Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession [2004]
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0:00 - 0:04[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
-
0:04 - 0:06
-
0:06 - 0:07[TIRES SCREECHING]
-
0:07 - 0:09- It's an industry
that's revolutionized -
0:09 - 0:11every area of entertainment.
-
0:11 - 0:14From television to
sports to movies. -
0:14 - 0:18The video game business rakes
in more than $20 billion a year, -
0:18 - 0:20making bigger bucks
than even Hollywood. -
0:20 - 0:22- This industry was
created on products -
0:22 - 0:24that were so exciting
that people would stay up -
0:24 - 0:26all night outside a store
to get it the next morning. -
0:26 - 0:29- But how did two lines and a
dot turn into the high tech, -
0:29 - 0:34hyper realistic worlds of
games like The Sims and Halo? -
0:34 - 0:36It's not just about
circuit boards and chips, -
0:36 - 0:39it's about people driven
by vision and obsession. -
0:39 - 0:41JOHN ROMERO: Video games
to me is my whole life. -
0:41 - 0:42That's all I've
done since I was 12. -
0:42 - 0:45- It's about games that
have been blamed for making -
0:45 - 0:47kids antisocial and violent.
-
0:47 - 0:49- If you play too
much doom, you're -
0:49 - 0:51going to end up going
on a shooting spree. -
0:51 - 0:53[GUNFIRE]
-
0:53 - 0:55There's really people
who believe this. -
0:55 - 0:58- It's about feuds, wars,
and even a little bit -
0:58 - 1:01of good old fashioned piracy.
-
1:01 - 1:03- If they were going
to copy our stuff, -
1:03 - 1:05we were going to bury
them one way or another. -
1:05 - 1:07- But most of all,
it's about how -
1:07 - 1:09a whole generation
grabbed the joystick -
1:09 - 1:12and got juiced up
on video gaming. -
1:12 - 1:15The secrets behind
the games, the passion -
1:15 - 1:19that powered the industry, and
the guys who made it happen. -
1:19 - 1:28
-
1:28 - 1:30[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
1:30 - 1:31TONY HAWK: Video games.
-
1:31 - 1:33For some people, they're
a blast from the past. -
1:33 - 1:36[VIDEO GAME SOUND EFFECTS]
-
1:36 - 1:38Something they used to
do at the local arcade -
1:38 - 1:41when they were hanging
out after high school. -
1:41 - 1:45But for others, video games are
the new technological frontier. -
1:45 - 1:48And innovative form of
communication and storytelling, -
1:48 - 1:50and the future of entertainment.
-
1:50 - 1:53
-
1:53 - 1:54Hi, I'm Tony Hawk.
-
1:54 - 1:57A lot of you are probably used
to seeing me with a skateboard -
1:57 - 1:59and looking a little
something like this. -
1:59 - 2:04
-
2:04 - 2:06And a lot of you gamers
are even more used -
2:06 - 2:09to seeing me like this.
-
2:09 - 2:12I got into video games
early on, even before I got -
2:12 - 2:14to be a video character myself.
-
2:14 - 2:16In fact, I don't think I
even had my first board yet, -
2:16 - 2:17and where could you find me?
-
2:17 - 2:19Playing Pac-Man down
at the pizza parlor. -
2:19 - 2:21[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
2:21 - 2:23But games have come a
long way since then. -
2:23 - 2:26And if you think the history
of the video game invasion -
2:26 - 2:29is all about cool graphics
and cutting edge technology, -
2:29 - 2:29well you're right.
-
2:29 - 2:32
-
2:32 - 2:35But it's also a story about
a group of unique individuals -
2:35 - 2:37who started with
nothing but ideas. -
2:37 - 2:39Guys who came out
of their garages -
2:39 - 2:42and ended up as power players
in a multi-billion dollar -
2:42 - 2:45industry who revolutionized
entertainment and turn -
2:45 - 2:46themselves into rock stars.
-
2:46 - 2:49[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
2:49 - 2:53And the first rock star
of them all was this guy. -
2:53 - 2:54This is Willie Higginbotham.
