Gameplay (Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution)

HUH?

FOR OVER 200,000 YEARS,

MAN SURVIVED WITHOUT VIDEO GAMES.

ONCE THAT CHANGED, THE WORLD WAS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN.

IT'S ME, MARIO.

THIS IS THE STORY OF EVERYTHING

THAT HAPPENED NEXT.

IN JUST THE LAST FEW YEARS,

VIDEO GAMES HAVE BECOME A SPORT UNTO THEMSELVES

WITH TEAMS, MAGAZINES, COMPETITION, AND ALL...

IN JUST 50 YEARS,

THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY HAS EVOLVED FROM TINY DOTS ON A RADAR SCREEN...

...TO FULLY IMMERSIVE 3D GRAPHICS

THAT RIVAL TODAY'S BIGGEST HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTERS.

SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND.

VIDEO GAMES HAVE DONE MORE THAN ENTERTAIN US.

THEY HAVE CHANGED THE WAY WE INTERACT WITH MACHINES FOREVER.

SHOULDN'T YOU GO OUT AND SOCIALIZE WITH YOUR FRIENDS?

I QUIT SOCCER TO PLAY ATARI.

FROM THE MOMENT SHE WAKES UP,

VIOLET BOLTON CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON HER IPAD.

WHETHER THEY ARE CHALLENGING,

INSPIRING,

COMFORTING,

OR ADDICTIVE,

THEY HAVE TAKEN OUR LIVES TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

BUT BACK IN 1962,

IT WAS A PRIVILEGE TO HAVE ACCESS

TO THE COMPUTER LABS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

WHERE ASPIRING ENGINEERS WOULD GATHER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

TO PLAY A BRAND NEW THING THEY CALLED SPACEWAR.

SPACEWAR MADE A HUGE IMPRESSION ON A YOUNG STUDENT NAMED NOLAN BUSHNELL.

MY FRIENDS SAID,

"COME OVER TO THE COMPUTER LAB, I GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU."

AND SO I WENT OVER AT MIDNIGHT,

AND WE WENT IN AND PLAYED SPACEWAR.

AND I WAS ADDICTED.

THE FUTURE FOUNDER OF ATARI,

BUSHNELL HAS BEEN CALLED THE FATHER OF THE MODERN VIDEO GAME.

BUT WHILE IN COLLEGE,

HE SPENT HIS SUMMERS WORKING AT AN AMUSEMENT PARK,

SERVICING PINBALL MACHINES AND OTHER ELECTRO-MECHANICAL GAMES.

I THOUGHT AT THE TIME IF I COULD TAKE THIS GAME

AND PUT IT IN MY ARCADES,

WE CAN MAKE A LOT OF MONEY.

HE HAD A VISION. COMPUTER SPACE.

SIMPLY PUT, IT WAS A WAY TO GET A SPACEWAR- LIKE GAME

INTO AN ARCADE CABINET

AND IT WOULD LIVE RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE PINBALL MACHINES.

THEY USED SUCH AN ODD-LOOKING CABINET

THAT IT WOUND UP SERVING AS A PROP IN SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES.

HERE, YOU'D BETTER SIGN FOR IT.

MY USUAL CUT?

YOU'LL GET YOUR CUT.

JUST SO WE UNDERSTAND.

IT LOOKED TOTALLY SIXTIES WITH THAT KIND OF MOLDED PLASTIC

OR POLYSTYRENE, WHATEVER THE HELL IT WAS.

ONE DAY THIS BULBOUS, SPACE-LIKE THING SHOWED UP

AND I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW MUCH FUN IT WAS

AND I WONDERED WHY THEY DIDN'T ALLOW MORE OF THESE THINGS OUT THERE.

COMPUTER SPACE WAS TOO MUCH TOO SOON.

THE CONTROLS WERE TOO COMPLICATED.

PEOPLE JUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY.

I THINK THAT WHAT I DIDN'T REALIZE

IS THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE COMPLEX TO BE FUN.

KEEP IT SIMPLE.

SO NEXT TIME, HE KEPT IT SIMPLE,

AND HE GOT IT RIGHT. PONG.

WITHOUT A SINGLE BUTTON TO PUSH, PONG WAS NOT JUST EASY TO PLAY,

BUT IT HAD A CLEAR GOAL.

BOUNCE THE LITTLE SQUARE BALL AT YOUR OPPONENT,

AND YOUR OPPONENT BOUNCES IT BACK.

