Donkey Kong not only started a trend with platform games back then, but it also created a vast universe of games based on the two main characters from the game (Donkey Kong and Mario, then known as Jumpman). I remember seeing this game for the very first time in the...

I can still remember my Atari 800.  The screen went that deep shade of blue, and the cursor appeared, waiting for me to type something… No joystick… No sprites… Just text. Then these words appeared: “You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a...

A more adventured had forgone the“first”Atari in 2600 video is honored game history.to have It is the first adventure-type game on a console, and it is also considered the first action-adventure game (inspired by the text-only adventure game Colossal Cave Adventure)....

In 1979, Ken Williams was busy starting up his new business software company, On-Line Systems; years later, this company would be better known as Sierra Online. His wife, Roberta, had her own ambitions, often playing text adventure computer games like Colossal Cave or...

I discovered Space Invaders in 1978,Space was visiting my aunt and cousins in McGregor, Texas (outside of Waco), a town of barely over 2,000 people. It was in a dingy, seedy arcade and was very imposing. I’d already played my share of pinball and electromechanical...

Beating our educations had taken upon moving from New York (Catholic schooling, Nuns who also acted as Wardens, Mandatory Mass every Friday Morning) to California (“Deliverance” music, lots of “twins”, English? “Wash” pronounced as “Warsh”). The first thing he brought...

Pong! was my very first experience with Atari Home Pong released in 1975. Not only was I hooked on the game, but so was my dad, my uncle, and just about everyone in my family. It was easy to play, but the game really shined when we were playing against each other. Of...

As the “father of videogame history,” I’m often asked about what I consider the most influential of all videogames. Without any hesitation, I’ll always respond with the simplest game imaginable. Although it consisted of only three spots, no sound, and no scoring,...

My favorite old school game has got to be 1962’s Spacewar! Spacewar! may well be the first true video game ever made. Developed by Steve Russel and collaborators at MIT. This 2-player space combat video game was played on a circular monochrome vector graphics display...

Some games change everything. Over the last several decades, video games have evolved rapidly, thanks to developers who kept finding new ways to surprise us with the tools they had. Their ideas gave us the franchises we still celebrate and the genre landmarks that...