1 Game Consoles Bring Video Games Home Before there was home gaming people played video games at arcades In 1972 a company called Magnavox released the first home game console This was a small computer system that connected to a television The console was called the Magnavox Odyssey Games were made up of just dots and lines One of the most popular arcade games was Atari’s Pong In 1975 Atari sold a home version of the game Pong was similar to tennis Players used paddles to hit a ball over a net The game had two dimensional 2D graphics In 1977 Atari released a console that played other games Space Invaders and Missile Command became popular In 1985 a Japanese company released a new home gaming console The console’s name was A Magnavox Odyssey 44
THE BROWN BOX The Magnavox Odyssey had a life before 1972 Engineer Ralph Baer had created the console in 1967 It was originally called the Brown Box The Brown Box had simple games In one game two squares chased each other across the screen Baer later allowed Magnavox to release the console the Nintendo Entertainment System It became the best-selling console in history Nintendo released many popular games These included Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda Nintendo followed its home game console with other devices One of them called the Game Boy was handheld Other companies released consoles too These companies included Sega Genesis PlayStation and Xbox New technology gave each console better sound and graphics 150,000 Number of Atari consoles sold during the 1975 holiday season Magnavox Odyssey was the first home game console Atari’s Pong was a popular game in the 1970s The first Nintendo console came out in 1985 The PlayStation and Xbox consoles came out after Nintendo 55
2 PC Gaming Becomes Popular Home video games can be played on a console or on a personal computer PC In the 1980s PC gaming became popular Affordable computers such as the Apple II were released These home computers had powerful processors Video games became more complex As early as 1987 PC gamers could play multiplayer online games PC games are usually cheaper than console games There is a wider variety of PC games to choose from Some gamers prefer a keyboard and mouse to a console game controller They think the PC devices have better accuracy Graphics are also sharper on a computer 6
THINK ABOUT IT Do you prefer a PC or a game console Use information from this chapter to compare and contrast the two types Is there a specific brand you would choose over others 30,000 Cost of the 8Pack OrionX the most expensive gaming PC ever built Many people prefer to play video games on a PC PC games are cheaper to purchase than console games A wide variety of PC games are available Building a good gaming PC can be expensive 7 Building a gaming PC can be expensive PCs need updated operating systems for gaming Game consoles are much cheaper Most game consoles today sell for under 500 A good gaming PC can cost twice as much Game consoles are also easier to set up Gamers can begin play almost immediately Both PCs and game consoles have their advantages Some players may prefer one or the other Others enjoy using both
