TEXT GAMES
Although computers were
becoming more commonplace
in universities, expensive CRT
displays were out of reach of
the average student. In the
mid-1960s, text games started
to become popular, their
call-and-answer format being
well-suited to paper-based
output. Games like Hamurabi
(1968) and the first iteration
of Lunar Lander (1969) were
text-based, running on the
revolutionary PDP-8. 1971
gave us The Oregon Trail, an
educational game that would
remain popular well into the
1980s. 1975 saw the release of
Adventure (aka Colossal Caves)
and a genre was born.
results were displayed on the tube’s 35 ×
16 display.
Around the same time, Christopher
Strachey was working on the Turing-
designed Pilot ACE and decided to
implement a simple game of draughts (aka
checkers) in order to learn the machine’s
operations. This also used a rudimentary
CRT screen. Whoever ran their code first
is unknown. A later improvement to
Strachey’s code by Arthur Samuel at IBM
incorporated machine learning, creating
the first primitive AI system.HIGINBOTHAM TO SERVE
As we’ve seen, board games were the first
games to be implemented, and that’s not
surprising given the mathematical types
designing and using computers. The first
sport to make an appearance was a take
on the bat-and-ball genre. The delightfully
named Tennis For Two appeared in 1958
at Brookhaven National Laboratory in
Upton, New York, who were gearing
up for the annual visitor’s day. William
Higinbotham, head of instrumentation,
was tasked with showing-off their facilities,
including the prized Donner Model 30
analogue computer. He decided to adapt
a simple test program that drew an arc on
an oscilloscope. Working with technician
Robert Dvorak, the pair adapted the arc
code into a side-on tennis game that could
be controlled using two paddles. This may
well be the first time a computer game
was created solely for entertainment; after
all, Bertie and Nimrod were there to sell
technology. Tennis For Two was a huge
hit, with hundreds lining up to play this
remarkable creation. An improved version
with a larger screen was shown the
following year before it was dismantled. In
2008, Brookhaven researchers rebuilt the
game to celebrate its 50th anniversary.(SPACE)WAR IS DECLARED
The 1962 game that arguably kicked off
the games industry was Spacewar!. Thisa program was successfully implemented
on a Ferranti Mark 1. Loosely based on
Turochamp and designed by Ferranti
employee Dietrich Prinz, it could solve
‘mate in two’ problems. Input and output
were via a teleprinter as cathode-ray tubes
were in their infancy and very expensive.NOUGHTS, CROSSES, AND TUBES
EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic
Computer) was built in Cambridge, UK in
1947, and ran its first program in 1949. It
is often cited as the first general-purpose
stored-program computer. Although many
pub arguments have, and will, continue to
debate this claim, it was certainly the first
reliable machine. The project was funded
by Lyons, the Starbucks of their day,
who had the foresight to see that these
new-fangled computer things could help
with the ludicrous logistics and financial
calculations involved in baking and
delivering ten million meals a week.
In 1952, Alexander Douglas, studying
at the University of Cambridge, was
preparing a thesis on human-computer
interaction. As part of his research, he
implemented a noughts and crosses
algorithm using EDSAC, making use of a
Williams tube (an early form of CRT) which
could display the contents of an area of
memory as dots on a screen, a concept
we still use today. By manipulating this
system, Douglas created a noughts and
crosses board and in turn a playable
video game he called OXO. A rotary phone
dial was used to enter moves, and the Spacewar! running on a PDP-1.
The game that truly started it all. Tennis For Two set up and ready to play at
Brookhaven National Laboratory. The first interactive
game designed solely for entertainment.46 / wfmag.cc
In The Beginning: exploring the earliest video gamesInterface