the history of video games

http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov/

By Leonard Herman, Jer Horwitz, Steve Kent, and Skyler Miller

In 1949, a young engineer named Ralph Baer was given an assignment to build a television set. He wasn't supposed to build just any television set, but one that would be the absolute best of all televisions. This was not a problem for Baer, but he wanted to go beyond his original assignment and incorporate（包含，加上，吸收） some kind of game into the set. He didn't know exactly what kind of game he had in mind, but it didn't really matter because his managers nixed （被禁止的） the idea. It would take another 18 years for his idea to become a reality, and by that time there would be other people to share in the glory （光荣，荣誉） , like Willy Higinbotham (威利·海金博塞姆) , who designed an interactive tennis game played on an oscilloscope （示波镜）[注：指《双人网球》（Tennis for 2）] , and Steve Russell (史蒂夫·拉塞尔) , who programmed a rudimentary （基本的，初步的） space game on a DEC PDP-1 mainframe computer （大型计算机） . And then there was also Nolan Bushnell (诺兰·布什纳尔) , who played that space game and dreamed of a time when fairground （露天游乐场） midways （中途，半路） would be filled with games powered by computers.

Today, with interest in classic games gaining steam (蒸气) once again, players of video games are reminded of the rich history of the industry. Crave's Asteroids （《行星撞击》） 64 is a modern version of a game that came out in 1979. And the original Asteroids was merely an updated version of Nolan Bushnell 's Computer Space , which was really a jazzed-up （使活泼） copy of Steve Russell 's Spacewar. Space Invaders ( 《太空入侵者》) , Centipede, Frogger, and Pong （《乒乓》） are once again on store shelves, and Pong is but a polished （精致的，优雅的） variant （变体） of the game Willie Higinbotham displayed on his oscilloscope.

The history of video games is not just about people. It's also about companies and ironies . Atari （ 雅达利） was an American company with a Japanese name, and the Japanese company Sega (世嘉) was started by an American. Magnavox （美乐华） , the company that started it all, is owned by Phillips （飞利浦） , a company that is over a century old, and Nintendo （任天堂） , the company that made video games popular again, is just as old. And who would have ever thought Sony, the company that invented all types of electronics, from transistor radios （晶体管收音机） to video recorders （录影机） , would release a video game console （视频游戏控制台） that would become its top-selling product of all time?

In today's world, where video games are often cited （引用，举例） as a source for teenage violence, it's interesting to see that the first home console（控制台） also had a light rifle （步枪） as an optional peripheral （外设） .

The world of video games continues to evolve. By reading about the past, perhaps you'll also get a glimpse of the future.