T V G E HE IDEO AME XPLOSION A History from PONG to ® PlayStation and Beyond Edited by Mark J.P. Wolf Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut London (cid:127) LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Thevideogameexplosion:ahistoryfromPongtoPlaystationandbeyond/editedbyMarkJ.P.Wolf. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–313–33868–7(alk.paper) 1. Videogames—Socialaspects.2. Videogames—History. I.Wolf,MarkJ.P. GV1469.34.S52V52 2008 794.809—dc22 2007033893 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable. Copyright©2008byMarkJ.P.Wolf Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2007033893 ISBN:978–0–313–33868–7 Firstpublishedin2008 GreenwoodPress,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881 AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. www.greenwood.com PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48-1984). 10987654321 C ONTENTS Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii ABriefTimelineofVideoGameHistory xvii PartI LookingatVideoGames 1 Chapter1 WhatIsaVideoGame? 3 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter2 ImagingTechnologies 9 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter3 ModesofExhibition 13 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter4 InfluencesandPrecursors 17 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter5 TheStudyofVideoGames 21 MarkJ.P.Wolf PartII TheEarlyDays(Before1985) 29 Chapter6 MainframeGamesandSimulations 31 DavidH.Ahl Chapter7 ArcadeGamesofthe1970s 35 MarkJ.P.Wolf vi Contents Chapter8 VideoGamesinEurope:TheEarlyYears 45 DavidWinter Sidebar SystemProfile:TheMagnavoxOdyssey 50 DavidWinter Chapter9 EarlyHomeVideoGameSystems 53 LeonardHerman Chapter10 CompanyProfile:Atari 59 LeonardHerman Chapter11 SystemProfile:TheAtariVideoComputerSystem(VCS) 63 LeonardHerman Chapter12 VectorGames 67 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter13 VideoGameStars:Pac-Man 73 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter14 TheRiseoftheHomeComputer 75 BobRehak Chapter15 GenreProfile:AdventureGames 81 MarkJ.P.Wolf Sidebar CompanyProfile:ElectronicArts 89 AlisonMcMahan Chapter16 ArcadeGamesofthe1980s 91 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter17 LaserdiscGames 99 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter18 TheVideoGameIndustryCrash 103 MarkJ.P.Wolf PartIII TheIndustryRebounds(1985–1994) 107 Chapter19 SystemProfile:TheNintendoEntertainmentSystem(NES) 109 DominicArsenault Sidebar CompanyProfile:Nintendo 113 DominicArsenault Chapter20 ANewGenerationofHomeVideoGameSystems 115 LeonardHerman Contents vii Chapter21 CD-ROMGames 121 CarlTherrien Chapter22 GenreProfile:InteractiveMovies 127 BernardPerron Chapter23 ArcadeGamesofthe1990sandBeyond 135 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter24 HandheldVideoGameSystems 143 LeonardHerman Sidebar CompanyProfile:Sega 149 AlisonMcMahan Chapter25 SharewareGames:BetweenHobbyistandProfessional 151 BrettCamper PartIV AdvancingtotheNextLevel(1995–Present) 159 Chapter26 TheLaterGenerationHomeVideoGameSystems 161 LeonardHerman Chapter27 OnlineRole-PlayingGames 173 KellyBoudreau Chapter28 SystemProfile:SonyPlayStation 177 DominicArsenault Sidebar CompanyProfile:Sony 181 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter29 VideoGameStars:LaraCroft 183 AlisonMcMahan Chapter30 GenreProfile:First-PersonShootingGames 187 BobRehak Sidebar Retrogames 194 BobRehak Chapter31 IndependentandExperimentalVideoGames 197 BrettCamper Chapter32 VideoGamesinEurope 203 