultaneous users via time-sharing significantly hampered their abilities.  Thus, programmers of mainframe games focused on strategy and puzzle-solving mechanics over pure action.  Notable games of the period include the tactical combat game ''[[Star Trek (text game)|Star Trek]]'' (1971) by [[Mike Mayfield]], the [[hide-and-seek]] game ''[[Hunt the Wumpus]]'' (1972) by [[Gregory Yob]], and the strategic war game ''[[Empire (1977 video game)|Empire]]'' (1977) by [[Walter Bright]].  Perhaps the most significant game of the period was ''[[Colossal Cave Adventure]]'' (or simply ''Adventure''), created in 1976 by [[Will Crowther]] by combining his passion for caving with concepts from the newly released tabletop role-playing game (RPG) ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' (D&D).  Expanded by [[Don Woods (programmer)|Don Woods]] in 1977 with an emphasis on the high fantasy of [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], ''Adventure'' established a new genre based around exploration and inventory-based puzzle solving that made the transition to personal computers in the late 1970s.

While most games were created on hardware of limited graphic ability, one computer able to host more impressive games was the [[PLATO system]] developed at the [[University of Illinois]].  Intended as an educational computer, the system connected hundreds of users all over the United States via remote terminals that featured high-quality [[plasma display]]s and allowed users to interact with each other in real time.  This allowed the system to host an impressive array of graphical and/or multiplayer games, including some of the earliest known computer RPGs, which were primarily derived, like ''Adventure'', from ''D&D'', but unlike that game placed a greater emphasis on combat and character progression than puzzle solving.  Starting with top-down [[dungeon crawl]]s like ''The Dungeon'' (1975) and ''The Game of Dungeons'' (1975), more commonly referred to today by their filenames, ''[[pedit5]]'' and ''[[dnd (video game)|dnd]]'', PLATO RPGs soon transitioned to a first-person perspective with games like ''[[Moria (PLATO)|Moria]]'' (1975), ''Oubliette'' (1977), and ''[[Avatar (PLATO system video game)|Avatar]]'' (1979), which often allowed multiple players to join forces to battle monsters and complete quests together.  Like ''Adventure'', these games ultimately inspired some of the earliest personal computer games.

===The first arcade video games and home consoles===
{{See also|First generation of video game consoles|History of arcade games|History of arcade video games}}
[[File:Magnavox-Odyssey-Console-Set.jpg|thumb|The [[Magnavox Odyssey]], the first home console]]

The modern video game industry grew out of the concurrent development of the first [[arcade video game]] and the first [[home video game console]] in the early 1970s in the United States.

The arcade video game industry grew out of the pre-existing [[arcade game]] industry, which was previously dominated by [[electro-mechanical game]]s (EM games). Following the arrival of [[Sega]]'s EM game ''[[Periscope (arcade game)|Periscope]]'' (1966), the arcade industry was experiencing a "technological renaissance" driven by "audio-visual" EM novelty games, establishing the arcades as a healthy environment for the introduction of commercial video games in the early 1970s.<ref name="Smith">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Alexander |title=They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982 |date=19 November 2019 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |isbn=978-0-429-75261-2 |pages=119–20, 188–91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT119}}</ref> In the late 1960s, a college student [[Nolan Bushnell]] had a part-time job at an arcade where he became familiar with EM games, watching customers play and helping to maintain the machinery while learning how it worked and developing his understanding of how the game business operates.<ref name="NGen23">{{cite magazine |title=The Great Videogame Swindle? |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=23  |date=November 1996 |pages=211–229 |url=https://archive.org/details/NextGeneration23Nov1996P2/page/n72}}</ref>

In 1966, while working at [[Sanders Associates]], [[Ralph H. Baer|Ralph Baer]] came up with an idea for an entertainment device that could be hooked up to a television monitor. Presenting this to his superiors at Sanders and getting their approval, he, along with William Harrison and William Rusch, refined Baer's concept into the "Brown Box" prototype of a [[home video game console]] that could play a simple table tennis game. The three patented the technology, and Sanders, not in the commercialization business, sold licenses to the patents to [[Magnavox]] to commercialize. With Baer's help, Magnavox developed the [[Magnavox Odyssey]], the first commercial home console, in 1972.

[[File:Pong.svg|right|thumb|''[[Pong]]'' was the first [[arcade video game]] to ever receive universal acclaim.]]

