CS 185C: The History of Computing October 3 Class Meeting Department of Computer Science San Jose State University Fall 2011 Instructor: Ron Mak

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 2 IEEE Global History Network  Create your topic! Create in the appropriate category and subcategory Send me the URL by this Friday, Sept. 30  Initial contents (not all needs to be done by Friday) Object of your historical research  Architecture (hardware or software), computer system, application, methodology, biography, company, etc. What do you want to discover from your research  What questions do you want answered Outline of your research plan  Proposed source materials museum artifacts, interviews, exchanges with project advisors, etc.  Rough timeline  Online experts  Ask specific questions  Get suggestions and comments _

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 3 IEEE Global History Network  Include the following text “I’m a student in the History of Computing class at San Jose State University ( ). This is a work in progress that will turn into a final article by the end of the semester. I welcome your comments and advice!”  Otherwise other IEEE members may try to edit your article.  Post frequent updates to your article. Drafts of your report Blog of your research activities  The blog can end up as an appendix to your final report. _

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 4 Computer History Museum Archives  When doing your research, be sure to take advantage of the archives of the Computer History Museum:

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 5 Bitsavers  Archive of computer software and manuals 

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 6 SIMH  Software simulations of historic computer systems 

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 7 Short Oral Presentations  Short oral presentation of your research project 10 minutes  Object of your historical research  What do you want to discover from your research  What questions do you want answered 5 minutes  Q & A  To be scheduled...

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 8 The Very First Video Game  “Tennis for Two” Created in 1958 by William Higinbotham to entertain visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York.  See Oscilloscope display of a gravity-controlled ball on a tennis court. Analog computer plus two game controllers

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 9 “SpaceWar!”  Many of the first video games were programmed by students on university computers. Computer time was expensive, so the games were developed and played surreptitiously, and many were never saved.  “SpaceWar!” Programmed by MIT student Steve Russell on a DEC PDP-1 in

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 10 Early Arcade Game  “Galaxy Game,” Stanford University, 1971 DEC PDP-11/20 Only one was built See it at the Computer History Museum

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 11 Pong  Ping-pong game originally released by Atari in 1972 Created by Allan Alcorn First commercially successful video game  Started the video game industry

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 12 Allan Alcorn  Speaker Wednesday, Oct. 5 in auditorium ENGR 189 “Video Games as a Driver of Computing Technology”  Reception before the talk in ENGR 294 Creator of Pong Led the development of the Atari Video Computer System (later renamed the Atari 2600) Fellow at Apple Computer  Pioneering work on the MPEG standard and QuickTime 1977

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 13 First Video Game Console  Ralph Baer and a colleague created “Chase,” the first video game to display on a standard TV set in 1966 Released to the public as the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972 Received the National Medal of Technology in 2006 in honor of his “groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games.”

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 14 Atari  Founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972 Soon hired Allan Alcorn as their first design engineer Initially created and distributed arcade games Atari VCS (Video Computer System) in 1977, renamed the Atari 2600  Sold to Warner Communications in 1976 Bushnell fired in : Atari 800 and the smaller Atari : Atari : Video game industry crashes Atari 5200

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 15 Atari, cont’d  Sold to Jack Tramiel in 1984 Founder of Commodore 1985: Atari ST personal computer  Division of Hasbro,  Name sold to Infogames, which renames itself Atari, 2001

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 16 History’s Top 10 Video Game Consoles : Atari : Nintendo NES : Sega Genesis : Sony PlayStation : Sony PlayStation : Nintendo Game Cube : Microsoft Xbox : Microsoft Xbox : Sony PlayStation : Nintendo Wii  See

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 17 Nintendo  Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), 1980  Game Boy, 1989

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 18 Sega  Released its first video game console, the SG 1000, in 1982  Released the Sega Genesis in 1989

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 19 Sony  Original PlayStation released in 1994.

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 20 Microsoft  Microsoft Xbox released 2001

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 21 Types of Video Games  Adventure initially text-based  Role playing games (RPG)  Fighting/martial arts/gory violence  Shooting online multiplayer games  Maze  Racing/driving  Realtime strategy online multiplayer games  Simulation  Online gambling

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 22 Early Video Game Highlights  “Pac-Man” released by Namco in Japan, 1980 See  “Donkey Kong” released by Nintendo, 1981 Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, famous game designer See and  “Microsoft Flight Simulator,” 1982 See (Macintosh version) Developed by Bruce Artwick

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 23 Early Video Game Highlights, cont’d  “Tetris,” 1985 Developed by Russian mathematician Alexey Pajitnov See  “SimCity,” 1989 Designed by Will Wright and released by Maxis Simulate building cities

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 24 Early Video Game Highlights, cont’d  Entertainment Software Rating Board, 1994

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 25 8 Video Game Myths Debunked  Henry Jenkins, MIT professor See The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence. 2. Scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression. 3. Children are the primary market for video games. 4. Almost no girls play computer games. 5. Because games are used to train soldiers to kill, they have the same impact on the kids who play them. 6. Video games are not a meaningful form of expression. 7. Video game play is socially isolating. 8. Video game play is desensitizing.

SJSU Dept. of Computer Science Fall 2011: October 3 CS 185C: This History of Computing © R. Mak 26 The Future of Video Games?  Follow the evolution of television? Reality-based games Multiplayer games  massive shared online experiences  Cross promotions Corporate sponsorships More product placements Hit music singles played only during a game  Average age of video game players... Approaching 30 More players in their senior years