Hisory in question

[madhatter667]

Alright.

I have a couple questions that I MUST ask. I have a friend who insists that video games started in Japan. Not that I ooze any anti-Japanese sentiments, but I am inclined to disagree, heavily.

 

There was a table tennis like game made to display on an oscilliscope in 1958, by physicist William Higinbotham, from Brookhaven National Laboratories, NY.

Wasn't the first actual video game Space War, created by a couple of guys at MIT around 1961?

Then even after that, it was Pong, from Atari, which I think was based in Sunnyvale, CA?

If you want to talk home console, with interchangable games, you have the Magnavox Odyssey...wasn't Magnavox an American company?

 

If you want to take things farther back, Sega, or Service Games, set up entertainment galleries in the 60's and 70's (I think) in Hawaii. Only later moving over to Japan, and even then retained American ownership (as in the guys who formed it were still running it).

 

Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest or anything;

I am just seeing if my information is on track.

[Lemmi]

http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/vg_music/

 

i never heard Japan in any starting history of VG's but i think they contributed considerably to the market

[madhatter667]

Oh yeah, I am in no way saying that they haven't contributed anything. Not by a long shot. The debate was the country of origin for video games.

[Video]

Well, Nintendo as a company is far older than Atari, but to my knowledge, their first game system is tne Nintendo or Famicom in 1983, a full 6 years after Atari 2600 which isn't the oldest cart based console, I count Fairchild Channel F as the oldest, only on account of the Oddyssey not actually haveing anything in the carts other than wiring certain pins together on the console

 

But to my knowledge, Nintendo actually started in the late 1800's and manufactured games and cards, but NES is their first, and in 83 less I'm mistaken.

[Ze_ro]

Yep, video games were born in the United States. Japan took over the reigns after the Crash though, so that's what most people remember... especially when we're talking about people too young to remember the Atari 2600 (I'm guessing here, as no one mentioned ages).

 

--Zero

[madhatter667]

You're right, Nintendo is an old company. The Famicom did launch in '83...unless my book is wrong (which I doubt).

 

As far as video games are concerned: was there anything made prior to the oscillator table tennis in 1958? Or anything more like an honest video game before Space War? The Fairchild Channel F predates the Odyssey? I am sure it would predate the Odyssey2, but I have always heard that the Odyssey was the first home console with interchangable games (I think it actually used cards...which could connect various bits inside the machine to run a different program)???

 

When did the Channel F come out (this is one of those consoles I do not have in my collection, so I have relatively little info on it)?

[kirin jensen]

The poster said the first cart-based system was the Fairchild Channel F. The Odyssey used cards.

[madhatter667]

Oops. Missed that part. Could it still be said that the Odyssey wast the first home console that utilized an interchangable game system then?

This is also one of those machines I don't own, which is kind of a bummer. I do have an O2 though. Thanks for the input though... really reaffirms what I had already believed. Perhaps I will post this all in an email to him and shout "PWNED" or something doofy-cliche-humour at him for grins in that silly way that my friends and I have with each other.

 

With permission from the forum members of course.

[Atariboy2600]

Before the DS, before the Gamecube even way before the NES there was Nintando TV-Game 6!

 

An early pong system from Nintendo offering 6 pong games in colour. This is in fact the first home video game system produced by Nintendo. As they lacked the technology to develop their own microprocessors, they struck a deal with Mitsubishi Electronics and the two companies developed the Color TV Game 6 in 1977. It was a big success in Japan, and sold over a million copies.

 

The system is fairly simple. Two dial controllers built-in the system, so two players can play simultaneously. Some switches to toggle difficulty, players bat size, service auto/manual... a start button and an on/off switch.

 

The 6 games are classic ones: handball one and two players, tennis one and two players, hockey one and two players... Score is displayed on screen. Of course it is an NTSC display, using RF channel 1 or 2, all in colour.

