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Computer
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The joystick nation - the history
of video and computer games. Read about the history of computer games before
and after Spacewar. |
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By
Mary
Bellis
If I hadn't done it, someone would've
done something equally exciting if not better in the next six months. I
just happened to get there first." - Steve Russell nickname "Slug"
It was in 1962 when a young computer
programmer from MIT, Steve Russell fueled with inspiration from the writings
of E. E. "Doc" Smith*, led the team that created the first computer game.
It took the team about 200 man-hours to write the first version of Spacewar.
Steve Russell wrote Spacewar on a PDP-1, an early DEC (Digital Equipment
Corporation) interactive mini computer which used a cathode-ray
tube type display and keyboard input. The computer was a donation to
MIT from DEC, who hoped MIT's think tank would be able to do something
remarkable with their product. A computer game called Spacewar was the
last thing DEC expected who later provided the game as a diagnostic program
for their customers. Russell never profited from Spacewars.
The PDP-1's operating system was
the first to allow multiple users to share the computer simultaneously.
This was perfect for playing Spacewar, which was a two-player game involving
warring spaceships firing photon torpedoes. Each player could maneuver
a spaceship and score by firing missiles at his opponent while avoiding
the gravitational pull of the sun. Try playing
a replica** of the computer game for yourselves. It still holds today
up as a great way to waste a few hours. By the mid-sixties, when computer
time was still very expensive, Spacewar could be found on nearly every
research computer in the country. Steve Russell transferred to Stanford
University, where he introduced computer game programming and Spacewar
to an engineering student called Nolan
Bushnell. Bushnell went on to write the first coin-operated computer
arcade game and start Atari
Computers.
*An interesting
sidenote is that "Doc" Smith, besides being a great science fiction
writer,
held a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and was the researcher who figured
out how to get powdered sugar to stick to doughnuts.
**Spacewar!
was conceived in 1961 by Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen.
It was first realized on the PDP-1 in 1962 by Steve Russell, Peter Samson,
Dan Edwards and Martin Graetz, together with Alan Kotok, Steve Piner and
Robert A. Saunders.
Next
Chapter> Douglas
Engelbart - Inventor of the Computer Mouse and Windows
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Spacewar
Screenshot
