history of video games

History of video games 1950’s-1970’s

It is believed that the first concept of a computerised game originated in 1952 with A.S Douglas, who designed a version of tic-tac-toe which was playable on the EDSAC vacuum-tube computer. However it was ‘Spacewar’, a game made in 1962 by the MIT which is generally considered the first fully evolved computer game. The game consisted of two rockets (one for each player) and the aim was to eliminate the players rocket before he eliminated yours. This was played only by university students who operated the room sized computers that this game ran on. Upon seeing the potential of space war, Nolan Bushnell created a game in 1971 similar to space war intended for the general public. It was called computer space and while it was a well designed game it wasn’t well received by the public. The problem was that the game had a set of complex controls, and a lot of the 1500 machines produced were installed in bars meaning that it was very difficult to play if someone was drunk. And so in 1972 with Al Acorn, Nolan created a much simpler game based on a sport that people recognised and easily understood, that game was called pong (not ping pong due to copyright). Atari went on to create a whole selection of popular games through the 70’s, and later re-released pong as a pong video game in 1975.  

Introduction to me

Hi I’m will Barry, originally from a town called Evesham in the county of Worcestershire and game art design is my chosen course. The reason why I decided to apply for this course was that I have always been fascinated with the artwork within games. It has been a huge influence to my artwork over the past 8 years. Coming from A level art, followed by a foundation art course, I was originally intending to go on to an illustration course, applying to two universities. however feeling that illustration didn't point me in the right direction of what I wanted to be doing career wise, I decided to apply for a third 'wild card' option of game art design at de Montfort, to which then I of course accepted. This course would definitely take me forward into a more desirable career. I have always aspired to one day become a concept artist for a major gaming company. I enjoy creating concepts for characters, settings etc and looking at the storytelling side to the artwork and thinking about the cinematography. A company I much admire is the Bethesda games studios, from footage of interviews from the developers in the company they discuss the process it takes to create a good quality game in terms of artwork and creativity, so you can tell how much care they take in their craft. My ideal job would be to work for a company similar to Bethesda as a concept artist. the requirement Bethesda look for in a concept artist is someone who has 'excellent traditional artistic skills with a strong grasp of composition, anatomy, colour  theory, perspective, lighting, environment, architectural, creature/character, costume and graphic design', something which I very much try to fulfil in all work that I produce. I learnt a lot of these ideas from my time in a level art which has helped me get to grasp with things such as lighting perspective etc. The job also requires good storytelling and writing skills, which is something I take into consideration when I am deciding what to draw/paint. A way in which I could improve this aspect of my work would be to spend time researching, whether it’s through watching films, reading books, basically just ways of gaining extended knowledge of good story telling through different media. Beyond video games my interests include films, history (particularly British history), and music (all music, any music, as long as it’s good music), these interests contribute to my work in a big way, I find myself producing  a whole cluster of new ideas and creations just from being inspired by a film or a piece of music. What I want to get from this course is first of all knowledge, better knowledge of the industry and games in general will certainly be a huge bonus when applying for jobs. Also improving my 3d work, as I haven’t had any experience working with programs like 3d max I want to make sure I am able to use it at least at a semi-professional level.