Concurrently, Nolan Bushnell and [[Ted Dabney]] had the idea of making a coin-operated system to run ''Spacewar!'' By 1971, the two had developed ''[[Computer Space]]'' with [[Nutting Associates]], the first arcade video game.<ref>{{cite book |title=They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry |volume=1: 1971 – 1982 |last=Smith |first=Alexander |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |date=November 27, 2019 |isbn=978-1-138-38990-8|pages=309–310}}</ref> Bushnell and Dabney struck out on their own and formed [[Atari, Inc.|Atari]]. Bushnell, inspired by the [[table tennis]] game on the Odyssey, hired [[Allan Alcorn]] to develop an arcade version of the game, this time using discrete [[transistor–transistor logic]] (TTL) electronic circuitry. Atari's ''[[Pong]]'' was released in late 1972 and is considered the first successful arcade video game. It ignited the growth of the arcade game industry in the United States from both established coin-operated game manufacturers like [[WMS Industries|Williams]], Chicago Coin, and the [[Midway Games|Midway]] subsidiary of [[Bally Manufacturing]], and new startups such as Ramtek and [[Centuri|Allied Leisure]]. Many of these were ''Pong'' clones using ball-and-paddle controls, and led to saturation of the market in 1974, forcing arcade game makers to try to innovate new games in 1975. Many of the newer companies created in the wake of ''Pong'' failed to innovate on their own and shut down, and by the end of 1975, the arcade market had fallen by about 50% based on new game sale revenues.<ref name="down many times">{{cite book | last = Ernkvist | first = Mirko  | chapter = Down many times, but still playing the game: Creative destruction and industry crashes in the early video game industry 1971-1986 | year = 2008 | pages = 161–191 | title = History of Insolvancy and Bankruptcy | publisher = Södertörns högskola | editor-first=  Karl | editor-last=Gratzer | editor-first2=Dieter | editor-last2=Stiefel | isbn = 978-91-89315-94-5 }}</ref> Further, Magnavox took Atari and several other of these arcade game makers to court over violations of Baer's patents. Bushnell settled the suit for Atari, gaining perpetual rights for the patents for Atari as part of the settlement.<ref>{{cite book |title=Atari Inc.: Business Is Fun |last1=Goldberg |first1=Marty |last2=Vendel |first2=Curt |publisher=Syzygy Press |date=November 25, 2012 |isbn=978-0-9855974-0-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/atariincbusiness0000gold | page=204  }}</ref> Others failed to settle, and Magnavox won around {{US$|100 million|long=no}} in damages from these patent infringement suits before the patents expired in 1990.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/12/08/369405270/inventor-ralph-baer-the-father-of-video-games-dies-at-92 |title=Inventor Ralph Baer, The 'Father Of Video Games,' Dies at 92 |date=December 8, 2014 |last=Mullis |first=Steve |work=[[NPR|National Public Radio]] |access-date=May 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322121715/http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/12/08/369405270/inventor-ralph-baer-the-father-of-video-games-dies-at-92 |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Arcade video games caught on quickly in Japan due to partnerships between American and Japanese corporations that kept the Japan companies abreast of technology developments within the United States. The [[Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company]] (Namco) partnered with Atari to import ''Pong'' into Japan in late 1973. Within the year, [[Taito]] and [[Sega]] released ''Pong'' clones in Japan by mid-1973. Japanese companies began developing novel games and exporting or licensing them through partners in 1974.<ref name="gamestudies geemu">{{cite journal | url = http://www.gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard | title = The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games | first = Martin | last= Picard | volume = 13 | issue = 2 | issn = 1604-7982 | journal = [[Game Studies]] }}</ref> Among these included Taito's ''[[Gun Fight]]'' (originally ''Western Gun'' in its Japanese release), which was licensed to Midway. Midway's version, released in 1975, was the first arcade video game to use a [[microprocessor]] rather than discrete TTL components.<ref>[[Steve L. Kent]] (2001), ''[[The ultimate history of video games: from Pong to Pokémon and beyond : the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world]]'', p. 64, Prima, {{ISBN|0-7615-3643-4}}</ref> This innovation drastically reduced the complexity and time to design of arcade games and the number of physical components required to achieve more advanced gameplay.<ref name="gamasutra history atari">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/the-history-of-atari-1971-1977 | title = The History of Atari: 1971-1977 | first=  Steve | last =Fulton | date = November 6, 2007 | access-date = September 11, 2018 | work = [[Gamasutra]] }}</ref>