 

Tech Info:

 

NAME: TV-Game 6 (model CTG-6V)

MANUFACTURER: Nintendo

ORIGIN: Japan

YEAR: 1977

BUILT IN GAMES: 6

CONTROLLERS: Two built-in knobs

CPU: Unknown

BUTTONS: 1

SWITCHES: 6

SCORE: On screen

COLORS: Colour

SOUND: Unknown

I/O PORTS: RF TV video output

BATTERIES: 6 x UM2 (C size) batteries

POWER SUPPLY: External power supply unit (110v -> 9v)

GUN: No

 

And yes Video games started here in the old USA ---> History of Computer And Video Games

Edited October 20, 2006 by Atariboy2600

[Atariboy2600]

Also here's the Three Main Generation of Video Gaming.

 

History of video game consoles (first generation)

History of video game consoles (second generation)

Video game crash of 1983

History of video game consoles (third generation)

History of video game consoles (fourth generation)

History of video game consoles (fifth generation)

History of video game consoles (sixth generation)

History of video game consoles (seventh generation)

[Video]

You're right, Nintendo is an old company. The Famicom did launch in '83...unless my book is wrong (which I doubt).

 

As far as video games are concerned: was there anything made prior to the oscillator table tennis in 1958? Or anything more like an honest video game before Space War? The Fairchild Channel F predates the Odyssey? I am sure it would predate the Odyssey2, but I have always heard that the Odyssey was the first home console with interchangable games (I think it actually used cards...which could connect various bits inside the machine to run a different program)???

 

When did the Channel F come out (this is one of those consoles I do not have in my collection, so I have relatively little info on it)?

 

Fairchild Channel F is Circa 76 (or maybe 75, but I believe 76) The reason Atari 2600 released in 77, as opposed to along side the Channel F as originally intended is legal reasons with Odyssey. By waiting till 77, they avoided haveing to pay a royalty due to useing carts.

 

And your right, the Odyssey did use carts, the reason I place the Fairchild as the first cart system as opposed to the Odyssey, is due to the fact that there is no processor, or Intigrated circuits inside the odyssey carts. Their really nothing more than a convienant dip switch system, rather than having the switches built into the system as most other pong era games did.

 

 

Before the DS, before the Gamecube even way before the NES there was Nintando TV-Game 6!

 

An early pong system from Nintendo offering 6 pong games in colour. This is in fact the first home video game system produced by Nintendo. As they lacked the technology to develop their own microprocessors, they struck a deal with Mitsubishi Electronics and the two companies developed the Color TV Game 6 in 1977. It was a big success in Japan, and sold over a million copies.

 

The system is fairly simple. Two dial controllers built-in the system, so two players can play simultaneously. Some switches to toggle difficulty, players bat size, service auto/manual... a start button and an on/off switch.

 

The 6 games are classic ones: handball one and two players, tennis one and two players, hockey one and two players... Score is displayed on screen. Of course it is an NTSC display, using RF channel 1 or 2, all in colour.

 

Tech Info:

 

NAME: TV-Game 6 (model CTG-6V)

MANUFACTURER: Nintendo

ORIGIN: Japan

YEAR: 1977

BUILT IN GAMES: 6

CONTROLLERS: Two built-in knobs

CPU: Unknown

BUTTONS: 1

SWITCHES: 6

SCORE: On screen

COLORS: Colour

SOUND: Unknown

I/O PORTS: RF TV video output

BATTERIES: 6 x UM2 (C size) batteries

POWER SUPPLY: External power supply unit (110v -> 9v)

GUN: No

 

And yes Video games started here in the old USA ---> History of Computer And Video Games

 

SWEET, I did NOT know that, I definately want to look for one of those. That thing actually looks familiar, and I may actually have one, but I definately don't have the box, and I think mines dead. That is still pretty awesome.

[Headfamily]

I have never even seen the Game 6 before, coolness.

[thomasholzer]

Nintendo did import the Magnavox Odyssey in 1975 (before their Game 6, Game 15, Driving game, Breakout Game, Duck Shooting Game), according to the book Game Over.

Of course, Nintendo had the Laser Shooting range in 1973 (converted from Bowling alleys).

Other Japanese companies had arcades in the early 70s, like Taitos Border Line, Speed Skier, Space Monster, mostly they were more mechanical than video game.

Look here for earliest game:

http://www.pong-story.com/intro.htm

Edited October 20, 2006 by thomasholzer