How about we have some videogame trivia?

[Private Hudson]

I'll start.

Q: What was the first ever videogame? Who made it? What year was it released?

[Darunia]

...Pong? Uh...1967...? Some old guy?

[A Black Falcon]

Video Game, or Electronic Game? There's a difference...

[OB1]

Space War! is the first video/computer game ever created. It was created by Steve Russel in the early 60's. But I guess you could go back a little early and call Tennis for Two the first interactive computer game ever made. But Tennis for Two was built on one of those radar computers, and I did my school report on Space War!, so :shake:

[A Black Falcon]

But Tennis for Two was earlier... I guess it depends on what you call a videogame.

http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/videogame.html

Tennis for Two: 1958

http://users.rcn.com/enf/lore/spacewar/spacewar.html

Spacewar: 1961

[A Black Falcon]

How about a question... pretty easy.

Q: What was the first arcade game?

[Private Hudson]

It wasn't Space War or Tennis for Two

And the first electronic game WAS the first ever video game, so nyah.

[A Black Falcon]

But the first electronic or video game wasn't the first arcade game... :)

Oh, and I've never heard of a videogame before Tennis for Two...

[OB1]

Space War! is considered to be the first video game since Tennis for Two was basically just a modification of a radar. What game did you have in mind, Hudson?

[A Black Falcon]

How could Tennis for Two not be a video/electronic game? It looks like one... ran on a computer...

[Private Hudson]

Tic-tac-toe which was created in 1952 by A.S. douglas.


My next question:
Q: What was the first ever game to use polygons? Who made it, and when?

[A Black Falcon]

Um, this either needs rules or it'll get all messy... if everyone can ask questions whenever they want... I asked one already! :)

Tic-Tac-Toe? I imagine that the computer cannot lose (or win, unless the player messes up)... because if you don't mess up at the game, it is impossible to do so...

[OB1]

What was that tic tac toe game played on?

[Private Hudson]

In 1952, another person named A.S.Douglas was passing his PhD degree at the University of Cambridge (United Kindgom). At that time, the university had an EDSAC vaccuum-tube computer, which used a cathode ray tube to display the contents of one of the 32 mercury delay lines (which stored the programs and data). The display was organized as a matrix of 35 by 16 dots, hence a 35x16 pixel display. A.S. Douglas wrote his thesis on the Human-Computer interraction, and illustrated it with a graphic Tic-Tac-Toe game displayed on a cathode ray tube. This is the earliest graphical computer game known to exist. The game was played against the machine, which used special algorithms to win whenever possible. This game can be played nowadays using the EDSAC simulator, which includes a copy of the original game.

Tic-Tac-Toe? I imagine that the computer cannot lose (or win, unless the player messes up)... because if you don't mess up at the game, it is impossible to do so...

Just like in real life. The person going first cannot lose, unless they fuck up. But read the quote above. You are playing against the computer, which has a definite (albeit simple) AI.

First ever computer game:

Later in 1958, another person called Willy Higginbotham created another computer game. The technology consisted of an analog Donner computer linked to an oscilloscope used as display. Called Tennis For Two (and also known as Tennis Programming), the game was played by two people using hand controls. Willy worked at the Brookhaven National Laboratories, and his game was exposed for two years after what it got dismantled (electronic parts were often re-used in labs, especially in the 1950s when they used to cost a lot). Click here to read an interesting article about this game. The engineers at Brookhaven rebuilt this game in 1997 for the 50th anniversary of the BNL labs. After working two months to improve the original circuits using integrated circuits, they finally got the game to work as it did in 1958. Click here to see a short video of the (rebuilt) game in action (courtesy BNL).

Source

That site is actually a really interesting read. I emplore you to go through it. :)

[Private Hudson]

Sorry ABF, the first ever coin-op Arcade game was Computer Space, released in 1971.

Correct, or not?

[Dark Jaguar]

Tic tac toe is the most ill concieved game of all time. Even player 2 can't loose if they know what they are doing. All games I play are cat's games (well, even if I won it would be a cat's game I guess...). I don't know why it got so popular...

[A Black Falcon]

Tic-Tac-Toe is popular with kids because they don't know that if you play without making a mistake you can't lose... once you learn that it ... becomes less interesting ...

Oh, and yes, it is Computer Space, from 1971.

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by Dark Jaguar
Tic tac toe is the most ill concieved game of all time. Even player 2 can't loose if they know what they are doing. All games I play are cat's games (well, even if I won it would be a cat's game I guess...). I don't know why it got so popular...

Only if player 1 fucks up.

[Private Hudson]

Oh, and someone answer my question.

[Darunia]

I got a question; what was the first home console (Atari 2600?), how much did it retail for, when did it come out, and what were the origianal games available for it?

[Private Hudson]

Magnavox Oddysee
1972

Some games
1 Table Tennis (Pong)
2 Ski ,Simon Says, Fun Zoo, Percepts
3 Tennis, Analogic, Baseball, Hockey, Football (Passing and Kicking), Soccer (1)
4 Cat and Mouse, Football (running), Haunted House, Invasion (1)
5 Submarine, Invasion (2), Soccer (2)
6 Roulette, States, Invasion (3)
7 VolleyBall
8 Wipeout
9 Shootout, Dogfight, Prehistoric Safari
10 Shooting Gallery
11 ?
12 Interplanetary Voyage

Retail price, unknown.

