StarCraft (1998)
Released in March 1998, StarCraft was more than just “World of Warcraft in space.” The game added a new twist to a real-time strategy formula while leading a revolution in multiplayer gaming. Set in the 25th century, StarCraft’s campaign follows the Terrans, humans who have been exiled from Earth, as they colonize the far reaches of the Milky Way galaxy. StarCraft utilized Blizzard’s online service Battle.net, one of the first online services to connect players across different […]
Search by Category
2021 World Video Game Hall of Fame Spotlight: Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator
Welcome two new inductees into The Strong’s World Video Game Hall of Fame: Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator. We recognize individual electronic games of all types—arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile—that enjoy popularity over a sustained period and exert influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society. These two games join Starcraft and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? to complete our 2021 class.
On the surface, Animal Crossing and Microsoft Flight Simulator […]
Reflections on the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2021
Every year we induct new games into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and in 2021 those games are Animal Crossing (2001), Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982), Starcraft (1998), and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985). These are all worthy games, ones that stand out from their peers because they have shaped the way we play. They are important.
But is there a connection between them, a commonality among a flying program, a simulation of a community […]
Continue Reading about Reflections on the World Video Game Hall of Fame Class of 2021
The Coin-op Industry Legacy of ICE President Ralph Coppola
Have you ever played hockey with miniature stick-wielding players and a thumbnail-sized puck on a three-foot table covered by a plastic dome? If so, you have probably played Innovative Concepts in Entertainment’s (ICE) Chexx (or later Super Chexx) “bubble hockey” arcade games. First released in 1982, the iconic game is, in part, the work of Ralph Coppola (1948–2018), who, along with business partner Jack Willert refined David M. Barcelou’s initial invention and brought it to market. Over the course of […]
Continue Reading about The Coin-op Industry Legacy of ICE President Ralph Coppola
Rare Atari Cartridge is Another Clever Invention of a Video Game Pioneer
Chris Kohler, Editorial Director, Digital Eclipse
The first home video game machines were all, as we call them today, “dedicatedʺ systems—that is, the hardware and the software were all contained in one single unit. If you wanted more games, you had to buy an entire separate machine. You can imagine why this was not exactly a solid structure on which to build a new creative medium!
For most players who were around in the late 1970s, their first “programmableʺ game […]
Continue Reading about Rare Atari Cartridge is Another Clever Invention of a Video Game Pioneer
What was the first video game?
One of the most frequently asked questions about video game history is perhaps the simplest: what was the first video game? It’s a logical question to ask. After all, we’re always curious about these questions of primacy. Who was the first man on the moon? Neil Armstrong. Who was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic? Amelia Earhart. Who was the first person to climb Mount Everest? Well, in this case it was actually two people: Sir Edmund Hillary […]
Designing the Duke
Denise Chaudhari was the first woman hired for the then-secret Xbox project, where she designed more than just the original “Duke” controller that launched with the system in 2001.
Digital Resources from The Strong’s Women in Games Initiative
Nolan Bushnell, Shigeru Miyamoto, Ralph Baer, Jordan Mechner, Will Wright, Hideo Kojima, John Romero. These are some of the most recognizable names in the history of video games. They’re also—well, noticeably, all men. Yet, there are obviously plenty of women who have made a huge impact on the games industry—and one of our most recent projects at The Strong seeks to highlight that.
The Women in Games initiative at The Strong began in 2017 as a key program of the museum’s […]
Continue Reading about Digital Resources from The Strong’s Women in Games Initiative
Carol Kantor: The Video Game Industry’s First Market Researcher
How do you know if a game will be a hit or a flop with players? According to legend, video game pioneer Atari knew their 1972 coin-operated video game Pong would be a winner because players filled the test game’s coinbox with so many quarters that it jammed up the machine. As any veteran of the arcade game industry will tell you: “The coin box never lies.” But surely there should be more to it than that? In […]
Continue Reading about Carol Kantor: The Video Game Industry’s First Market Researcher