===The dedicated console market===
{{Main|First generation of video game consoles}}
[[File:APF TV Fun (with paddle model).jpg|thumb|right|''Pong'' clones like the [[APF TV Fun]] ''(pictured)'' over-saturated the market in the late 1970s.]]
The Magnavox Odyssey never caught on with the public, due largely to the limited functionality of its primitive discrete electronic component technology.<ref name="down many times"/> By mid-1975, [[large-scale integration]] (LSI) microchips had become inexpensive enough to be incorporated into a consumer product.<ref name="down many times"/> In 1975, Magnavox reduced the part count of the Odyssey using a three-chip set created by Texas Instruments and released two new systems that only played ball-and-paddle games, the [[Magnavox Odyssey 100]] and [[Magnavox Odyssey 200]]. Atari, meanwhile, entered the consumer market that same year with the single-chip Home ''Pong'' system. The next year, [[General Instrument]] released a "Pong-on-a-chip" LSI and made it available at a low price to any interested company. Toy company [[Coleco]] Industries used this chip to create the million-selling [[Telstar (game console)|Telstar]] console model series (1976–77).

These initial home video game consoles were popular, leading to a large influx of companies releasing ''Pong'' and other [[video game clone]]s to satisfy consumer demand. While there were only seven companies that were releasing home consoles in 1975, there were at least 82 by 1977, with more than 160 different models that year alone that were easily documented. A large number of these consoles were created in East Asia, and it is estimated that over 500 ''Pong''-type home console models were made during this period.<ref name="down many times"/> As with the prior paddle-and-ball saturation in the arcade game field by 1975 due to consumer weariness, dedicated console sales dropped sharply in 1978, disrupted by the introduction of programmable systems and [[Handheld electronic game]]s.<ref name="down many times"/>

Just as dedicated consoles were waning in popularity in the West, they briefly surged in popularity in Japan. These ''TV geemu'' were often based on licensed designs from the American companies, manufactured by television manufacturers such as [[Toshiba]] and [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp]]. Notably, [[Nintendo]] entered the video game market during this period alongside its current traditional and electronic toy product lines, producing the series of [[Color TV-Game]] consoles in partnership with [[Mitsubishi]].<ref name="gamestudies geemu"/>

===Growth of video game arcades and the golden age===
{{Main|Golden age of arcade video games}}
[[File:Space Invaders - Midway's.JPG|thumb|right|''[[Space Invaders]]'' was popular in arcades and introduced many elements which became standard in video games.]]
After the ball-and-paddle market saturation in 1975, game developers began looking for new ideas for games, buoyed by the ability to use programmable microprocessors rather than analog components. Taito designer [[Tomohiro Nishikado]], who had developed ''Gun Fight'' previously, was inspired by Atari's ''[[Breakout (video game)|Breakout]]'' to create a shooting-based game, ''[[Space Invaders]]'', first released in Japan in 1978.<ref name="verge life death arcade"/> ''Space Invaders'' introduced or popularized several important concepts in arcade video games, including play regulated by [[life (video games)|lives]] instead of a timer or set score, gaining [[Life (video games)#Extra lives|extra lives]] through accumulating points, and the tracking of the [[score (game)|high score]] achieved on the machine.  It was also the first game to confront the player with waves of targets that shot back at the player and the first to include background music during game play, albeit a simple four-note loop.<ref name="IGN-10">{{cite web |url=http://games.ign.com/articles/840/840621p1.html |title=IGN's Top 10 Most Influential Games |website=[[IGN]] |author=Geddes, Ryan |author2=Hatfield, Daemon |date=December 10, 2007 |access-date=July 11, 2008 |archive-date=February 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214180351/http://games.ign.com/articles/840/840621p1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Space Invaders'' was an immediate success in Japan, with some arcades created solely for ''Space Invaders'' machines.<ref name="verge life death arcade"/> While not quite as popular in the United States, ''Space Invaders'' became a hit as Midway, serving as the North American manufacturer, moved over 60,000 cabinets in 1979.<ref>{{citation |title=Genesis II, creation and recreation with computers |author=Dale Peterson |publisher=[[Prentice Hall|Reston Publishing]] |year=1983 |isbn=0-8359-2434-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL1YAAAAMAAJ |access-date=May 1, 2011 |page=175 |quote=By 1980, some 300,000 Space Invader video arcade games were in use in Japan, and an additional 60,000 in the United States.|author-link=Dale Peterson}}</ref>

