Video Game History: 1940-1985

Question 1

What was the first computer with a memory?

Answer 1

EDSAC (1946)

Question 2

What could the ENIAC (1946) do?

Answer 2

Carry out numerical problems through reprogramming

Question 3

When did Alan Turning write a chess program?

Answer 3

1947

Question 4

What was special with the Cathode Ray Tube Device (CRT) ?

Answer 4

It was the first computer to use a screen

Question 5

Who created Tennis for two (1958)?

Answer 5

William Higinbotham

Question 6

There was a computer in 1951 which could play Nim with a player opponent. What was it called?

Answer 6

NIMROD

Question 7

When was Spacewar! created and by which two fellows was it made?

Answer 7

in 1962 by Steve Russell and Wayne Wiitanen (on the PDP-1 computer)

Question 8

What is 1966’s Eliza?

Answer 8

A computer Therapist

Question 9

Ralph Baer came to design a game playing device in 1967, what did he initially call it?

Answer 9

The Brown Box

Question 10

What did the 1970 simulation software Life do?

Answer 10

Demonstrate complexity from simple rules.

Question 11

What was the first known arcade machine to be released to the public and who made it (2 persons)?

Answer 11

Galaxy Game by Bill Pitts and Hugh Truck (A Spacewar! remake)

Question 12

What was the first mass-produced video game?

Answer 12

Computer Space

Question 13

Who made Computer Space?

Answer 13

Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney

Question 14

What is common about the game Baseball and The Oregon trail?

Answer 14

Both are PC- text based games and both released in 1971

Question 15

What was the first video game console and when did it release?

Answer 15

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

Question 16

How may games were included with the Magnavox Odyssey?

Answer 16

12

Question 17

Who founded Atari and when?

Answer 17

Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972

Question 18

Who was it that programmed Pong

Answer 18

Al Alcorn

Question 19

When did Pong release and by what company?

Answer 19

1972, Atari

Question 20

When did Atari Japan open in Tokyo?

Answer 20

1973

Question 21

What is considered to be the first FPS game?

Answer 21

Maze (1974)

Question 22

How many players could play Maze (1974) at the same time (via linked cables)?

Answer 22

8

Question 23

What was the first driving simulation game and what company made it?

Answer 23

Gran Tak 10 (1974) by Atari.

Question 24

What happened in the end with Atari Japan?

Answer 24

It was sold to Nakamura Manufacturer in 1974 due to financial struggles.

Question 25

What was Atari's first game to sell more than Pong?

Answer 25

Tank (1974)

Question 26

What was the first microprocessor-based pinball game?

Answer 26

Spirit of 76 (1975)

Question 27

When did Atari release Home Pong?

Answer 27

1975

Question 28

When did Atari's Breakout release?

Answer 28

1976

Question 29

What was the biggest arcade game of 1976?

Answer 29

Breakout (Atari)

Question 30

What was the first controversial video game and when did it release?

Answer 30

Death Race (1976)

Question 31

What was the first driving FPS game?

Answer 31

Night Driver (1976)

Question 32

Who designed Night Driver (1976)?

Answer 32

Ted Michton and Dave Shepperd

Question 33

What is considered to be the first computer text adventure game? (Easy answer)

Answer 33

Adventure (Colossal Cave Adventure) (1976)

Question 34

Atari was bought up by Warner Communications. When?

Answer 34

1976

Question 35

What was the first home console to use a microprocessor and what company made it?

Answer 35

Channel F console by Fairchild.

Question 36

What was the first handheld commercial game?

Answer 36

Autorace (1976)

Question 37

What was Richard Garriott's first video game? When was it made?

Answer 37

D&D1. 1977.

Question 38

What was Atari's first home console?

Answer 38

Atari VCS 2600

Question 39

When did the Atari VCS 2600 launch?

Answer 39

1977

Question 40

What did Atari Japan come to be in 1977?

Answer 40

Namco

Question 41

What video game introduced vector graphics to the arcades?

Answer 41

Space Wars (Inspired by Spacewar!) (1977)

Question 42

What is special about Zork! ? What was originally supposed to be called?

Answer 42

It was released in 1977 on the PDP-10 and was one of the first interactive fiction computer games. Inspired by D&D. It was supposed to be called Dungeon....

Question 43

Who designed Space Invaders?

Answer 43

Tomohiro Nishikado

Question 44

When did Space Invaders release?

Answer 44

1978

Question 45

What was the first flight simulator and on what device did it appear?

Answer 45

Flight Simulator (1978) on the Apple II computer.

Question 46

What did Richard Garriott make in 1978?

Answer 46

Alkabeth: World of Doom

Question 47

Atari Football was a great success. When did it release?