LarsKonzack Chapter33 VideoGamesinAsia 211 BenjaminWai-mingNg viii Contents Chapter34 VideoGamesinAustralia 223 ThomasH.Apperley PartV ACloserLookatVideoGames 229 Chapter35 TheVideoGameDevelopmentProcess 231 FeichinTedTschang Chapter36 GraphicsinVideoGames 239 CarlTherrien Chapter37 SoundinVideoGames 251 EricPidkameny Chapter38 VideoGameGenres 259 MarkJ.P.Wolf Sidebar Best-SellingVideoGames 275 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter39 TheVideoGameasanObjectofControversy 277 DominicArsenault Sidebar VideoGamesRatingSystems 281 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter40 Morals,Ethics,andVideoGames 283 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter41 VideoGamesandTheirRelationshipwithOtherMedia 293 MartinPicard Sidebar HowtoGetaJobintheVideoGameIndustry 301 MarkJ.P.Wolf Chapter42 TheFutureofVideoGames 303 MarkJ.P.Wolf GlossaryofVideoGameTerminology 311 ResourceGuide 317 Notes 329 Index 343 AbouttheContributors 377 I LLUSTRATIONS Figure7.1Theeight-playergameIndy800(1975). 38 Figure7.2Anearlyattemptata3-Dlook. 42 Figure8.1TheMagnavoxOdyssey. 46 Figure8.2IntertonVideo2000(Germany,1975). 47 Figure8.3ThePing-O-Tronic. 48 Figure8.4TheVideoSportMK2. 49 Figure15.1Examplesofdifferentgraphicsstandards. 85 Figure15.2Anadvancementininteractivity. 86 Figure15.3TheQuiki-Martin1987and1991. 87 Figure16.1Gottlieb’sExterminator(1989). 97 Figure25.1AdversariesinBeast(1984). 153 Figure25.2Sopwith(1984–1986). 154 Figure25.3Tinyturn-basedtankswithabigbangfromScorchedEarth. 154 Figure25.4OneMustFall2097(1994). 157 Figure31.1FallingdownstairsinPorrasturvat(2002). 199 Figure31.2BuildingupamakeshiftshipinTUMIKIFighters(2004). 200 Figure31.3Scenesfromexperimentalgames. 202 Figure36.1TwoscreenimagesfromAdventurefortheAtari2600. 240 Figure36.2IsometricperspectiveinZaxxon(1982). 241 Figure36.3Close-upsinKing’sQuestV(1990)andLoom(1990). 242 Figure36.4KingofChicago(1987). 243 Figure36.5Decomposedrunninganimation. 244 Figure36.6Full-motionvideoevolves. 244 Figure36.7Atari’sarcadegameBattlezone(1980). 247 Figure36.8TwoimagesfromAtari’sarcadegameI,Robot. 247 Figure36.9Lightmapsandtextured3-DcreaturesinidSoftware’sQuake(1996). 248 Figure36.10ValveSoftware’sHalf-Life2(2004). 249 A CKNOWLEDGMENTS Iwould first like to thank all the contributors to this volume, who are some of the best people writing about video game history today: David H. Ahl, Thomas H. Apperley, DominicArsenault,KellyBoudreau,BrettCamper,LeonardHerman,LarsKonzack,Ali- sonMcMahan,BenjaminWai-mingNg,BernardPerron,MartinPicard,EricPidkameny, BobRehak,CarlTherrien,FeichinTedTschang,andDavidWinter.Withouttheirwork, this volume could not have appeared. Thanks also to Kristi Ward at Greenwood Press, whoinitiatedtheproject.Earlier versionsof someofmyessaysin thisbookappearedin my books The Medium of the Video Game (2001), Virtual Morality: Morals, Ethics, and New Media (2003), and The World of the D’ni: Myst and Riven (Italian version, 2006), and in Paul Messaris and Lee Humphreys, editors, Digital Media: Transformations in Human Communication (2006); I am thankful for these presses’ interest in my work. Thanks to Keith Feinstein, Sascha Scheuermann, Adrian Purser, Cody Johnson, Bill Esquivel, Andreas Kraemer,Henry Jenkins,and Tom Krenzke, who also provided assis- tanceforwhichIamgrateful.ThanksalsotoConcordiaUniversityWisconsinforthesab- baticalin spring of 2006 thatgaveme additionaltime towork on thisbook,and tomy wife, Diane and my sons, Michael, Christian, and our dear departed Edward. And, as always,thanksbetoGod.