-
2:54 - 2:57He helped invent the nuclear
bomb and the first computer -
2:57 - 2:59[EXPLOSION]
-
2:59 - 3:01The bomb looked like this.
-
3:01 - 3:04The game looked like this.
-
3:04 - 3:06A primitive version of tennis.
-
3:06 - 3:07It was just a dot
moving back and forth -
3:07 - 3:09on an oscilloscope screen.
-
3:09 - 3:11It showed up as
a novelty exhibit -
3:11 - 3:13at Brookhaven
National Lab in 1958 -
3:13 - 3:17and generated about as much
excitement as this picture. -
3:17 - 3:18Mortal Kombat it was not.
-
3:18 - 3:21
-
3:21 - 3:22[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
3:22 - 3:25Fast forward, 1961.
-
3:25 - 3:29Student and pioneering hacker
Steve Russell, nicknamed Slug. -
3:29 - 3:34He spent six months tapping
into $120,000 computer at MIT. -
3:34 - 3:38End result, a punch card
driven video called, Space War. -
3:38 - 3:40STEVE KENT: He was
the one who conceived -
3:40 - 3:42the idea of making
a game that would -
3:42 - 3:43be completely interactive.
-
3:43 - 3:46It was a game where
there were two rockets. -
3:46 - 3:49A game where a Flash
Gordon style rockets that -
3:49 - 3:51would fly around
shooting each other -
3:51 - 3:53with a sun in the middle
that had some gravity. -
3:53 - 3:55If it sucked you in,
you got destroyed. -
3:55 - 3:58TONY HAWK: Space Wars spread
to universities around America -
3:58 - 4:00on an early version
of the internet. -
4:00 - 4:04But would the average Joe
spend $120,000 to own one? -
4:04 - 4:08Slug figured, no way and
never patented the idea. -
4:08 - 4:12He left MIT without graduating.
-
4:12 - 4:12[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
4:12 - 4:15Jump to 1966.
-
4:15 - 4:17A little device
called television -
4:17 - 4:21had made it into almost
every living room in America. -
4:21 - 4:22It was a cultural phenomenon.
-
4:22 - 4:25But to Ralph Baer, Vice
President of Engineering -
4:25 - 4:28at electronics giant
Sanders Associates, -
4:28 - 4:29it was a business opportunity.
-
4:29 - 4:30[CHA-CHING]
-
4:30 - 4:33RALPH BAER: The concept
was this, 40 million TV -
4:33 - 4:35sets out there in the US alone.
-
4:35 - 4:39If I could hit 1% of
that, that's 400,000. -
4:39 - 4:44Attach some gadget to 400,000
set, I got a business. -
4:44 - 4:46[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
4:46 - 4:50TONY HAWK: Baer needed his
play device to fit on a shelf. -
4:50 - 4:51So that didn't give
his little brown box -
4:51 - 4:53much room for processing power.
-
4:53 - 4:56He wasn't doing much better
than old Higgy, just two dots -
4:56 - 4:58moving on a screen.
-
4:58 - 5:01No way this was going to
set the world on fire. -
5:01 - 5:02Then it hit him.
-
5:02 - 5:05A blockbuster breakthrough
that would blow the roof off -
5:05 - 5:08of home entertainment forever.
-
5:08 - 5:09Three spots!
-
5:09 - 5:10[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
5:10 - 5:12RALPH BAER: The
third spot became -
5:12 - 5:16a ball that made it into a ping
pong game or a tennis game. -
5:16 - 5:19Once we had that third
ball going back and forth, -
5:19 - 5:22we knew we had something.
-
5:22 - 5:25TONY HAWK: By
1971, Baer's bosses -
5:25 - 5:27had patented the brown
box and licensed it -
5:27 - 5:31to television
manufacturer Magnavox. -
5:31 - 5:34Now called Odyssey, it began
showing up at various trade -
5:34 - 5:36fairs around the country.
