1974 in video gaming
| List of years in video gaming (table) |
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| ... 1964 . 1965 . 1966 . 1967 . 1968 . 1969 . 1970 ... 1971 1972 1973 -1974- 1975 1976 1977 ... 1978 . 1979 . 1980 . 1981 . 1982 . 1983 . 1984 ... |
| Art . Archaeology . Architecture . Literature . Music . Philosophy . Science +... |
Events
- The number of copies of Pong and its commercial clones exceed 100,000 units. Approximately 10,000 of these units were manufactured by Atari, the original developer of the Pong.[1]
- H.R. "Pete" Kaufman leaves Ramtek to found Exidy, Inc.[1]
- Namco acquires the Japanese division of Atari, Inc. and formally enters the video arcade game market.[1]
- Atari acquires Kee Games as a "marketing ploy." Atari will continue to use the "Kee Games" title as a brand name until 1978.[1]
- Royal Philips Electronics N.V. acquires Magnavox, which becomes "Philips Consumer Electronics."[2]
- On 25 March, the United States division of Service Games changes its name to Sega.[1]
Notable releases
Magazines
- Play Meter, the first magazine devoted to coin-operated amusements (including arcade games), publishes its first issue.[1]
Arcade games
- February: Taito releases Basketball,[3] an early example of sprite graphics, used to represent baskets and player characters,[4] making it the first video game with human figures.[3] The same month, Midway licenses the game for a North American release under the title TV Basketball, making it the first Japanese game licensed for North American release.[3]
- 24 July, Atari releases Gran Trak 10, the first car racing video game, to video arcades.[5]
- November, Taito releases Tomohiro Nishikado's Speed Race,[6] the second car racing video game. It introduces scrolling sprite graphics with collision detection,[7] and uses a racing wheel controller.[8] Midway releases it as Wheels and Racer in the United States.[7]
- 5 November,[9] prior to their acquisition by Atari, Kee Games releases Tank to video arcades.[1]
Computer games
Maze War, an ancestor of the first-person shooter genre, was ported to a number of computer systems. The above image was created from a version of the game written for the Xerox Star 8010 in 1985.
- Steve Colley, Howard Palmer, and Greg Johnson develop Maze War on the Imlac PDS-1 at the NASA Ames Research Center in California.[10] It is recognized as an ancestor of the first-person shooter genre.
- Jim Bowery develops Spasim for the PLATO system. Two versions are released, the first in March and the second in July.[11] It is also recognized as an ancestor of the first-person shooter genre.
- Gary Whisenhunt and Ray Wood develop dnd, the first game with a boss, and arguably the first role-playing video game, for the PLATO system.[12] Development continued into 1975; it is unclear at what point the game became playable.
Video game consoles
- Magnavox reissues the Odyssey and releases it in Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, the Soviet Union, and Venezuela.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Thomas, Donald A. Jr. (2005). "–1974–". ICWhen.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2006.
- ↑ Kaiser, Robert D. (1999). "The Ultimate Odyssey2 and Odyssey3 FAQ" (text). Archived from the original on 8 March 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2006.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/video-game-firsts.html
- ↑ Basketball at the Killer List of Videogames
- ↑ Cassidy, William (2003). "Hall of Fame / Gran Trak 10 and Sprint 2". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2006.
- ↑ http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=speed-race&page=detail&id=19475
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bill Loguidice & Matt Barton (2009), Vintage games: an insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the most influential games of all time, p. 197, Focal Press, ISBN 0-240-81146-1
- ↑ Speed Race at the Killer List of Videogames
- ↑ http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=tank-upright-model&page=detail&id=3383
- ↑ "The Maze War 30 Year Retrospective". DigiBarn Games. 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ↑ Bowery, Jim (2010). "Spasim (1978) The First First-Person-Shooter 3D Multiplayer Networked Game". Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2006.
- ↑ Koster, Raph (17 February 2002). "Online World Timeline". Raph Koster's Website. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 2006.
- ↑ Gegan, Shaun and David Winter (2003). "Magnavox Odyssey FAQ version 2.9.1" (text). Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2006.
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