The 1980s bring a time where computers were now used in the
home as a personal object and have been developed into a relatively small
machine, fitting onto a small desk. The
PC revolution was really in full swing as more people were purchasing the
personal computer. In 1980 more than
one million personal computers had been sold and by the mid-1980’s, this figure
had risen to 30 million.
At this point computer games were also rapidly developing. From the well known arcade games from the 1970’s like The Galaxy Game and Pong, to Pacman and Donkey Kong in the 80s.
At this point computer games were also rapidly developing. From the well known arcade games from the 1970’s like The Galaxy Game and Pong, to Pacman and Donkey Kong in the 80s.
Below is an accurate representation of the classic game Pacman.
Commodore 64
In 1984 the Commodore 64 was released and held a new prospect for household gaming. This is around the time when computer games and consoles really start to take over the market and become hugely popular.
The release of the Commodore 64 also brought about the appearance of new game genres which include:
'Beat 'em up' 'Fighting' 'Platform' 'Strategy' and 'Scrolling or Behicle Shooters' .
Nintendo NES
In 1985 the video games consoles market in North America was revived with the arrival of the Nintendo Entertainment System NES. It was a cartridge based 8-bit system. Some of the most popular games for NES include: Super Mario Bros (1985), Super Mario Bros 3 (1990), The Legend of Zelda (1987), Mega Man (1987) and Final Fantasy (1990)
3D Games Era
In the 90s video gaming was finally consolidated into a mature industry and a mainstream form of entertainment. Publishers started to increase the size of production teams and higher budget games started to be published. In the 90s we can start talking about a video games era which led to be a more important part of our lives in which kids and adults play games as much as they watch TV.
The 90s represented a decade of big technological advances and developments both for computers and video games. Adventure were the most popular genre in computer gaming which offered the concept of graphical interactive stories including a 'plot' as a basic element of the games. But with the development of 3D graphics and the increasing popularity of the new genre First Person Shooter or FPS adventure games started to get left behind.
References:
Pacman:
Commodore 64/ NES
