Tennis for Two
Physicist William Higinbotham built a tennis simulation for an oscilloscope at Brookhaven National Laboratory. It made a scientific display playable.
Gaming history
How games moved from research labs into arcades, living rooms and pockets.
Pong hits the arcade
Atari's Pong helped turn arcade video games into a mainstream business. Its simple paddle-and-ball rules made the screen legible at a glance.
Cartridges change the console
Atari introduced the Video Computer System. Interchangeable cartridges meant one console could become many different games.
Space Invaders arrives in the US
Taito's arcade shooter brought waves of pixel aliens to US arcades and later became an early hit on the Atari VCS.
NES launches in North America
Nintendo's home console brought tightly designed game worlds into millions of living rooms and helped revive the US console market.
Game Boy makes play portable
Nintendo's handheld showed how a small, efficient device could support long-lasting play away from the television.