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The Effect Of The Golden Age On Game Development And

Gameplay
PERSONAL GAME HISTORY ESSAY
By
Robert Gervais

The Golden Age Set The Stage For a Billion Dollar Electronic Gaming Business
That Fostered the Development And Distribution Of Electronic Games To Global
Consumers
According to Steven Kent, a noted journalist and video game historian, the term hacker
is an MIT invention that dates back to late nineteen-fifties and early nineteen-sixties
1
.
Kent goes on to write that the term hack is a direct reference to practical jokes and
impressive feats. (16) Ultimately, the term serves as a euphemism for people who
performed impressive feats with computers.

Steve Russell
1
, Ralph Baer
1
, and Nolan Bushnell
1
are three hackers who set the stage for
a Golden Age of electronic gaming that effected game development and the way games
were played.

Fueled by the hacker-spirit, the Golden Age of electronic gaming is a story about
impressive feats that built a billion dollar global gaming industry that affected the way
games were developed and played. With technology setting the pace, game development
was fueled by the increased demand for more games in the global marketplace.

The Golden Age effected game development and gameplay in two distinct ways:
First, the Golden Age gave rise to an electronic gaming industry that allowed
companies to develop and sell a plethora of games to players on a global scale.
Second, the Golden Age sparked a Personal Computing Revolution that allowed
the homebred hacker to develop and sell genre-establishing games to players near
and far; and to build one of the Worlds most successful computer companies.

As the Internet and computing technology grew more sophisticated, games were being
piped into the home and eventually; Social Media harnessed the power of communal
gaming to build a multi-billion dollar casual electronic gaming business and as a
consequence, the popularity of Social Media has permanently changed the way we
play games today.

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Stephen "Slug" Russell is consiueieu by many to be the fiist tiue hackei
1
. In
one of his many computing expeiiments on NIT's campus uuiing the
nineteen-sixties, Russell inventeu " 'Spacewai!' in nineteen sixty-two. It ian
on a BEC PBP-1," anu was consiueieu to "aiguably be the fiist evei computei
game." (Thompson, Beibank-uieen & Cuswoith 18) Kent goes on to wiite
that "Be was a hackei anu hau cieateu his game to show that it coulu be
uone." (2u)

2

Taking the baton fiom Russell, was an engineei who woikeu at Sanueis
Associates. Ralph Baei, consiueieu by many to be the "Fathei of Bome viueo
uames"
1
uevelopeu viueo games foi television monitoi inteiaction. Although
Baei's games uiun't make huge waves uuiing the eaily nineteen-seventies
1
,
his hackei's maik was inuelibly maue on a fleugling gaming maiketplace.

It was Nolan Bushnell; howevei, who took the ieigns anu fatheieu what
woulu become a global billion uollai electionic gaming inuustiy. As an
unueigiauuate stuuent at Baivaiu 0niveisity, "Bushnell leaineu about
computei games," Kent goes on to wiite that, "Bis favoiite was |Steve
Russell'sj 'Spacewai!', which he playeu incessantly." (Su)

Russell's hackei spiiit impaiteu itself onto Bushnell as Kent wiites that "Be
also cieateu some games of his own." (Su) Evei the hackei, Bushnell wiote
othei computei games that he attempteu to sell on his own
1
. Bis seminal
game, entitleu 'Computei Space' faileu to succeeu; howevei, unuaunteu by
the game's failuie, "Bushnell ueciueu to stait his own company" (Kent S4)
with two othei paitneis. The company that Bushnell staiteu, Ataii
Coipoiation, came be known as the gieatest aicaue game company uuiing
the "uoluen Age" of electionic gaming.

By the miu-to-late nineteen-seventies, "Ataii contiolleu 7S peicent of the
luciative home viueo-game maiket anu vCS sales weie neaiing $2 billion pei
yeai." (Kent 128) The "uoluen Age" hau given biith to the a billion uollai
coipoiation that shapeu the global electionic gaming maiket place by
biinging games to playeis fiom all walks of life.

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Accoiuing to Kent, the "uoluen Age" began in nineteen seventy-nine
1
;
howevei, "198u hau to be the king of the aicaue yeais to uate,
boasting a bumpei ciop in the iange of 1uu new games ieleaseu in the
0niteu States anu }apan." (BeNaiia & Wilson S8) BeNaiia anu Wilson
go on to wiite that "the hits kept coming all thiough 1982, anu 198S
began the same way," anu that "companies such as Ataii, Niuway,
Cinemationics, anu Nintenuo continueu to piouuce gieat games" (88).

