HISTORY

OF PC
GAMING
THE CHANGES WHICH INFLUENCED
THE EVOLUTION OF PC GAMING
 Changes in the hardware for playing games
 Changes in interaction devices
 Changes in the game business
 Changed in the demographics of the
players
 Diversification
 Changes in the design of games
SPACEWAR!
• 1961
• Earliest PC games
• A “ passion project” created by a team of
researchers in the basement of an MIT lab
• 200 hours on the first edition of the game; it
pitted 2 players against each other in an effort
to destroy the other’s ship
• was a PDP 1 game
TRANSFORMATION

• By the late 70s and early 80 PC had

become more than just an item
• Only university and researchers can afford
The idea of creating and designing your
own video game became a reality:
• ZX80
 Low cost personal computer launched by
Sinclair for only $199.5
 Brought PC gaming into people’s homes for
less than $200
• Commodore 64
 Recognized as the highest selling computer
model of all time
• Amiga
 A computer that exceeded the 64’s 8-bit
graphics and at several coprocessors
SIERRA ENTERTAINMENT (Gaming Company)

• IBM completely funded the development

and marketing King’s Quest to promote
the PC junior
• King’s Quest flopped but it didn’t stop
Sierra’s push to PC dominance; developed
the game Wing Commander (Space
shooter game)
LucasArts
• Adventure Games: X-wing, TIE fighter,
Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Sam & Mac
series
The Ultima Franchise
• Responsible for creating the first role
playing games in the 80’s evolved in to one
of the most unique online experiences of its
time
• First true simulation in the online world
GeForce 256
• August 31, 1999, NVIDIA invents the
world’s first GPU (Graphics Processing
Unit)
• Gaming graphics brand never again going
to be the same
• Ever Quest (1999) it was more accessible
because it was using 3D graphics; fully
illustrated avatar; was using hardware
acceleration, really brought the MMO space
with much broader audience
Quake (1996),
Unreal tournament (1999)
The Sims (2000)
Max Payne (2000)
Return to Castle
Wolfenstein (2001)
Battlefield 1942 (2002)
Call of Duty (2003)
Half-life 2 (2004)
World of Warcraft (2005)
Psychonauts (2006)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
(2006)
Crysis (2007)
Portal (2007)
Fallout 3 (2008)
QUIZ