THE YEAR WAS 1972.

BUSHNELL AND HIS PARTNERS, TED DABNEY AND AL ALCORN,

SET UP THE FIRST PONG MACHINE AT A BAR

IN CALIFORNIA'S SILICON VALLEY.

THE NEXT MORNING, THEY RECEIVED THEIR FIRST COMPLAINT CALL.

THE PONG MACHINE HAD BROKEN.

BUT PONG DIDN'T BREAK BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T BUILD IT RIGHT,

IT BROKE BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE FORCED SO MANY QUARTERS INTO IT,

IT JUST JAMMED UP.

THE FIRST GLITCH IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY WAS A COIN BOX THAT WAS TOO SMALL.

NOBODY MADE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN.

AND WE THOUGHT, "WELL, THIS IS A GOOD SIGN."

WITHIN 12 MONTHS,

A FEW GUYS TAKING OUT LOANS TO MAKE ELECTRONIC TOYS

BECAME ONE OF THE RICHEST COMPANIES IN THE WORLD.

BUT THE COMPETITION DID NOT TAKE LONG TO CATCH UP.

THAT SAME YEAR, AMERICAN ENGINEER AND INVENTOR, RALPH BAER,

INTRODUCED THE FIRST HOME VIDEO GAME CONSOLE,

THE ODYSSEY.

IT WAS VERY, VERY SIMPLE.

YOU ACTUALLY HAD TO GO TO THE PACKAGE AND PULL OUT PLASTIC OVERLAY

AND RUB IT ON TO THE TV SET

AND HOPE IT WOULD STAY THERE WITH STATIC ELECTRICITY,

AND IF NOT, YOU HAD TO TAPE IT ON WITH SCOTCH TAPE.

THIS IS ODYSSEY, THE NEW ELECTRONIC GAME SIMULATOR.

YOU ATTACH ODYSSEY TO YOUR TELEVISION SET IN SECONDS

TO CREATE A CLOSED CIRCUIT ELECTRONIC PLAYGROUND.

ODYSSEY IS TENNIS, ROULETTE,

FOOTBALL AND HOCKEY.

ODYSSEY COMES COMPLETE WITH FUN ELECTRONIC GAMES

AND EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES.

RALPH BAER WAS A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME

AND WAY AHEAD OF HIS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, MAGNAVOX,

WHO HAD NO IDEA HOW TO MARKET THE ODYSSEY.

THE ADS MADE CONSUMERS THINK

THAT YOU NEEDED A MAGNAVOX TELEVISION TO RUN THE DEVICE,

WHICH, OF COURSE, HINDERED SALES.

HOME VIDEO GAMES DIDN'T REALLY CATCH ON

UNTIL NOLAN BUSHNELL DECIDED TO CAPITALIZE ON THE SUCCESS

OF THE PONG ARCADE GAME,

BY RELEASING A HOME VERSION IN 1975.

MY VICE PRESIDENT CALLED UP SEARS,

AND WE THOUGHT, "PONG HAD BEEN IN BARS,

"PINBALLS, MAYBE THAT WILL WORK."

SO WE CALLED UP THE BUYER AT SEARS, DESCRIBED WHAT WE HAD,

AND, LITERALLY, HE WAS AT OUR FRONT DOOR THE NEXT MORNING,

TAKING THE MIDNIGHT FLYER.

WE WENT IN AND HE PLAYED THE GAME AND HE SAID, "HOW MANY CAN YOU BUILD?"

WELL, WE HAD NO CLUE.

WE SAID, "MAYBE 25,000 BETWEEN NOW AND CHRISTMAS."

I WENT BACK IN AND I SAID, "75,000."

THE NEXT DAY HE GAVE US A PURCHASE ORDER FOR 150,000.

WE WERE OFF TO THE RACES.

WE PLAYED THAT THING TO DEATH.

JUST HOOKED UP TO THE TV WITH THE LITTLE SIMPLE BACK AND WHITE,

AND THE LITTLE...

SO, IT WAS A VERY, VERY EXCITING MOMENT.

THAT WAS A GREAT CHRISTMAS.

MAGNAVOX AND BAER SUED ATARI FOR STEALING THEIR IDEAS.

IT WAS JUST THE FIRST OF THOUSANDS OF VIDEO GAME RELATED LAWSUITS.

BUT ATARI WON,

ENCOURAGING RIVAL MANUFACTURERS TO SURGE INTO THE MARKET

WITH THEIR OWN CLONES OF PONG.

