Supercade also recalls that these precursors were the first in a line of enthusiasts who founded the entire video game industry: coders, for the most part, learning to master all the mysteries of a processor. Data belonging to thousands of people had not yet been tapped by the first IBM systems and had not yet raised any questions about our reliance on bytes and the impact of databases on our society and our daily lives. Digital technology had not yet invaded people’s daily lives and was still a vast and unexplored landscape. Computers were still the stuff of dreams and had only recently emerged in a few gigantic metal cupboards. The opening pages of Supercade remind readers that video games were invented by technophiles and enthusiasts.

This time throw on a little Pierre Henry to get you in the mood. Then came the businesspeople, the development of home consoles by American television manufacturers – with Magnavox in pole position – and the creation of the first company entirely dedicated to video games: Atari. It required technological and digital optimisation before it could be presented to a wider audience, but the game was a resounding success at universities. Designed by researchers and engineers, the game set out to respect the laws of gravity and the constellations of stars as closely as possible. What better solution than making an interactive application into a game? Spacewar!, which involves two vessels in combat around a black hole was a genuine technological challenge. They fell instantly in love with a new computer model, and set themselves the challenge of seeing just how far it could go, helped along by a complex technological demonstration. The “culprits” this time were the young students of the laboratory’s Tech Model Railroad Club, who would use the tools they found lying around to improve their miniature railway network. You can’t even see the line of other gamers waiting their turn!Īnother glorious veteran is Spacewar! The game was created at MIT in 1962 under slightly different circumstances. In both cases, these initial experiments were carried out by enthusiasts.Ī frenzied game of Spacewar! in the MIT buildings during the 1960s. The book also traces a path back to the very first developments of on-screen games, in the study halls of American universities: Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1958 and MIT in 1962.

A time when video games were consumed outside the home. It harks back to childhoods packed with pixels, to a time when videogaming had yet to invade the home, and children hadn’t begun to spend their days in lockdown on their Nintendo Switch or PS4 consoles until their parents told them to finish their homework. The very American soul of Supercade will bring whiffs of nostalgia to anyone who has ever spent their money on Galaxian while waiting for their parents at the supermarket checkout or been caught daydreaming in front of Space Ace at a local fairground. Its focus is mainly on the small world of video game arcades. This fully illustrated book is a potted history of video games, and covers the period between 19. Fire up the Stranger Things soundtrack as you read this blog post…īut first, if you haven’t read the book, here’s a bit of background about Supercade.

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