Editing History of video games (section)

===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.