[[File:US Marine playing Defender.jpg|thumb|right|An American [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] playing ''[[Defender (1981 video game)|Defender]]'' aboard a naval ship in 1982]]
''Space Invaders'' led off what is considered to be the golden age of arcade games which lasted from 1978 to 1982. Several influential and best-selling arcade games were released during this period from Atari, Namco, Taito, Williams, and Nintendo, including ''[[Asteroids (video game)|Asteroids]]'' (1979), ''[[Galaxian]]'' (1979), ''[[Defender (1981 video game)|Defender]]'' (1980), ''[[Missile Command]]'' (1980), ''[[Tempest (video game)|Tempest]]'' (1981), and ''[[Galaga]]'' (1981). ''[[Pac-Man]]'', released in 1980, became a [[popular culture]] icon, and a new wave of games appeared that focused on identifiable characters and alternate mechanics such as navigating a maze or traversing a series of platforms.  Aside from ''Pac-Man'' and its sequel, ''[[Ms. Pac-Man]]'' (1982), the most popular games in this vein during the golden age were ''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]'' (1981) and ''[[Q*bert]]'' (1982).<ref name="verge life death arcade"/> Games like ''Pac-Man'', ''Donkey Kong'' and ''Q*bert'' also introduced the concept of narratives and characters to video games, which led companies to adopt these later as mascots for marketing purposes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lebowitz |first1=Josiah |last2=Klug |first2=Chris |title=Interactive Storytelling for Video Games: A Player-centered Approach to Creating Memorable Characters and Stories |date=2011 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-0-240-81717-0 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QUrarEcvaO8C&pg=PA14 |access-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-date=April 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425124157/https://books.google.com/books?id=QUrarEcvaO8C&pg=PA14 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Nathan | last = Altice | title = I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform | chapter = Chapter 2: Ports | pages =53–80 | isbn = 9780262028776 | publisher = [[MIT Press]] | date = 2015 }}</ref>

According to trade publication ''Vending Times'', revenues generated by coin-operated video games on location in the United States jumped from $308 million in 1978 to $968 million in 1979 to $2.8 billion in 1980. As ''Pac Man'' ignited an even larger video game craze and attracted more female players to arcades, revenues jumped again to $4.9 billion in 1981. According to trade publication ''Play Meter'', by July 1982, total coin-op collections peaked at $8.9 billion, of which $7.7 billion came from video games.<ref name="Rogers-Larsen-263"/> Dedicated [[video game arcade]]s grew during the golden age, with the number of arcades (locations with at least ten arcade games) more than doubling between July 1981 and July 1983 from over 10,000 to just over 25,000.<ref name="verge life death arcade">{{cite web | url = https://www.theverge.com/2013/1/16/3740422/the-life-and-death-of-the-american-arcade-for-amusement-only | title = For Amusement Only: The Life and Death of the American Arcade | first = Laura | last = June | date = January 16, 2013 | access-date = March 8, 2021 | work = [[The Verge]] }}</ref><ref name="Rogers-Larsen-263"/> These figures made arcade games the most popular entertainment medium in the country, far surpassing both pop music (at $4 billion in sales per year) and Hollywood films ($3 billion).<ref name="Rogers-Larsen-263">{{Cite book|title=Silicon Valley fever: growth of high-technology culture|author1=Everett M. Rogers |author2=Judith K. Larsen |publisher=[[Basic Books]]|year=1984|isbn=0-465-07821-4|url=https://archive.org/details/siliconvalleyfev00roge|url-access=registration|access-date=April 23, 2011|page=[https://archive.org/details/siliconvalleyfev00roge/page/263 263]}}</ref>

===Introduction of cartridge-based home consoles===
{{Main|Second generation of video game consoles}}
[[File:Intellivision.jpg|thumb|right|An [[Intellivision]] home console system with an assortment of [[ROM cartridge]]s]]
Development costs of dedicated game hardware for arcade and home consoles based on discrete component circuitry and [[application-specific integrated circuit]]s (ASICs) with only limited consumer lifespans drove engineers to find alternatives. Microprocessors had dropped far enough in price by 1975 to make these a viable option for developing programmable consoles that could load in game software from a form of swappable media.<ref name="atari fun chp5">{{cite book | title = Atari Inc: Business is Fun | first1 = Marty | last1 = Goldberg | first2 = Curt | last2 = Vendel | year = 2012 | isbn = 978-0985597405 | publisher = Sygyzy Press | chapter=Chapter 5 }}</ref>