YOU'RE WATCHING THE MOST EXCITING GAME YOU'LL EVER SEE ON YOUR TV SET...

IT WAS A SIMPLE GAME.

IT WAS ALSO A PRETTY SIMPLE GAME TO CLONE.

WE WERE MANUFACTURING IN A GARAGE SHOP.

THAT'S ALL WE HAD, SO THAT WAS A GOOD THING.

THE BAD THING IS THAT ANYBODY ELSE WHO HAD A GARAGE SHOP

COULD KNOCK IT OFF AND BUILD IT, TOO.

WITHIN SIX MONTHS WE HAD MAYBE 20 COMPETITORS.

IT WAS A LITTLE BIT FRUSTRATING.

LET'S SEE YOUR BEST PITCH.

TO KEEP AHEAD OF THE GAME, ATARI DECIDED TO RELEASE THE VCS,

ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING HOME CONSOLES OF ALL TIME.

YOU NEED MORE PRACTICE DAILY!

DESPITE THE FAME AND FORTUNE THAT LAY IN ITS FUTURE,

THE VCS WAS A COMMERCIAL FAILURE WHEN IT FIRST LAUNCHED IN 1977.

YOU'RE OUT!

* ATARI*

THE VIDEO GAMING PUBLIC

WAS MORE INTERESTED IN THE POWERFUL PROCESSORS

AND SUPERIOR GRAPHICS FOUND AT THE ARCADE,

SUCH AS 1978'S SPACE INVADERS.

SPACE INVADERS WASN'T AN ATARI PRODUCT.

IT WASN'T EVEN AN AMERICAN PRODUCT.

THE GAME IMMEDIATELY ESTABLISHED THE JAPANESE

AS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE WORLD OF VIDEO GAMES.

IN FACT, IT WAS SO POPULAR, IT CAUSED A NATIONAL COIN SHORTAGE IN JAPAN.

IN AMERICA, IT FIT PERFECTLY WITH AN ERA THAT WAS OBSESSED

WITH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

THESE ARE THE VOYAGES OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE...

STAR TREK.

AND STAR WARS.

I ACTUALLY THINK THE PRIMAL BEAT...

THAT, "HERE ARE ALIENS THAT ARE GONNA KILL YOU,"

THERE WAS AN ADRENALINE RUSH

FOR FIGHTING THESE ALIENS, AS SIMPLE AS IT IS TO LOOK AT NOW.

BUT THE GAME IS VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND.

IT WAS GREAT, VERY SIMPLE. IT WAS BETTER THAN PONG.

THIS IS COOL.

THEN THERE WAS SOME STRATEGY TO IT.

YOU'RE GONNA STAY BEHIND THE BARRIERS OR YOU GONNA SHOOT THE ALIENS?

THAT KIND OF HAVING FUN, SHOOTING THINGS IN A GAME.

FOR WHAT IT WAS,

IT BECAME A VERY, VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF SHOOTING GALLERY.

LIKE YOU HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

SPACE INVADERS ALSO HAD A DARKER SIDE.

THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN, THE ALIEN.

THE MINDLESS ENEMY THAT DESCENDS ON THE PLANET WITH MILITARY PRECISION.

AND NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU CAN HOLD OUT,

EVENTUALLY, THEY'RE GOING TO KILL YOU.

PERHAPS THE GAME RESONATED WITH THE CHILDREN

OF THOSE WHO SURVIVED HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI.

JAPANESE CHILDREN WHO GREW UP FEARING THE FOREIGN TERROR FROM THE SKIES.

NOW, THEY HAD A WAY TO FIGHT BACK.

OUR PLAN IS A COMPREHENSIVE ONE.

IT WOULD STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE

THE STRATEGIC TRIAD OF LAND-BASED MISSILES,

SEA-BASED MISSILES AND BOMBERS.

ATARI FIGHTS BACK AND LAUNCHES MISSILE COMMAND...

AND ASTEROIDS.

DESPITE ADVANCEMENTS IN GRAPHICS AND GAME PLAY,

THE CORE REMAINED THE SAME.

SHOOT ANYTHING THAT COMES YOUR WAY.

IN RESPONSE TO THE VIOLENT GAMES OF THE LATE 1970S,

TORU IWATANI DESIGNED THE MOST POPULAR ARCADE GAME EVER INVENTED.

PAC-MAN.