The History of Video Games

[thedamndest]

A five part series on Discovery, part two airs tomorrow night at I think 8, but possibly 9 pm e.s.t. Part one was pretty good, mostly about early military equipment and how that turned into pong. Anybody else checking this out?

[FakeLaser]

Sounds pretty cool, kinda wish I saw it.

DVR Status

[thedamndest]

They will probably repeat part 1 because it is Discovery Channel and they don't have a wealth of original programming.

[Xero]

Caught an ad for it the day of the first airing and recorded it. The first part was really awesome.

[Xerzes]

Fine show.

[thedamndest]

Yeah part two was good, but when I read about it they said it was gonna be a five-parter, except they went all the way up to now in last night's episode. What's the deal?

[DS]

It is 5 parts, they will just go over different aspects that affect videogames today. Actually...here is a summary of each episode:

“Level One” - Nov 21, 8:00 p.m.
The video game started not with a bang, but with a ping. Where did simple games like Pong and Pac-Man come from? And how did these global phenomenons usher in the video game revolution?

“Level Two” - Nov 28, 8:00 p.m.
In the late ’70s, early ’80s, video games gained their face. Game creators became more liberated to create more complex video games and icons like Mario and Zelda began to give way to grittier characters. Learn how video game technology has evolved.

“Level Three” – Dec. 05, 8:00 p.m.
Video games go 3-D, but the details they capture in the new virtual worlds are both awe-inspiring and disturbingly realistic. Critics begin to question if games are becoming too real, too violent, too addictive. Game designers begin wrestling with ethics.

“Level Four” – Dec. 12, 8:00 p.m.
“God Games” begin simulating entire worlds and allow players to experiment with sometimes troubling cause and effect. Artificial intelligence creates lifelike characters and opens up opportunities for new learning tools and for artistic expression.

“Level Five” – Dec. 19, 8:00 p.m.
Can a computer game make you cry? Games gain an emotional dimension, interpersonal connection, and Hollywood worthy story lines as they evolve and move onto the Web. What do these virtual world games tell us about the way we live in the 21st century?

[Jura]

Hmm I thought it sounded boring but I'll give it a shot now.

[Kris P Lettus]

First two have been sweet..

It's called "The Rise of the Video Game", no??

[Jura]

Yeah I'm watching it right now and it's called Rise of the Video Game.

[TerranRich]

They had better include point-and-click adventure games like the Monkey Island, King's Quest, etc series. They were pivotal in computer gaming history and were the best games of their time.

[Jura]

I think King's Quest was in episode 2. I'm not sure. I feel gipped by episode 2. They skipped a lot of games and other stuff.

[Kris P Lettus]

Yeah, they went from the birth of Mario to like PS1 in 10 minutes..

[FakeLaser]

Fuck, I missed this. I was hoping there'd be much emphasis on the 8 and 16 bit days but it doesn't sound like that's the case.

[Kris P Lettus]

This one, they are talking about Wolfenstein/Doom.. If they skip over Duke Nukem 3D, I'm gonna shit a brick..

[thedamndest]

How's your asshole feeling?

[Jura]

I only caught part of it but they were talking a lot about that game commissioned by the Army. Pass.

[Kris P Lettus]

How's your asshole feeling?

:mad:

I guess I need to get use to them jumping around, cause the entire series seemed to jump around and only loosely stay in chronological order...