Gaming Industry

The Video Gaming Industry has experienced significant changes in its 30 years old industry. The industry has seen big changes right from the days when Atari was providing household games at US. We have tried to provide you with an overview of the history of Video Games through our present article. The first of the articles in the series talks about first Gaming Company- Atari

Atari: It was the first in the gaming industry. It introduced a home version of the ball and paddle game of Pong in the year 1975. Atari sold 150,000 copies of Pong in the first year itself.

Its competitor Fairchild Channel F produced the first gaming console. Atari followed suit with its 2600 VCS (Video Computer System). Each of its cartridges was retailed for $25-$30. By 1979, many other gaming and toy companies entered the home console market – Mattel, Coleco, RCA and Philips Electronics. Atari represented two - thirds of the home console market in the United States. The home versions of arcade games such as Space invaders and Asteroids were a hit. It had turned into a $3billion business by 1982.

The industry started collapsing by 1983. The market was full of multiple consoles and poor quality software. Atari developed E.T a game based on Steven Spielberg’s hit movie by the same name. It was the last nail in the coffin. Atari posted a $536 million loss and the company was sold at a substantial discount in 1984 to Jack Tramiel (who named his company Atari Corporation).

The market was all silent for several years after the collapse until Nintendo came. Just be patient for the next article which would tell the story of how Nintendo took the US market by storm………….

~Naineet

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