-
5:36 - 5:38RALPH BAER: The Odyssey
was the hit of the show. -
5:38 - 5:40I had a hard time not
getting up in my seat -
5:40 - 5:43and then jumping up and
down saying, that's my baby. -
5:43 - 5:45- The system is called
Odyssey and the hardware -
5:45 - 5:48consists of a master control
and two player control -
5:48 - 5:53units connected by cable to any
set 18 inches or larger, black -
5:53 - 5:54and white or color.
-
5:54 - 5:57The players will simply
switch to an unused channel, -
5:57 - 6:00select their game,
insert the program card -
6:00 - 6:03in the control box, and place
the overlay on the TV screen. -
6:03 - 6:04[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
6:04 - 6:07SELLAM ISMAIL: So for instance,
if you were playing the tennis -
6:07 - 6:09game, this would
actually using-- -
6:09 - 6:11from static
electricity, would cling -
6:11 - 6:13to the front of your television.
-
6:13 - 6:17So this would be the
overlay for a hockey game. -
6:17 - 6:20TONY HAWK: The Odyssey hits
store shelves in May, 1972, -
6:20 - 6:22and sold for $100.
-
6:22 - 6:25And hey, if you wanted
to pop for another $29, -
6:25 - 6:27you could also buy
yourself this wicked weapon -
6:27 - 6:31and play the first ever
shooter video game. -
6:31 - 6:33Seems that even then,
guns and video games -
6:33 - 6:36were destined to be together.
-
6:36 - 6:39[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
6:39 - 6:42And to convince America how
hip it was to own an Odyssey, -
6:42 - 6:45Magnavox got the King of Cool,
old blue eyes, Frank Sinatra -
6:45 - 6:47himself to pitch the product.
-
6:47 - 6:49RALPH BAER: Unfortunately
in the beginning, -
6:49 - 6:52they connected to a Magnavox
television set, of course. -
6:52 - 6:55That got the idea abroad
that you needed a Magnavox -
6:55 - 6:56television set to play games.
-
6:56 - 6:59And they had to undo that
by convincing customers -
6:59 - 7:04in the store that you could
indeed plug it into any TV set. -
7:04 - 7:06TONY HAWK: It took over
a year, but Magnavox -
7:06 - 7:10managed to hook up about 150,000
Americans and their televisions -
7:10 - 7:12to an Odyssey system.
-
7:12 - 7:15[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
7:15 - 7:17Next player in the
game, Nolan Bushnell. -
7:17 - 7:21An employee of a northern
California electronics firm. -
7:21 - 7:24He played Slug Russell's
Spacewar at engineering school -
7:24 - 7:26and couldn't get it
out of his brain. -
7:26 - 7:28NOLAN BUSHNELL: And
actually thought, hey, -
7:28 - 7:30this would be great news
in an amusement park, -
7:30 - 7:35but how do you put a million
dollar computer into-- -
7:35 - 7:37and pay for it at $0.25 a throw?
-
7:37 - 7:39Remember, the microprocessor
hadn't been invented yet. -
7:39 - 7:43And then one day the
mini computer for $5,000 -
7:43 - 7:45came across my desk.
-
7:45 - 7:46I mean, the ad for it.
-
7:46 - 7:48I had the epiphany of
being able to reduce it -
7:48 - 7:52to a single board that was
actually a fancy, signal -
7:52 - 7:54generator, if you would.
-
7:54 - 7:56[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
7:56 - 8:00TONY HAWK: In 1971,
Nolan's first video game, -
8:00 - 8:04Computer Space hit
American pinball arcades. -
8:04 - 8:06Sleek, sexy, and we all
remember the first time -
8:06 - 8:08we played it, right?
-
8:08 - 8:09Right.
-
8:09 - 8:12It was one of the biggest
turkeys of all time. -
8:12 - 8:15NOLAN BUSHNELL: The problem with
the game was that I loved it, -
8:15 - 8:18all my friends loved it, but
all my friends were engineers. -
8:18 - 8:21It was a little bit
too complex for the guy -
8:21 - 8:23with a beer in a bar.
