On this page, the different decades of video game history will be examined in detail. Starting in the dark ages of computer history, up to the 1960s, where there were already first video games, but these were still far from being distributed for the mass market. It wasn't until the 1970s with games like Pong and Space Invaders that the big boom came, which lasted until the game crash in 1983. In and of itself, each decade represents a series of evolutions and revolutions in the development of video games.
With this step I would like to bring you all a little bit closer.
Long before video games flickered across screens, it was a very long road through history. Way back in the days of home computers, the computer itself had to be invented. Before the microchip, the transistor had to be developed, and before a screen could be used to display video games, it too had to be recognized for its utility. Feel free to click through the first milestones of computer game history.
In the 1960s, video games were still very primitive, which were developed and played on the computers of large universities. Thus, not only the developers were found here, but also the hardware that made the creation of video games such as „Spacewar!“ possible in the first place.
In the 1970s, the time had come and video games made their way into people’s homes. The first generations of children were able to play highlights like Pong and Space Invaders with their families in the living room. Electronic TV video games were on the fast track until the big crash later on.
A decade later, the video game industry would experience its only real crisis to date, which is known as the „Video Game Crash“. Sales figures plummeted in 1983, because not only were masses of poorly produced games flooding the market, but the home computer was the first serious competitor to the console world. In addition, one company managed to emerge from the crisis as a winner…
This crisis was overcome thanks to various companies that launched different video game systems at the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s, which became a complete success. During this time, the most famous heroes in the history of video games were created, of which there were many in the 90s. Today, playing video games is one of the most popular forms of recreation ever, and the graphics and game concepts reached a level in this era that probably no one could have imagined just a few decades ago.
The 2000s are characterized by upheaval: New market segments are opened up, online gaming changes everything. And the video game industry becomes a blockbuster producer worth billions. Games are no longer at home only on computers, consoles and handhelds, but are also finding their way onto cell phones. From this era on, companies increasingly develop strategies to open up new market segments through innovative concepts; to address customers who would probably never call themselves „gamers“.
The 2010s build on the successful building blocks that began the decade before. Added to this are phenomena such as the rise of eSports and cloud gaming, but also to unwelcome elements such as the increasingly common in-game purchases. Technically, the first major proliferation of virtual reality headsets is the biggest achievement to date.