The [[Fairchild Channel F]] by [[Fairchild Camera and Instrument]] was released in 1976. It is the first home console to use programmable [[ROM cartridge]]s - allowing players to swap games - as well as being the first home console to use a microprocessor which reads instructions from the ROM cartridge. Atari and Magnavox followed suit in 1977 and 1978, respectively, with the release of the [[Atari Video Computer System]] (VCS, later known as the Atari 2600) and the [[Magnavox Odyssey 2]], both systems also introducing the use of cartridges. As to complete the Atari VCS quickly, Bushnell sold Atari to [[Warner Communications]] {{USD|28 million|long=no}}, providing the necessary cash infusion to complete the system's design by the end of 1977.<ref name="gamasutra history atari"/> The initial market for these new consoles were initially modest as consumers were still wary after the saturation of dedicated home consoles.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qsa-BAAAQBAJ&q=atari+vcs+christmas+1979&pg=PP10|title=101 Amazing Atari 2600 Facts|last=Russell|first=Jimmy|date=December 3, 2012|publisher=Andrews UK Limited|isbn=9781782344957|language=en}}</ref> However, there was still newfound interest in video games, and new players were drawn to the market, such as [[Mattel Electronics]] with the [[Intellivision]].<ref name="down many times"/> In contrast to the dedicated home ''Pong'' consoles, programmable cartridge-based consoles had a higher barrier of entry with the costs of [[research & development]] and large-scale production, and fewer manufacturers entered the market during this period.<ref name="down many times"/>

This new line of consoles had its breakthrough moment when Atari obtained a license from Taito to create the Atari VCS version of the arcade hit ''Space Invaders'', which was released in 1980. ''Space Invaders'' quadrupled sales of the Atari VCS, making it the first "[[killer app]]" in the video game industry, and the first video game to sell over one million copies and eventually sold over 2.5 million by 1981.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ultimate History of Video Games |first=Steven |last=Kent |page=190 |publisher=[[Three Rivers Press]] |isbn=0-7615-3643-4 |year=2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Weiss |first=Brett |title=Classic home video games, 1972–1984: a complete reference guide |year=2007 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |location=Jefferson, N.C. |isbn=978-0-7864-3226-4 |page=108}}</ref>  Atari's consumer sales almost doubled from $119 million to nearly $204 million in 1980 and then exploded to over $841 million in 1981, while sales across the entire video game industry in the United States rose from $185.7 million in 1979 to just over $1 billion in 1981.  Through a combination of conversions of its own arcade games like ''Missile Command'' and ''Asteroids'' and licensed conversions like ''Defender'', Atari took a commanding lead in the industry, with an estimated 65% market share of the worldwide industry by dollar volume by 1981.  Mattel settled into second place with roughly 15%-20% of the market, while Magnavox ran a distant third, and Fairchild exited the market entirely in 1979.<ref name="down many times"/>

Another critical development during this period was the emergence of third-party developers. Atari management did not appreciate the special talent required to design and program a game and treated them like typical software engineers of the period, who were not generally credited for their work or given royalties; this led to [[Warren Robinett]] secretly programming his name in one of the earliest [[Easter egg (media)|Easter eggs]] into his game ''[[Adventure (1980 video game)|Adventure]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/technology/easter-eggs-tesla-google.html|title=The Secret History of 'Easter Eggs'|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 8, 2019|last=Pogue|first=David|access-date=August 8, 2019}}</ref><ref name="paste mar2016">{{Cite web | url = http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/03/easter-eggs-the-hidden-secrets-of-videogames.html | title = Easter Eggs: The Hidden Secrets of Videogames | first = Jack | last =Yarwood | work = [[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] | date = March 27, 2016 | access-date = March 27, 2016 }}</ref> Atari's policies drove four of the company's programmers, David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead, to resign and form their own company [[Activision]] in 1979, using their knowledge of developing for the Atari VCS to make and publish their own games. Atari sued to stop Activision's activities, but the companies settled out of court, with Activision agreeing to pay a portion of their game sales as a license fee to Atari.<ref name="gamasutra activision">{{Cite web | url = http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131956/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php| title = A History of Gaming Platforms: Atari 2600 Video Computer System/VCS | first1 = Matt | last1 = Barton | first2= Bill | last2 = Loguidice | work = [[Gamasutra]] | date = February 28, 2008 | access-date = April 5, 2016 }}</ref> Another group of Atari and Mattel developers left and formed [[Imagic]] in 1981, following Activision's model.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11832 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108225158/http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11832 | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 8, 2007 | title=Playing Catch Up: Night Trap's Rob Fulop | publisher=CMP | work=Gamasutra | access-date=April 9, 2007}}</ref>

