A history of computer games Part two: 1980s ? 1990s

Between the 80’s and the 90’s was the golden age of computer gaming. The computer industry evolved unequivocally, personal arcade consoles such as Commodore 64, Apple II and ZX Spectrum were introduced to the public. This allowed gaming to be taken to another level because the consumers were now able to play games in the comfort of their own homes.

In the early 80’s games such as Battlezone (1980), Pole position (1982), Defender (1980) and 3D monster maze (1981) were produced. But one of the games that really stood out for its genius was Defender, produced by Eugene Jarvis a game designer and programmer. The game was designed in a totallay unique way, it was a scrolling shooter. A scrolling shooter is very self explanitary term in which a game is set on a scrolling background and the gamer would have to shoot the enemy. The concept of the game was to defend the people from the aliens, by transporting them to safe zones before the aliens kidnapped them.













Even after all of the success the gaming industry was having there was still bad times ahead. Like in late 1983 the gaming industry had a severe crash, in which several companies that produced home gaming systems were left bankrupt. But by 1985 the nintendo company released the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) to the americans, and by 1987 it had reached the peak of its popularity.


The NES was an 8-bit console which had addictive games and at the time amazing graphics. One of the games that made it such a big hit was Super Mario brothers, which is still a successful gaming label for the nintendo company till this day. The NES was a third generation console, because it brought new ideas to the table. It had new game titles new set-up and better graphics. The NES was then followed a little later by the Sega mega drive which was released in the 1990's.