-
8:23 - 8:25[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
8:25 - 8:27TONY HAWK: Nolan's
next move, taking $500 -
8:27 - 8:30and starting his own company
in Santa Clara, California, -
8:30 - 8:32with buddy Ted Dabney.
-
8:32 - 8:35The year was 1972.
-
8:35 - 8:39The company was called Atari.
-
8:39 - 8:42NOLAN BUSHNELL: Atari comes
from the Japanese Game -
8:42 - 8:45Go which is plight
warning saying, watch out, -
8:45 - 8:46you're going to get whacked.
-
8:46 - 8:48[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
8:48 - 8:51TONY HAWK: First big
hire, engineer Al Alcorn. -
8:51 - 8:53Nolan, proving he
already has what -
8:53 - 8:55it takes to be a great
corporate executive, -
8:55 - 8:59landed Al by lying to him.
-
8:59 - 9:02AL ALCORN: He told me he had a
contract with General Electric -
9:02 - 9:04to build a consumer
video game, a home video -
9:04 - 9:08game, which was almost
impossible to do in those days. -
9:08 - 9:10And the fact that nobody
from General Electric -
9:10 - 9:13ever came by or called or wrote
us a letter didn't occur to me. -
9:13 - 9:15I was too busy
building the prototype. -
9:15 - 9:18NOLAN BUSHNELL: We decided
to give him a test game. -
9:18 - 9:20Call it throw away game, it
was something that was simple. -
9:20 - 9:22Basically, ping pong.
-
9:22 - 9:27two Paddles on either side,
ball moving between them. -
9:27 - 9:29TONY HAWK: Man does
this sound familiar. -
9:29 - 9:32But remember, it was
still early in 1972 -
9:32 - 9:35and the Odyssey hadn't
hit stores shelves yet. -
9:35 - 9:35[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
9:35 - 9:38The concept was still
fair game and AL -
9:38 - 9:41had his own spin on the idea.
-
9:41 - 9:43AL ALCORN: One of the
things I discovered -
9:43 - 9:46is that if the ball didn't
speed up, it wasn't fun to play. -
9:46 - 9:50So I added the ball
speed up to the game. -
9:50 - 9:53And the other thing that we did
at the very end was the sound. -
9:53 - 9:56And since I was already
way over budget, -
9:56 - 9:58I poked around and found
tones that were already -
9:58 - 10:01existent in the machine.
-
10:01 - 10:05And that became the sound.
-
10:05 - 10:07NOLAN BUSHNELL: We said
OK, let's call it Pong. -
10:07 - 10:10And we put it in
Andy Capp's Tavern -
10:10 - 10:14in Sunnyvale, California.
-
10:14 - 10:17AL ALCORN: This baby here is
the original Pong prototype -
10:17 - 10:21that went to Andy Capp's
Tavern in Sunnyvale. -
10:21 - 10:23And it has the
original wire wrap -
10:23 - 10:26that I built in three
months, in 1972. -
10:26 - 10:28We put it in a box,
put up on a barrel. -
10:28 - 10:29[BEEPING]
-
10:29 - 10:32NOLAN BUSHNELL: It
was an immediate hit. -
10:32 - 10:35We weren't aware of
just how much of a hit -
10:35 - 10:38it was until we
got a service call -
10:38 - 10:41and found that the coin
box had totally filled up -
10:41 - 10:44and wouldn't take
anymore quarters. -
10:44 - 10:48Those were kind of technical
problems that we can solve. -
10:48 - 10:51[COINS DROPPING]
-
10:51 - 10:53AL ALCORN: Here we have
one of the first quarters -
10:53 - 10:56that the Pong machine
ever made, which now -
10:56 - 10:59represents a multi-billion
dollar industry. -
10:59 - 11:01And it's in a little
piece plastic. -
11:01 - 11:04[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
11:04 - 11:06TONY HAWK: Atari started
rolling out their machines -
11:06 - 11:08in November of 1972.