Atari's dominance of the market was challenged by Coleco's [[ColecoVision]] in 1982. As ''Space Invaders'' had done for the Atari VCS, Coleco developed a licensed version of Nintendo's arcade hit ''Donkey Kong'' as a bundled game with the system. While the Colecovision only had 17% of the hardware market in 1982 compared to the Atari VCS' share of 58%, it outsold Atari's newer console, the [[Atari 5200]].<ref name="gallager innovation">{{cite journal | title = Innovation and Competition in Standard-Based Industries: A Historical Analysis of the U.S. Home Video Game Market | first1 = Scott | last1=  Gallager | first2 = Seung | last2 =Ho Park | date = February 2002 | journal = IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management | volume = 49 | issue = 1 | pages = 67–82 | doi = 10.1109/17.985749 }}</ref><ref name="down many times"/>

A few games from this period have been considered milestones in the history of video games, and some of the earliest in popular genres. Robinett's ''Adventure'' was inspired from the text adventure ''Colossal Cave Adventure'', and is considered the one of the first graphic adventure and [[action-adventure game]]s,<ref>{{cite journal | title = Adventure Before Adventure Games: A New Look at Crowther and Woods's Seminal Program | journal = [[Games & Culture]] | first1 = Jonathan | last1 =Lessard | volume = 8 | issue = 3 | pages =119–135 | doi =  10.1177/1555412012473364 | date = February 21, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = [[Replay: The History of Video Games]] | first = Tristan | last = Donovan | publisher = Yellow Ant | date = 2010 | isbn = 978-0956507204 | pages = 119 }}</ref> and first cartridge fantasy-themed game.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Electronic Games]]|date=June 1983|volume=1|issue=16|editor-last=Katz|editor-first=Arnie|title=The Players Guide to Fantasy Games|pages=50, 53|quote=When Atari picked "Adventure" as the title of the video game field's first fantasy cartridge, the company did so with a profound sense of history.}}</ref> Activision's ''[[Pitfall!]]'', beside being one of the more successful third-party games, also established the foundation of side-scrolling [[platform game]]s.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Morales|first=Aaron|date=January 25, 2013|title=The 10 best Atari games|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2013/01/25/the-10-best-atari-games|access-date=April 17, 2016|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115174334/http://ew.com/article/2013/01/25/the-10-best-atari-games/|archive-date=January 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Utopia (1981 video game)|Utopia]]'' for the Intellivision was the first [[city-building game]] and considered one of the first [[real-time strategy game]]s.<ref name="arstechnica2">{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/build-gather-brawl-repeat-the-history-of-real-time-strategy-games/|title=Build, gather, brawl, repeat: The history of real-time strategy games|last=Moss|first=Richard|date=September 15, 2017|website=[[Ars Technica]]|access-date=October 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928023807/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/build-gather-brawl-repeat-the-history-of-real-time-strategy-games/|archive-date=September 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Loguidice">{{cite book|title=Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time|last1=Loguidice|first1=Bill|last2=Barton|first2=Matt|date=2009|publisher=[[Focal Press]]|isbn=978-0240811468|location=Boston|page=238}}</ref>

===Early hobbyist computer games===
[[File:Home or Personal Computers from 1977 - Commodore PET 2001, Apple II, TRS-80 Model I, together called 'Trinity77' (edited image).jpg|thumb|right|The "1977 Trinity" (L-R): [[Commodore PET]], [[Apple II (original)|Apple II]], and [[TRS-80]]]]

