Top Ten Classic VIDEO GAMING
from web site
10. Pong
Origins: Pong was predicated on a game called 'Tennis for Two' which was a simulation of a game of tennis on an oscilloscope. Physicist William Higinbotham, the designer, goes down ever sold as creating among the first electronic games to use a graphical display.
The Concept: The game is intended to represent a game of Tennis or Table Tennis (TABLE TENNIS). Each player includes a bat; the bat could be moved vertically. The screen has two horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the screen. A ball is 'served' and moves towards one player - that player must move the bat so that the ball hits it. The ball rebounds and moves back another way. Depending on where the ball hits the bat, the ball will move around in different directions - should it hit one of the top or bottom lines, then it will bounce off. The idea is simply to make the other player skip the ball - thus scoring a spot.
Game play: while it sounds utterly boring, the game play is really very addictive. It is easy to play but very difficult to understand, especially with faster ball speeds, and much more acute angles of 'bounce'.
Nostalgia: for me this can be a father of video gaming. Without Pong you probably wouldn't have video games - it started the craze that would continue grow and be a multi-billion dollar industry. I will always remember this game!
9. Frogger
Origins: this game originated by Konami in 1981, and was the first game to introduce me to Sega. At the time it was very novel and introduced a new style of game.
The Concept: Easy - you want to walk from one side of the street to the other. Wait a minute - there's lots of traffic; I better dodge the traffic. Phew Managed to get - hang on, who put that river there. Better join those turtles and logs and move on to the other side - hang on that's a crocodile! AHHH! It sounds easy - the cars and logs are in horizontal rows, and the direction they move, the amount of logs and cars, and the speed can vary. You will need to move you frog up, down left and right, avoiding the cars, jumping on logs and avoiding nasty creatures and get home - do that several times and you move to the next level.
Game Play: Just one more simple concept that's amazingly addictive. This game depends on timing; you find yourself dinking in and out of traffic, and sometimes going nowhere. The graphics are poor, the sound is terrible, however the adrenalin really pumps as you stay away from that extremely fast car, or the snake that's hunting you down!
Nostalgia: I love this game for many reasons. I played it for years, but never really became a specialist - however, it was the first ever game I were able to reproduce using Basic on my ZX81 - I even sold about 50 copies in Germany!
8. Space Invaders
Origins: Tomohiro Nishikada, the designer of Space Invaders was inspired by Star Wars and War of the Worlds. He produced on of the first shooting video games and drew heavily from the playability of Breakout.
The Concept: aliens are invading the planet earth in 'blocks' by moving down the screen gradually. As the intrepid savior of the planet earth it's your task to use your solitary laser cannon, by moving horizontally, and zapping those dastardly aliens out from the sky. Luckily, you have four bases to hide behind - these eventually disintegrate, however they provide some protection from the alien's missiles.
Game Play: this can be a very repetitive game, but highly addictive. Each wave starts just a little closer to you, and moves just a little fast - so every new wave is a harder challenge. The game involved a fair amount of strategy and also good hand eye co-ordination.
Nostalgia: I wasted lots of time playing this game. While originally simply betwing88 attacked, some clever geek added color strips to the screen and the aliens magically changed color the low they got - that was about as hi-tech as it got back in the times of monochrome video games!
Origins: Pong was predicated on a game called 'Tennis for Two' which was a simulation of a game of tennis on an oscilloscope. Physicist William Higinbotham, the designer, goes down ever sold as creating among the first electronic games to use a graphical display.
The Concept: The game is intended to represent a game of Tennis or Table Tennis (TABLE TENNIS). Each player includes a bat; the bat could be moved vertically. The screen has two horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the screen. A ball is 'served' and moves towards one player - that player must move the bat so that the ball hits it. The ball rebounds and moves back another way. Depending on where the ball hits the bat, the ball will move around in different directions - should it hit one of the top or bottom lines, then it will bounce off. The idea is simply to make the other player skip the ball - thus scoring a spot.
Game play: while it sounds utterly boring, the game play is really very addictive. It is easy to play but very difficult to understand, especially with faster ball speeds, and much more acute angles of 'bounce'.
Nostalgia: for me this can be a father of video gaming. Without Pong you probably wouldn't have video games - it started the craze that would continue grow and be a multi-billion dollar industry. I will always remember this game!
9. Frogger
Origins: this game originated by Konami in 1981, and was the first game to introduce me to Sega. At the time it was very novel and introduced a new style of game.
The Concept: Easy - you want to walk from one side of the street to the other. Wait a minute - there's lots of traffic; I better dodge the traffic. Phew Managed to get - hang on, who put that river there. Better join those turtles and logs and move on to the other side - hang on that's a crocodile! AHHH! It sounds easy - the cars and logs are in horizontal rows, and the direction they move, the amount of logs and cars, and the speed can vary. You will need to move you frog up, down left and right, avoiding the cars, jumping on logs and avoiding nasty creatures and get home - do that several times and you move to the next level.
Game Play: Just one more simple concept that's amazingly addictive. This game depends on timing; you find yourself dinking in and out of traffic, and sometimes going nowhere. The graphics are poor, the sound is terrible, however the adrenalin really pumps as you stay away from that extremely fast car, or the snake that's hunting you down!
Nostalgia: I love this game for many reasons. I played it for years, but never really became a specialist - however, it was the first ever game I were able to reproduce using Basic on my ZX81 - I even sold about 50 copies in Germany!
8. Space Invaders
Origins: Tomohiro Nishikada, the designer of Space Invaders was inspired by Star Wars and War of the Worlds. He produced on of the first shooting video games and drew heavily from the playability of Breakout.
The Concept: aliens are invading the planet earth in 'blocks' by moving down the screen gradually. As the intrepid savior of the planet earth it's your task to use your solitary laser cannon, by moving horizontally, and zapping those dastardly aliens out from the sky. Luckily, you have four bases to hide behind - these eventually disintegrate, however they provide some protection from the alien's missiles.
Game Play: this can be a very repetitive game, but highly addictive. Each wave starts just a little closer to you, and moves just a little fast - so every new wave is a harder challenge. The game involved a fair amount of strategy and also good hand eye co-ordination.
Nostalgia: I wasted lots of time playing this game. While originally simply betwing88 attacked, some clever geek added color strips to the screen and the aliens magically changed color the low they got - that was about as hi-tech as it got back in the times of monochrome video games!