By selling aicaue machines to pubs anu pizzeiias, companies weie
making laige piofits
2
. Kent makes the point that Ataii "solu moie
than 7u,uuu 'Asteioiu' machines in the 0niteu States." (1S2)

The foimei heau of Ataii, Ray Kassai, is quoteu as saying that, "We
went fiom $7S million to $2.2 billion anu maue a lot of money," Kassai
ieminisceu, "0ne yeai, we maue $4uu million aftei taxes. It was the
most piofitable company in the woilu." (Kent 18S)


S
Although Ataii was the golu stanuaiu foi ueveloping anu uistiibuting
aicaue games, a notable foieign company enteieu the "uoluen Age" in
a big way.

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"Buiing the goluen age of aicaues, a few }apanese companies eaineu
huge piofits thiough 0niteu States opeiations." (Kent 1SS) Although
Nintenuo uiun't make huge piofits uuiing theii viigin voyage abioau,
they stoou fast anu continueu to ielease games into Ameiican
pizzeiias anu pubs.

Nintenuo ieleaseu theii fiist wiluly populai aicaue game in nineteen
eighty-one. The stoiy of "Bonkey Kong's" genesis is founu in a pub
known as "The Spot Tavein, neai Nintenuo's office, was a small ,
uaikly lit hangout that seiveu gieasy hambuigeis, excellent Fiench
fiies, anu uiaft beei in tall glasses." (Sheff 1u9) Aftei convincing the
tavein ownei to place "Bonkey Kong" next to the pinball machine, the
iest is business histoiy.

Sheff continues to state that by the enu of nineteen eighty-one, "Sixty
thousanu moie 'Bonkey Kongs' weie solu, anu Nintenuo of Ameiica's
seconu yeai enueu with moie than $1uu million in sales." (111)

Nintenuo continueu to flouiish uuiing the "uoluen Age" of gaming anu
neaily a uecaue aftei the company uebuteu "Bonkey Kong" in the
0niteu States, Nintenuo expeiienceu ovei $4.7 billion in sales
S
.

The company continueu to ielease platfoim games in oiuei to
capitalize on "Bonkey Kong's" genie-establishing success
S
anu
"histoiically, the platfoim game has been the key genie that pusheu
computei game technology." (Thompson, Beibank-uieen & Cuswoith
24)

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Technology incieaseu to meet game uevelopment computing uemanus. With
the piice of ciicuitiy uiopping uue to incieaseu piouuction efficiency anu
impioveu uistiibution channels; the cost of manufactuiing computeis
uiminisheu to the point wheie companies coulu affoiu to sell peisonal
computeis to inuiviuual consumeis on a scale nevei befoie expeiienceu piioi
to the "uoluen Age"
1
.

The plethoia of aicaue games anu home games that weie available to
consumeis uuiing the "uoluen Age" spuiieu some notable hackeis to
ventuie into the business of ueveloping anu uistiibuting games to the
maiketplace. Companies such as iu Softwaie (iu) anu Apple Computei

4
Coipoiation (Apple) seizeu the oppoitunity to eain piofits by biinging
electionic games into the home.

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Not unlike the platfoim game genie, the Fiist Peison Shootei (FPS)
genie owes its lineage to the "uoluen Age" as well. iu's stoiy begins in
nineteen seventy-nine, wheie an eleven yeai olu }ohn Romeio jumpeu
on his uiit bike to heau to the Rounutable Pizza Pailoi in oiuei to play
an Ataii shoot-em-up (schmup) classic, "Asteioius"
4
.

The aicaue was the fiist influence on }ohn Romeio, which leu to his
intiouuction to a passion that woulu influence his cieation of
Wolfenstein SB anu Boom, which weie the FPS genie establishing
games of the eaily nineties. Baviu Kushnei wiites that "it staiteu one
summei uay in 1979," when Romeio's biothei ietuineu fiom Sieiia
College to iepoit that "Theie aie games up theie!" they saiu, "uames
that you uon't have to pay foi! uames on these stiange big
computeis." (S) The computeis as Sieiia College quickly tuineu
Romeio into a hackei.

Anothei iu visionaiy, }ohn Caimack, was conveiteu to computei
hacking when he ieau about othei hackeis in a little known
publication entitleu, "The Backei Ethic"
4
.

Caimack was inspiieu to become a hackei when he ieau about how
"the two Steve's - }obs anu Wozniak - who tuineu theii passion foi
gaming into the Apple II," weie "all hackeis" (Kushnei 22).

Without the influence of the "uoluen Age", iu Softwaie, staiteu by
Romeio anu Caimack, might not have gone on to uevelop anu
uistiibute a new genie of FPS games to homes woiluwiue.

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It is woithy to note that both Steve's - }obs anu Wozniak - weie
gameis anu they hainesseu theii passion foi gaming to uevelop
machines capable of ueveloping anu playing games that they woulu
both enjoy
S
.

Theie was even a time when Wozniak anu }obs uiu contiact woik foi
Ataii Coipoiation, which was a statement to theii hackei mentality of
woiking foi a passion that was a piouuct of the "uoluen Age"
S
.