NOW ANSWER MY QUESTION.

[A Black Falcon]

But I have no idea...

[Darunia]

Reallly...? That thing predated the Atari? Holy shit; what the hell did it run off of for programs; were they compatible with the Atari?

[OB1]

Do you know who created the first console? I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with Falf Faer.

[A Black Falcon]

Ooh, tough one OB1... could it be Ralph Baer? :)

And Darunia, the Magnavox Odyssey (not Oddysee... :) ) predated the Atari 2600 by five years...

[OB1]

I still consider Space War to be the first video game ever created. It's the game that became the template for future games, and the one that evolved into the games we play today.

[Private Hudson]

There were lots of consoles that predated the the Atari. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, but I believe that the Oddysey was the first console to use cartridges, and the only one until the Atari 2600. Though they didn't contain any chips or electronics. Rather, they had a series of jumpers that would configure the various parts of the Odyssey.

Edit: For some reason part of my post didn't show up before. Must've deleted it accidentally.

I'll give a hint:
The first game to use polygons was made by Atari. Game was released in 1982.

Another question: What was the first ever 3D game? Coincidentally, it also happened to be the first ever FPS (though, vehicular based, not character based) and was released in 1980. Also by Atari.

[A Black Falcon]

No, there was another console between the Odyssey and 2600 that used cartridges...

Um, and is that first 3d game Battlezone?

[Darunia]

Does anyone have some screen shots of this Tenis for Two or Space War?

How come I've never heard of the Odyssey; was it a flop?

[Private Hudson]

Um, and is that first 3d game Battlezone?

Yes, good work.

How come I've never heard of the Odyssey; was it a flop?

Relative to today's consoles, but for it's time it sold quite well. The reason you hadn't heard of it is because the common misconception is that Atari had the first ever console (2600).

[A Black Falcon]

Does anyone have some screen shots of this Tenis for Two or Space War?

Yup. Just click on those two links I provided in a post above. One of them has a detailed explanation of Spacewar with screenshots, and the other has a nice Tennis for Two article with a video of the game being played.

How come I've never heard of the Odyssey; was it a flop?

As Hudson said, hardly. It was quite successful actually... surely helped by how for several years it was the only games console there was... compared to today's systems it didn't sell very well but for the time it did. And it hasn't been forgotten or anything... well, not among people who care about the history of videogames.. but yeah for some reason the general public does seem to like to think the 2600 was first. Why, I don't really know...

Yes, good work.

Not exactly a challenging question... I didn't even have to go search in Yahoo for that one... :)

[OB1]

Do you know what the first polygonal space combat game was?

[Darunia]

Stellar 7 ?

[OB1]

Nope.

[Private Hudson]

Starfox

[lazyfatbum]

Aww, the kiddies wanna show how big their brains are.

Okay, i'll throw one in.

Name the first game that used synthasized voice. Then tell me the year it was released. After that, name the first game to use recorded human voice, and it's year of release.

Bonus points if you can name the systems too.

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by lazyfatbum
Aww, the kiddies wanna show how big their brains are.

Okay, i'll throw one in.

Name the first game that used synthasized voice. Then tell me the year it was released. After that, name the first game to use recorded human voice, and it's year of release.

Bonus points if you can name the systems too.

As far as I know, they're both the same game.

Space Spartans on the Intellivision in 1982. It used Mattel's specialized Intellivoice add-on to perform the function with more ease. It was a human recorded voice, but digitized (and compressed)

Although, if you meant something else, and I only answered one of the games correctly, feel free to make your question more specific for me.

Edit: After doing a quick search, I found an example.

[Private Hudson]

Now someone answer my question, dammit.

First game ever to use polygons, it's not that difficult!!

[Darunia]

What system was it on.

[OB1]

Answer my question first, damnit!

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by OB1
Answer my question first, damnit!

I thought I did? Or was I incorrect? And besides, I asked mine first!

What system was it on.

Arcade.

[OB1]

Starfox was not the first real 3D space combat gamer.

[A Black Falcon]

Was it Star Wars or something?

Oh, and I didn't know of voice games before Sinistar, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were some...

[N-Man]

Space Spartans: 1981
Sinistar: 1983

Didn't know that one, interesting...

As for the first polygonal game ever: Elite, yes? For the Amiga?

[OB1]

Yes! It was Elite! Came out in '84.

[Private Hudson]

Originally posted by OB1
Yes! It was Elite! Came out in '84.

Pfft, he was TRYING to answer my question!! To which he is incorrect.

For your question, I was actually thinking along the lines of Empire Strikes Back for the Vectrex. Though, I'm not sure what year it was released, or even if it was a space shooter :D

[A Black Falcon]

I was thinking of those games too... but I realize that I think they were all just vector games, not polyagonal...

[N-Man]

Oh well, aim left hit right... my turn :evil:

What was the first RTS game ever made, and for what system?

[OB1]

Originally posted by A Black Falcon
I was thinking of those games too... but I realize that I think they were all just vector games, not polyagonal...

Bingo.

[A Black Falcon]

What was the first RTS game ever made, and for what system?

Herzog Zwei for Genesis.

And I still don't know what that first polyagonal game was...