-
11:08 - 11:11And America went Pong crazy.
-
11:11 - 11:13NOLAN BUSHNELL: There
were several reasons -
11:13 - 11:15that Pong was very successful.
-
11:15 - 11:17The first one was,
it was extremely -
11:17 - 11:20easy to play, but very,
very difficult to master. -
11:20 - 11:24They had to pay a lot of
money to get really good. -
11:24 - 11:28The second one is that
women found that they -
11:28 - 11:30were better players than men.
-
11:30 - 11:33It turns out that women
have better small motor -
11:33 - 11:34coordination than men do.
-
11:34 - 11:37And it became
socially acceptable -
11:37 - 11:41for women to ask men to
come over and play Pong. -
11:41 - 11:44[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
11:44 - 11:47TONY HAWK: More players
meant more machines. -
11:47 - 11:50And Atari needed more
manpower to build them. -
11:50 - 11:51Fast.
-
11:51 - 11:53NOLAN BUSHNELL: We tried
a few social experiments -
11:53 - 11:57with running buses into
undesirable parts of the town -
11:57 - 12:00and giving people a chance
to come and have a job. -
12:00 - 12:03It was kind of a rude
awakening from some -
12:03 - 12:06of our Age of Aquarius
belief structures. -
12:06 - 12:08STEVE KENT: They
hired whoever they -
12:08 - 12:09could hire in the beginning.
-
12:09 - 12:11Which meant they
got a lot of bikers. -
12:11 - 12:13You talked to some of
the straitlaced people -
12:13 - 12:16and they'd talk about being
scared to walk the floor. -
12:16 - 12:17They'd talk about
going into bathrooms -
12:17 - 12:21and seeing used needles
and stuff on the ground. -
12:21 - 12:23NOLAN BUSHNELL: The
converse is, the 20% -
12:23 - 12:27that stayed with us really
appreciated the opportunity. -
12:27 - 12:31Became some of our most
valuable employees. -
12:31 - 12:32[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
12:32 - 12:34TONY HAWK: But who wouldn't
want to work at a company -
12:34 - 12:36where the bonuses
came in beer kegs? -
12:36 - 12:39And strategy meetings
were held in hot tubs. -
12:39 - 12:41NOLAN BUSHNELL: Since we
had a lot of young people, -
12:41 - 12:44we would constantly
offer to throw -
12:44 - 12:46a party if they hit quota.
-
12:46 - 12:49And it turns out when you've
got 18, 19, 20 year olds, -
12:49 - 12:53they're much more interested
in a party than an extra $0.50 -
12:53 - 12:54an hour.
-
12:54 - 12:56So we got known as
a party company. -
12:56 - 13:00STEVE KENT: There's a story
that if you walked by the Borega -
13:00 - 13:05Street building and you breathed
deeply by the air vents, -
13:05 - 13:08you'd get stoned because
the pot smoking inside of it -
13:08 - 13:09was so heavy.
-
13:09 - 13:11DAVID CRANE: It was a
very laid back culture, -
13:11 - 13:14which is very important
in a creative environment. -
13:14 - 13:16I mean, you can't
really punch the clock -
13:16 - 13:18and come up with
something creative. -
13:18 - 13:19[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
13:19 - 13:21TONY HAWK: It didn't
seem to matter -
13:21 - 13:24what was going on inside
Atari because on the outside, -
13:24 - 13:28they'd become the kings of the
60-year-old arcade business. -
13:28 - 13:31And in America, how do you
know when you've really -
13:31 - 13:32made it to the top?
-
13:32 - 13:35When people start suing you.
-
13:35 - 13:39It wasn't long before Atari got
hit with their first lawsuit. -
13:39 - 13:43And it came from Magnavox who
claimed that Pong violated -
13:43 - 13:45Ralph Baers' Odyssey patent.
-
13:45 - 13:47AL ALCORN: And I
looked at the patent -
13:47 - 13:49and I said, my God,
this guy has patented -
13:49 - 13:52the idea of any kind
of a moving object -
13:52 - 13:54on a video screen
controlled by anything -
13:54 - 13:57and it was filed in 1969.
