A Short Visual History of Video Games

AUDIO: 1920s-style background music

VISUAL: An image of a 1980s style television set showing displaying an image of a 2D animated boy.

VOICEOVER ONE: Hey kid! Have you heard of the Magnavox Odyssey???

VOICEOVER TWO: Oh no sir, I haven't.

VISUAL: Image of a human hand pointing to the animated boy who frowns

VOICEOVER ONE: Don't interrupt me boy!

VISUAL: Animated boy leaps with joy. Large text reads “BRAND NEW”. Next scene shows an animated image of Ralph Baer and large text reads “NEW FANGLED”

VOICEOVER ONE: It's the brand new electronic gaming device. Invented back in 1966 by Ralph Baer, this new fangled device marked the beginning of a new industry.

VISUAL: An illustrated graphic of an old gaming console with the word “ODYSSEY” above in a retro-futuristic style font. The television image shrinks and move out of the frame.

VOICEOVER ONE: The rest of the story I will tell you now, in this short visual history of video games.

VISUAL: Animated sequence of a large retro arcade-style gaming units with sliding into the frame and rotating, representing the games Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, that then shift upwards out of the frame.

VOICEOVER ONE: In 1972, the great Nolan Bushnell invented a game called Pong. The game was a hit, and many more were to follow, like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Plus Atari had something else up their sleeves.

VISUAL: An image of an Atari gaming console, joystick and 1980s style television shift upwards into the frame. The joystick is then animated across the screen with a flowing extended cable that eventually forms the letters reading Atari 2600.  A further animated sequence of an Activision logo and several console games flowing in motion across the screen.

VOICEOVER ONE: In '77 came the 2600. It took a generation by storm. The first third-party developers formed and the industry grew at a phenomenal rate. However, the market became saturated.

VISUAL: An Atari console with the E.T game inserted that then implodes and is encapsulated by a screwed up ball of white paper.

VOICEOVER ONE: Then in 1982 came the game by Howard Scott Warshaw: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. With the loss of consumer confidence, the industry crashed. It seemed like the end of this fad, known as 'Video Games', but one Japanese company had a different plan.

VISUAL: Ball of paper expands out across the frame. Large digital looking letters read Nintendo n.e.s, the letters then shatter and fall below.  Shot of a Nintendo gaming console and controller, frame expands to show a Sega Master System console behind it.

VOICEOVER ONE: In 1985, Nintendo released the NES to the world. It was a great success and just what was needed to revitalise the industry. But a new competitor was on the horizon. Sega's Master System challenged the NES.

VISUAL: A shot of Nintendo console with a gaming-style gun controller that shoots an animated bullet with arms and eyes that destroys a Sega console to pieces. Scene flips to an image of a Sega Mega Drive console, then changes to Super Nintendo console, speech bubble reads “Super FX graphics”.

VOICEOVER ONE:  However, it was no match for Nintendo's overwhelming popularity. Sega's Mega Drive waved in the 16-bit era. Super Nintendo was their competitor's response.

VISUAL: Sega Mega Drive 16 bit console, cuts to Super Nintendo console, then cuts to the two consoles alongside each other with animated speech bubbles displaying competing statements.

VOICEOVER ONE:  With aggressive marketing like "Sega does what Nintendon't" and "Now you're playing with power", gaming fans were heavily divided over which console was better.

VISUAL: A Sega Saturn console, frame expands to show a Sony Playstation in the foreground.  The console disk drive opens and an animated word “LAME!” hovers out and pops.

VOICEOVER ONE:  In '95 came the Sega Saturn, but it's thunder was stolen by a new contender in the form of the Sony PlayStation. It's 32-bit graphics were revolutionary, and more mature games appealed to all. Nintendo in comparison looked childish and lame.

VISUAL: A Nintendo 64 console, where a console game pops out the animated word “FUN!” pops out of the slot. Two Mario carts drive out the back of the console, zooming around.

VOICEOVER ONE:  But Nintendo was not to worry. The Nintendo 64 had 64-bit graphics, and colourful games for a younger audience. It was twice as powerful as the Sony PlayStation, and was totally twice as fun.

VISUAL: One Mario drives into a Sony PlayStation 2 console and stops with the console standing tall and bold on its side.  An Xbox console falls from above landing on the Mario cart which then vanishes beneath it. The shot zooms out and the Nintendo game cube console appears next to the other two consoles.

VOICEOVER ONE:  The late nineties was certainly a wonderful time to be a gamer. PlayStation 2, like a giant monolith, launched the next generation in the year 2000. The Xbox came down, enormous in girth - Microsoft's first try at a gaming console. It was followed by Nintendo's GameCube, which was...purple.

VISUAL: A Sega Dreamcast console appears behind the other three consoles in the background. The other consoles produce animated speech bubbles with hostile statements towards the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast defends itself with the speech bubble containing “But my Mum says I’m cool!”. The consoles disappear, the word “POWER” is animated in 3D, followed by “REALISM!”.

VOICEOVER ONE:  Sega also released the Dreamcast which was their last attempt at a console, but sales were poor and few people cared. Now, the current generation takes over. With more processing power and more realistic graphics, the future certainly looks bright for this budding industry.

TEXT ON SCREEN: BY Kyle Downes khdownes@hotmail.com ultra-awesome.blogspot.com VOICE Josh Molenkamp THANKS Emily Spehar.

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