The fruit of retail development in early video games appeared mainly in video arcades and home consoles, but at the same time, there was a growing market in [[home computer]]s. Such home computers were initially a hobbyist activity, with [[minicomputer]]s such as the [[Altair 8800]] and the [[IMSAI 8080]] released in the early 1970s. Groups like the [[Homebrew Computer Club]] in Menlo Park, California envisioned how to create new hardware and software from these minicomputer systems that could eventually reach the home market.<ref>{{cite book|last1=DeMaria|first1=Rusel|last2=Wilson|first2=Johnny L.|title=High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games|date=2003|publisher=McGraw-Hill/Osborne|location=New York|isbn=0-07-223172-6|page=52|edition=2}}</ref> Affordable home computers began appearing in the late 1970s with the arrival of the "1977 Trinity": the [[Commodore PET]], the [[Apple II (original)|Apple II]], and the [[TRS-80]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm |title=Most Important Companies |access-date=November 4, 2019 |date=September 1995 |work=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618072507/http://www.byte.com/art/9509/sec7/art15.htm |archive-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref> Most shipped with a variety of pre-made games as well as the [[BASIC|BASIC programming language]], allowing their owners to program simple games.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.fastcompany.com/90432140/how-atari-took-on-apple-in-the-1980s-home-pc-wars | title= How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars | first= Benj | last = Edwards | date = December 21, 2019 | access-date = March 6, 2021 | work = [[Fast Company]] }}</ref>

[[Hobby]]ist groups for the new computers soon formed and [[PC game]] software followed. Soon many of these games—at first clones of mainframe classics such as ''Star Trek'', and then later ports or clones of popular arcade games such as ''[[Space Invaders]]'', ''[[Frogger]]'',<ref name="Enterprise-1982">{{cite web|title=Cash in on the Video Game Craze |work=[[Black Enterprise]] |date=December 1982 |volume=12 |issue=5 |issn=0006-4165 |pages=41–2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6pacvfrf0wC&pg=PA41 |access-date=May 1, 2011 |last1=Earl g. Graves |first1=Ltd |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914022211/https://books.google.com/books?id=N6pacvfrf0wC&pg=PA41 |archive-date=September 14, 2016 }}</ref> ''[[Pac-Man]]'' (see [[List of Pac-Man clones|''Pac-Man'' clones]])<ref name="Markoff-1981">{{cite web|title=Atari acts in an attempt to scuttle software pirates|author=John Markoff|work=[[InfoWorld]]|date=November 30, 1981|volume=3|issue=28|issn=0199-6649|pages=28–9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SD0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28|access-date=May 1, 2011}}</ref> and ''[[Donkey Kong]]''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Strategic management: an integrated approach|author1=Charles W. L. Hill |author2=Gareth R. Jones |edition=8|publisher=[[Cengage Learning]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-618-89469-7}}</ref>—were being distributed through a variety of channels, such as printing the game's [[source code]] in books (such as David Ahl's ''[[BASIC Computer Games]]''), magazines (''[[Electronic Games]]'' and ''[[Creative Computing (magazine)|Creative Computing]]''), and newsletters, which allowed users to [[type-in program|type in the code for themselves]].<ref name="time basic language">{{cite magazine | first =  Harry | last = McCracken | url = https://time.com/69316/basic/ | title = Fifty Years of BASIC, the Programming Language That Made Computers Personal | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date = April 29, 2014 | access-date = March 5, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = Plunkett | first =  Luke | url = http://kotaku.com/5435951/a-little-background-on-the-worlds-first-ever-video-game-magazine | title = A Little Background On The World's First Ever Video Game Magazine | work = [[Kotaku]] | date = December 29, 2009 | access-date = March 5, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ahl |first=David H. |title=Birth of a Magazine (History of Creative Computing) |encyclopedia=The Best of Creative Computing Volume 1 |date=1976 |pages=2–3 |url=http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=2 }}</ref>

[[File:Mystery House - Apple II render emulation - 2.png|thumb|''Mystery House'' is one of the first graphical adventure games.]]

Whereas hobbyist programming in the United States was seen as a pastime while more players flocked to video game consoles, such "bedroom coders" in the [[United Kingdom]] and other parts of Europe looked for ways to profit from their work.<ref name="e&p uk history">{{cite journal | title = Industry evolution and cross-sectoral skill transfers: a comparative analysis of the video game industry in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom  | first1= Hiro | last1= Izushi | first2 = Yuko | last2=  Aoyama | date = 2006 | journal = Environment and Planning A | volume = 38 | issue= 10 | pages = 1843–1861 | doi = 10.1068/a37205 | bibcode= 2006EnPlA..38.1843I | s2cid= 143373406 }}</ref><ref name="bbc uk vg history">{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.com/timelines/zt23gk7 | title = How British video games became a billion pound industry | date = December 2014 | access-date = September 30, 2019 | publisher = [[BBC]] }}</ref> Programmers distributed their works through the physical mailing and selling of floppy disks, cassette tapes, and [[read-only memory|ROM]] cartridges.<ref name="bbc uk vg history"/> Possibly the first computer game to be sold commercially was ''[[Microchess]]'' in 1976 by [[Peter R. Jennings]], who also started possibly the first computer game publishing company, [[Microware (publisher)|Microware]].<ref name="CHMJenningsinterview">{{cite web |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/chess/orl-4334404555680/ |title=Oral History of Peter Jennings |publisher=[[Computer History Museum]] |date=February 1, 2005 |access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref> Soon a small [[cottage industry]] was formed, with amateur programmers selling disks in plastic bags put on the shelves of local shops or sent through the mail.<ref name="bbc uk vg history"/>

