History of video games/1980-1989

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  A CPC464 computer being used to play games in 1988.
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  A recreation of a typical gaming scene in the 1980's.

Trends

Decision Making

The early 1980's were a chaotic time in the Gaming Industry, with little demographic information on gamers available to inform game companies on their decisions.

Home Computers

The 1980's saw the rise of personal computers, as well as home game development companies.

See the 1980's section of the Computer gaming article.

Arcades

A replica of the iconic Donkey Kong upright arcade cabinet.

The late 1970's and early 1980's is widely considered to be the peak of arcades, as they were culturally relevant and popular in many countries. Arcade machines allowed players to game without the expensive upfront cost of consoles, as well as to experience graphical fidelity that often surpassed what was possible on popular home hardware.

High Difficulty

Games from the 1980's are known for their high difficulty. As game media could not easily store information for detailed long stories and campaigns, many developers instead used high difficulties to make games last longer.

Gaming Watches

While gaming watches first hit the market in the 1970's, they became relatively common during the 1980's and 1990's. An example of a watch from this time is the 1984 Casio GD8 wristwatch, which included a simple racing game.

Popular Genres

• Arcade games
• 2D Platformers
• 2D Action adventure games
• Puzzle games
• Rougelikes (On Computers)

1982

The Golden Age of Spanish Software dawns

Spanish software becomes a major player in the home computer gaming scene in Europe.

1983

Game Stores

By 1983 there were dedicated game stores and mail order used game services in the United States.

The Video game crash of 1983

The 1980's also saw the end of the Second generation of video game consoles with the Video game crash of 1983 severely disrupting the market in North America. Unsold North American-market Atari consoles, computers and cartridges are buried in a New Mexico landfill to be discovered only in 2013.

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  Atari at CES in Chicago in 1982.
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  Atari E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Centipede cartridges found in a landfill in 2013, 30 years after 1983.

Third Generation of Video Game Consoles

Beginning in 1983 the Third generation of video game consoles later saw widespread mainstream success. These consoles offered much better 2D graphics and sound then earlier generations.

WarGames

WarGames, a 1983 movie about a teenager computer hacker and phreaker looking for unreleased video games but accidentally triggering a nuclear defense system, helps put computer hacking in the public imagination and sparks some of the first high level American government efforts regarding cybersecurity. While many aspects of the movie were fake, automated scanning of phone numbers for game company computers was inspired by real phreaker practices from the time like demon dialing, which came to be known as "wardialing" after the film. The aesthetics of the film would also influence a number of later retro revival games made after the 1980's.

1984

Distribution

A few companies such as Cumma Technology try their hand at game distribution through rewritable cartridges.

1987

A 1987 design document for the game Bubble Ghost. Sketches on graph paper were common for game design during the 1980's.

Beginning of the Fourth Generation of Video Game Consoles

Early fourth generation game console began to be released in 1987, though serious competition in this space would not begin until 1990 with more international releases. The improved hardware in these consoles featured much better audio and graphics than the previous generation.

1989

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Throughout the 1980's game developers in East Germany had to make games in accordance to party wishes, such as not including violent elements in their games. Meetings of gamers were often monitored by the Stasi agents out of concern that western software and games were being used. On November 9th, 1989 East German citizens begin to tear down the Berlin Wall, leading to German Reunification and thus the end of gaming culture under the East German government.

1980's gaming gallery

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  The 3D Bradley Trainer, the military version of the 1980 Atari game Battlezone.
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  The 1980 game Mystery House on the Apple II.
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  Mazogs, a 1982 game.
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  The 1986 game Rebelstar on the ZX Spectrum, an early example of the turn based tactics genre.
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  Turbo GT Circuit from 1986, showing typical 2D graphics of the era.
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  Laser Squad, a 1988 strategy game.
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  Rebel Star II, a turn based tactics game from 1988.
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  Bubble Ghost, a 1988 puzzle game.
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  Another recreated typical gaming scene.

General Gallery

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  A map of the Cold War alliances in 1980. As computer technology was a sensitive field during this era, there were significant differences in the general availability of specific models of computers and game consoles between nations in NATO and the Warsaw Pact.