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As the "uoluen Age" uepaiteu into the annals of histoiy, Apple continueu to
giow anu innovate it's piouuct lines to establish a new "social meuia" that

S
hainesses phone waves. Auuitionally, as the Inteinet matuieu, the auvent of
Facebook cieateu a "social meuia ievolution that changeu the way we play
games.

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With the intiouuction of the iPhone, Apple cieateu a platfoim that
uevelopeis can quickly ielease piouucts into the maiketplace foi
casual gameis to enjoy
6
.

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Facebook was cieateu as a means to connect Ivy League stuuents with
one anothei. Eventually, Facebook's social meuia platfoim alloweu
uevelopeis to quickly uevelop anu uistiibute games to the casual
gaming maiketplace, which has peimanently changeu the way that
games aie playeu
7 & 8
.

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What staiteu as a hackei's game expeiiment at NIT in the 196u's emeigeu into a
billion uollai gaming inuustiy.

The effects of the "uoluen Age" on game uevelopment anu gameplay aie piofounu in
the electionic gaming aiena. Buiing the eaily nineteen-seventies, Aicaue games
weie installeu in pubs anu pizzeiias; which gave people, foi the fiist time in histoiy,
a venue othei than Casinos to play games.

The piimaiy effect that Aicaues hau on game uevelopment was the exposuie that
people hau to computing technology. Foi many playeis, Aicaues weie the venue
wheie they weie fiist exposeu to computeis. The seconuaiy, anu piobably, the most
piofounu effect that Aicaues hau on game uevelopment was the plethoia of games
that weie inventeu to attiact customei's quaiteis.

Auuitionally, foi the fiist time in histoiy, a competitive electionic gaming
maiketplace was establisheu, which spuiieu significant auvances in computing
technology anu game uevelopment. uames such as Asteioius anu Bonkey Kong
exhibiteu classic gameplay mechanics in an electionic meuium. It was within the
confines of the Aicaue buiieu in the back of a pizzeiia wheie people expeiienceu
new genies of gameplay mechanics such as platfoim games anu schmups.

The fleugling aicaue inuustiy benefiteu fiom the uepieciating cost of iaw electionic
equipment because it alloweu manufactuieis to piouuce moie electionic games on
a laigei scale in oiuei to compete in the maiketplace. Bepieciating costs of
electionic mateiials also maue it feasible foi companies to begin manufactuiing anu
selling peisonal computeis, which hau an even moie piofounu effect on the way
games weie uevelopeu anu playeu.


6
With haiuwaie anu softwaie uevelopeis like Apple Computei anu iu "biinging
games into the home" via the peisonal computei, a bevy of games exploueu onto the
maiketplace. Buiing its infancy, the gaming inuustiy was alieauy becoming a
consumei-foice to be ieckoneu with.

By hanuing the ieigns ovei to homebieu piogiammeis anu "hackeis," the inuustiy
was blesseu with genie-establishing games such as Wolfenstein SB anu Boom.
Boom was one of the fiist games that populaiizeu online multiple-playei FPS
gaming, which satisfieu the playei's uesiie to be pait of an online gaming
community.

As the Inteinet matuieu, social meuia sites such as Facebook have tappeu into the
playei's uesiie to be pait of a bioauei casual gaming community. Apple has also
offeieu uevelopeis the oppoitunity to uistiibute games thiough theii iPhone to
casual gameis as well.

Nouein game playeis, whethei they aie casual oi haiu-coie gameis, owe theii
gaming lineage to the effects of the "uoluen Age" on gameplay anu game
uevelopment.




























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1. Kent, Steven L. The Ultimate History of Video Games. New York: Random House
International, 2002. Print.
2. Sheff, David. Game Over: Press Start to Continue. New York: Cyberactive Publ.,
1999. Print.
3. DeMaria, Rusel, and Johnny L. Wilson. High Score!: the Illustrated History of
Electronic Games. New York: McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2004. Print.
4. Kushner, David. Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and
Transformed Pop Culture. New York: Random House, 2003. Print.
5. Apple-history.com. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. <http://www.apple-history.com/>.
6. Thompson, Jim, Barnaby Berbank-Green, and Nic Cusworth. Game Design Course:
Principles, Practice, and Techniques--the Ultimate Guide for the Aspiring Game
Designer. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007. Print.
7. Vogelstein, By Fred. "How Mark Zuckerberg Turned Facebook Into the Web's Hottest
Platform." Wired.com. Web. 07 Dec. 2010.
<http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/news/2007/09/ff_facebook>.

8. "Facebook The Complete Biography." Social Media News and Web Tips Mashable
The Social Media Guide. Web. 07 Dec. 2010.
<http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook-profile/>.