Mainframe and minicomputer games were still largely developed by students and others during this period using the more powerful languages afforded on these systems. A team of [[MIT]] students, [[Tim Anderson (Zork)|Tim Anderson]], [[Marc Blank]], [[Bruce Daniels]], and [[Dave Lebling]], were inspired by ''Colossal Cave Adventure'' to create the text adventure game ''[[Zork]]'' across 1977 and 1979, and later formed [[Infocom]] to republish it commercially in 1980.<ref name="rgamer77">{{cite magazine | title=The making of ''Zork'' | magazine=Retro Gamer | issue=77 | pages=32–33 | date= May 2010 | publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]] }}</ref> The first graphical adventure games from [[Sierra On-Line]] such as ''[[Mystery House]]'', using simple graphics alongside text, also emerged around the same time. ''[[Rogue (video game)|Rogue]]'', the namesake of the [[roguelike]] genre, was developed in 1980 by [[Glenn Wichman]] and Michael Toy who wanted a way to randomize the gameplay of ''Colossal Cave Adventure''.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132404/the_history_of_rogue_have__you_.php | title = The History of Rogue: Have @ You, You Deadly Zs | first1 = Matt | last1 = Barton | first2= Bill | last2= Loguidice | work = [[Gamasutra]] | date = May 9, 2009 | access-date = June 12, 2014 }}</ref>

===First handheld LED/VFD/LCD games===
[[File:Entex Baseball 3, Model 6007, Made In Taiwan, Copyright 1980 (Electronic Handheld Game).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Entex's ''Baseball 3'', an electronic LCD game]]
Handheld electronic games, using all computerized components but typically using [[light-emitting diode|LED]] or [[Vacuum fluorescent display|VFD]] lights for display, first emerged in the early 1970s. [[Liquid-crystal display|LCD]] displays became inexpensive for consumer products by the mid-1970s and replaced LED and VFD in such games, due to their lower power usage and smaller size. Most of these games were limited to a single game due to the simplicity of the display. Companies like [[Mattel Electronics]], [[Coleco]], [[Entex Industries]], [[Bandai]], and [[Tomy]] made numerous electronics games over the 1970s and early 1980s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=DeMaria|first1=Rusel|last2=Wilson|first2=Johnny L.|title=High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games|date=2003|publisher=McGraw-Hill/Osborne|location=New York|isbn=0-07-223172-6|pages=30–31|edition=2}}</ref>

Coupled with inexpensive microprocessors, handheld electronic games paved the way for the earliest handheld video game systems by the late 1970s. In 1979, [[Milton Bradley Company]] released the first handheld system using interchangeable cartridges, [[Microvision]], which used a built-in [[Liquid-crystal display|LCD]] matrix screen. While the handheld received modest success in its first year of production, the lack of games, screen size and video game crash of 1983 brought about the system's quick demise.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2006/03/03/a-brief-history-of-handheld-video-games/ |title=A Brief History of Handheld Video Games |first=Donald |last=Melanson |publisher=Weblogs |date=March 3, 2006 |access-date=September 20, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618191810/http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/03/a-brief-history-of-handheld-video-games/ |archive-date=June 18, 2009 }}</ref>

In 1980, Nintendo released the first of its [[Game & Watch]] line, [[handheld electronic game]]s using LCD screens.<ref name="vice yokoi">{{cite web | url =  https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-gunpei-yokoi-reinvented-nintendo/ | title = How Gunpei Yokoi Reinvented Nintendo | first = Matt | last = Alt | date = November 12, 2020 | access-date = February 22, 2021 | work = [[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] }}</ref> Game & Watch spurred dozens of other game and toy companies to make their own portable games, many of which were copies of Game & Watch games or adaptations of popular arcade games. [[Tiger Electronics]] borrowed this concept of videogaming with cheap, affordable handhelds and still produces games on this model to the present day.