-
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) beginnings
The NES enters the video game industry two years after the Nintendo Corporation released it in Japan as Famicom. -
Nintendo Super Mario Bros released
In October 1985, the Famicom, by then redubbed the Nintendo Entertainment System, went to America in several forms -- one of which included a R.O.B. the Robot-less Super Mario Bros. bundled in the box. Everyone expected the NES to sit on the shelves and stay there right through the upcoming holiday season.
Only it didn't. Word got out about a system that blew Atari away, and the amazing game that came with it.
[https://youtu.be/pD0HqYcoFgA] -
Legend of Zelda is released
Released globally in 1987, The Legend Of Zelda would sell more than 6.5 million copies – even the rather shoddy localisation of the US and European versions couldn’t take the sheen off what Miyamoto and Tezuka had achieved, and Zelda regularly shows up in ‘greatest of all time’ videogame lists. [http://www.denofgeek.com/us/games/zelda/21231/the-inspiration-behind-the-legend-of-zelda] -
Sega Genesis Released
The Sega Genesis is the very first 16-bit console system. While the TurboGrafx-16 predated the Genesis/Mega Drive release, it’s not truly a 16-bit system; the graphics card itself was 16-bit, but the CPU was still 8-bit. Also, while the TGX16 released in Japan before the Mega Drive, Sega beat TGX16 to market in North America by a couple of weeks. -
Nintendo Game Boy
Debuting in Japan on April 21, 1989, at 12,800 yen (approximately $97 in 1989 dollars), the Game Boy sold out its 300,000 unit stock in a matter of two weeks, foreshadowing its international success with its launch in the United States a few months later and the rest of the world.
[http://www.ibtimes.com/nintendo-game-boy-25th-anniversary-history-handheld-console-shaped-generation-gamers-1574211] -
Sega Genesis, Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog gave Sega their leg up on Nintendo during the info-mas 16 bit console wars of the 1990's. Solidifying its place in gaming history in the process. But as the years have gone on. Sonic's reputation has fluctuated greatly. Now becoming on of the most polarizes game franchises of all time. Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the quintessentially classic video games franchises that even 25 years, is still just as reliant as ever.
[https://youtu.be/1aTsbDmXf8o] -
U.S. Senate Hearing on Video Game Viloence
Concern about bloodshed in games such as Mortal Kombat prompts U.S. Senate hearing on video game violence. The controversy riles the industry and prompts the creation of a video game rating system. [https://youtu.be/AwIfnS1ewgQ] -
First Real time strategy game
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is the first real-time fantasy strategy game from Blizzard Entertainment. Warcraft was a game of many "firsts" in the RTS world. It was the first RTS game to support multiplayer capability, and the first to have multiple resource types to harvest. -
Sony releases PlayStation in the U.S
The era of the so-called fifth-generation video game consoles had hit. The Sony PlayStation is one of the first of these 32-bit capable, CD-ROM-based devices. -
Laura Croft debuts as star of Eidos's adventure game, Tomb Raider.
Artist Toby Gard had initially conceived of an Indiana Jones clone for the protagonist of his groundbreaking, third-person adventure in a 3D world filled with puzzles, traps, and treasure. Gard and his team settled on braided, pistol-packing Laura Cruz,she received a name change, to reflect the company’s British ownership, to Lara Croft. Players loved her, but critics charge that she's an example of sexism in video games. [http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/the-history-of-tomb-raider/] -
EverQuest Released
EverQuest is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). It was the second commercially viable MMORPG to be released, after Ultima Online, and the first commercially successful MMORPG to employ a three-dimensional game engine. -
Will Wright introduces us to The Sims
It was developed by Maxis & published by Electronic Arts. Will Wright created the Sims games and he is known for developing SimCity. The game is basically the day to day activities of virtual individuals or Sims in a suburban household near SimCity. When we look into the history of Sims games, we came to know that by 22 March 2000; around six million copies had been sold worldwide making it one of the best selling computer games in the history. -
XBox is released
Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Otto Berkes, and Ted Hase forming the software giant’s first console team after successfully pitching their idea to Bill Gates. Originally dubbed the “DirectX Box,” the console was intended to be the first game system built like a PC and to bring all of the flexibility and power of a gaming rig to the console market. The system would run on Windows 2000, making it easy for traditional PC software developers to work within the console’s architecture. -
The U.S Army releases 'America's Army' video game to help with recruiting.
The Army was unveiling its latest recruitment tool, the "America's Army" video game, free to download online or pick up at a recruiting station, and now available for purchase on the Xbox, PlayStation, cell phones and Gameboy game consoles. "America's Army" simulates the Army experience, immersing players in basic training. [http://www.commondreams.org/views/2008/07/26/us-military-recruits-children-americas-army-videogame-violates-international-law] -
Nintendo DS is released
While the DS wasn’t the first to feature either touchscreen technology or having multiple screens, it can be argued that it was the first console to bring both concepts into the mainstream. Other interactive features included a built-in microphone and support for wireless connectivity.
[http://www.nds-gear.com/history-nintendo-ds-console/] -
Microsoft's Xbox 360 released
Not long after the 360 arrived on the market, the term “Red Ring of Death” became well known. This particularly nasty problem caused the entire system to encounter a fatal error and give owners a red ring of light around the console’s power button. The various flaws in these early models forced Microsoft to repair and replace countless systems, and eventually led to an extension of the console’s warranty to account for all of the issues. -
Nintendo Wii released
The Wii (/ˈwiː/ WEE) is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii competed with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others. -
Rock Band enters the stage
It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in the North America on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was released on December 18, 2007 with the Wii version being released on June 22, 2008. -
Social games shake up the game industry
Zynga changed the game forever with broadly popular games like FarmVille, Zynga Poker, Draw Something and Words with Friends, which are played by hundreds of millions of players each and every month. Every day we strive to create the best games for people everywhere to play together crafted by teams of passionate game gurus, visionary creatives and virtuoso engineers. -
Minecraft released
Minecraft is a sandbox video game originally created by Swedish game designer Markus "Notch" Persson, and later fully developed and published by Mojang. The creative and building aspects of Minecraft enable players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world.
