Video games are 40 years old

It is 40 years since the birth of what is widely credited as the first video game, since students at MIT created an Asteroids-like program called Spacewar.

Of course games have come a long way since then, with the birth of consoles from Nintendo, Sega, Sony and now even Microsoft, not to mention all the titles for programmable platforms such as the PC.

The MIT team were interested in using a powerful DEC computer for something, well, different and programmed their original space fighting game using punch cards.

We recently reminisced about a generation of platforms and games only half as old, as the links below testify.

Click here for a trip down memory lane
Technologies That Time Forgot: The ZX Spectrum
http://www.silicon.com/a50364
Technologies that Time Forgot: The BBC Micro
http://www.silicon.com/a50798
Technologies Time Forgot: The Acorn Electron
http://www.silicon.com/a50548
Technologies Time Forgot: The Vic-20 and the Commodore 64
http://www.silicon.com/a50999
Technologies Time Forgot: The Dragon 32
http://www.silicon.com/a51158

Or to take a look at what Spacewar looked like, go to:
http://agents.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/