I asked the internet, retro game enthusiasts, and indie game developers the question: What were the largest technical advancements in the history of video games?
Cathode-ray tube amusement device, 1947
Earliest concept of an electronic game, prompting users to direct “artillery shells” in the form of electron beams.
OXO, 1952
A game of tic-tac-toe developed for a PhD thesis with Cambridge’s EDSAC mainframe computer; this was the first game to use a digital display.
Tennis for Two, 1958
The first video game solely for entertainment, built on an analog computer with an oscilloscope display.
Spacewar!, 1962
Built for the PDP-1 minicomputer at MIT, this was the first game to be distributed, shared between academic institutions in the 60s.
Computer Space, 1971
Preceding Pong and the birth of the video game industry, custom hardware proved cheaper than generic computers, giving us the first arcade game.
Magnavox Odyssey, 1972
Ralph Baer’s Brown Box was the first home console, eventually licensed by Magnavox as the Odyssey. This system featured 28 games that were reprogrammable by switches.
Maze War, 1973
Developed for a minicomputer by high school students interning at NASA Ames, this was the first game to feature peer-to-peer play across computers. Predating DOOM, this was the first first-person shooter.
Fairchild Channel F, 1976
The first console to use a microprocessor (8-bit) and removable game cartridges, both later popularized by the Atari 2600.
Milton Bradley Microvision, 1979
Preceded by Auto Racer as the first handheld videogame and inspiring the popular Game Boy, the Microvision was foundational to handheld video games as the first to use removable cartridges.
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), 1983
The start of Nintendo’s dominance, the NES popularized now standard features like the directional-pad taken from their handheld Donkey Kong game. The Legend of Zelda (1987) was one of the first games to use battery-backed internal memory, allowing games to be saved.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), 1990
The SNES included upgraded graphical and CPU capabilities that allowed developers to revolutionize 3D graphics from the 16-bit into the 32-bit era.
Wolfenstein 3D, 1992
This game from id Software revolutionized the industry with 3D graphics and textures.
Deep Blue, 1996
First chess computer to beat a world champion, checking 200 million positions per second to defeat Gary Kasparov in 1997.
SEGA Dreamcast,1998
SEGA’s last console, but the first to house a built-in 56K modem, ushering in an era of online console play.
PlayStation, 1994
Sony’s PS1 introduced the CD into the video game mainstream, allowing developers to create bigger games with better sound and 3D polygon graphics for cheaper.
Steam, 2003
Steam revolutionized PC gaming with the first mainstream digital distribution service.
Xbox, 2001
With a built in hard drive, Ethernet port, and the introduction of Xbox Live, the 1st generation Xbox and later the Xbox 360 introduced online gaming services to the world.
Battlefield V, 2018
First game to use live raytracing with RTX.
Wii, 2006
The Nintendo Wii introduced motion controls to the mainstream, and was the first console with built-in internet connectivity.