Answer 47

1978

Question 48

Who made the first virtual world?

Answer 48

Richard Bartle and Troy Trubshaw

Question 49

What was the first virtual world? What did the initials stand for?

Answer 49

MUD (Multi-User-Dungeon)

Question 50

What was Atari's first vector game?

Answer 50

Lunar Lander (1979)

Question 51

Atari's second vector game was a huge success. What was the game?

Answer 51

Asteroids (1979)

Question 52

Galaxian by Namco is special because...?

Answer 52

It was the first game to use RGB graphics.

Question 53

Video gaming's first Easter egg is?

Answer 53

Warren Robinett's name in Atari's Adventure.

Question 54

When did Nolan Bushnell leave Atari?

Answer 54

1979

Question 55

4 Atari employees left in 1979 and formed...

Answer 55

Activision.

Question 56

What trend did Activision start?

Answer 56

Making third-party games for the Atari 2600

Question 57

Who developed the classic title Missile Command (1980)? Who published it?

Answer 57

Atari. Atari and Sega.

Question 58

Nintendo's first handheld was?

Answer 58

Game and Watch (1980)

Question 59

Give a brief summary of Pac-Man's origin: The designer, year of release and which company that developed it.

Answer 59

Toru Iwatani, 1980, Namco

Question 60

When did Zork! arrive on home computers?

Answer 60

1980

Question 61

Richard Garriott (Lord British) made what in 1980?

Answer 61

Ultima: The First Age of Darkness

Question 62

How many years did it take Space Invaders to appear on the Atari 2600 after it's initial arcade release in 1978?

Answer 62

2 years.

Question 63

Who made and released Defender (1981)?

Answer 63

Eugene Jarvis and Williams Electronics

Question 64

Hwne did Namco's Galaga release?

Answer 64

1981

Question 65

Who made Donkey Kong?

Answer 65

Shigeru Miyamoto

Question 66

Who developed Frogger (1981)?

Answer 66

My wife (in Norwegian)

Question 67

Which game is blamed for the video game crash of 1982?

Answer 67

E.T: The Extra Terrestial

Question 68

Who was given six weeks to make E.T (1982)?

Answer 68

Howard Scott Warschaw

Question 69

When did Pac-Man appear on the Atari 2600?

Answer 69

1982

Question 70

Who made Sinistar (1982)?

Answer 70

Williams Electronics

Question 71

What controversial 1982 game let's the player rape a native american woman?

Answer 71

Custer's Revenge

Question 72

Q*Bert (1982) had which type of camera perspective?

Answer 72

Isometric view

Question 73

Who made the super realistic character animation for 1982's Pitfall?

Answer 73

Dave Crane from Activision.

Question 74

Trip Hawkins founded what in 1982?

Answer 74

Electronic Arts (EA)

Question 75

When did the Atari 5200 launch?

Answer 75

1982

Question 76

With help from animator Don Bluth, what laser-disc was made in 1983?

Answer 76

Dragon's Lair

Question 77

What is most interesting about Lode Runner's game design (1983)?

Answer 77

It had a level editor.

Question 78

Nintendo's first console in Japan was called?

Answer 78

Famicom (1983)

Question 79

What game introduced the Japanese to the RPG formula?

Answer 79

The Black Onyx (1983)

Question 80

Ultima III arrived in?

Answer 80

1983

Question 81

What was the first 3D polygonal game created?

Answer 81

I, Robot (1983, Atari)

Question 82

A virtual world was created in 1983 where players had to pay to play. What was it called?

Answer 82

Scepter of Goth

Question 83

King's Quest arrived in?

Answer 83

1984

Question 84

Tetris was made when, where and by whom?

Answer 84

1983, Russia, Alexey Pajitnov

Question 85

Karateka used what cinematic techniques?

Answer 85

Rotoscoping, cross-cutting and tracking shots.

Question 86

In 1984, A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Game was made.

Answer 86

Okay.

Question 87

What was the first video game to feature a fully synchronized soundtrack?

Answer 87

Deus Ex Machina (1984)

Question 88

What fourth game in a series had a morale system and sold better than any of it's own previous iterations in 1985?

Answer 88

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

Question 89

Balance of Power, a game with its own GUI, was made when and by whom?

Answer 89

1985, Chris Crawford

Question 90

Gauntlet, one of the first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games and made by Atari, released in what year?

Answer 90

1985.

Question 91

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) released in New York first in...?

Answer 91

1985.

Question 92

in 1985, the most important release of the NES was?

Answer 92

Super Mario Bros.

Question 93

Who made King's Quest and what year did it release?

Answer 93

Roberta + Ken Williams, 1983