-
13:57 - 14:00NOLAN BUSHNELL: Magnavox was
based on analog technology, -
14:00 - 14:01which makes a fuzzy.
-
14:01 - 14:04Didn't have sound,
didn't have score. -
14:04 - 14:06I mean, you didn't really
feel like you were you beating -
14:06 - 14:08somebody when you beat them.
-
14:08 - 14:11Which is one of the core
essence of what a game is. -
14:11 - 14:11[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
14:11 - 14:13TONY HAWK: But hey, what
about those Magnavox trade -
14:13 - 14:14show demos?
-
14:14 - 14:16RALPH BAER: Nolan
Bushnell played -
14:16 - 14:23a game in Burlingame, California
on May 24th, I think, 1972. -
14:23 - 14:26He signed a guest book
playing the ping pong game. -
14:26 - 14:29TONY HAWK: Bushnell decided
to accept Magnavox's offer -
14:29 - 14:30of a settlement.
-
14:30 - 14:32Atari paid Magnavox just
under a million dollars -
14:32 - 14:35and in exchange, became
their first licensee. -
14:35 - 14:37Game over and
everyone's a winner. -
14:37 - 14:39And who says losses don't work?
-
14:39 - 14:41NOLAN BUSHNELL:
Believe it or not, -
14:41 - 14:43it was never a very
big issue for us. -
14:43 - 14:47We settled it for less than
it had cost us to defend it. -
14:47 - 14:50[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
14:50 - 14:53TONY HAWK: Then Atari went on
the attack against the clones, -
14:53 - 14:55knock offs, and pirate
versions of Pong -
14:55 - 14:58that were popping up
all over the world. -
14:58 - 14:59NOLAN BUSHNELL:
We actually became -
14:59 - 15:02quite diabolical
about seeing ways -
15:02 - 15:03that we could just mess them up.
-
15:03 - 15:05[CRASH]
-
15:05 - 15:07We put a chip in
and we purposely -
15:07 - 15:12mismarked it so that
when somebody copied us, -
15:12 - 15:13they'd put the wrong chip in.
-
15:13 - 15:16We felt like we were in a war.
-
15:16 - 15:18TONY HAWK: It was a war that
would change entertainment -
15:18 - 15:19forever.
-
15:19 - 15:22And as the Atari troops
attack the arcades, -
15:22 - 15:24Bushnell got ready to
open a second front -
15:24 - 15:26in living rooms across America.
-
15:26 - 15:29The battle for video game
dominance was about to begin. -
15:29 - 15:32[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
-
15:32 - 15:33[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
15:33 - 15:36In 1974, nearly two years
after Pongs introduction, -
15:36 - 15:38everyone had played
the game so much -
15:38 - 15:40that 3/4 of the world
population was suffering -
15:40 - 15:42from carpal tunnel syndrome.
-
15:42 - 15:43No, not really.
-
15:43 - 15:44[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
15:44 - 15:48But in the arcades, Pong fever
was still running hot as ever. -
15:48 - 15:48[BUZZER]
-
15:48 - 15:50People couldn't get enough.
-
15:50 - 15:52So Nolan Bushnell
figured he'd give -
15:52 - 15:55them more by introducing
a home version of Pong. -
15:55 - 15:56NOLAN BUSHNELL:
Al Alcorn said, I -
15:56 - 16:01believe we can put
Pong on a chip. -
16:01 - 16:03And I said, let's do it.
-
16:03 - 16:05AL ALCORN: This
is actually what's -
16:05 - 16:08inside the coin operated
Pong video game. -
16:08 - 16:12There's about 75 integrated
circuits on this. -
16:12 - 16:18And that was all replaced
by what's in this. -
16:18 - 16:19TONY HAWK: Atari cut
a deal with Sears -
16:19 - 16:23and over 150,000 home Pong
units flew off the shelves -
16:23 - 16:28during the 1975 holiday season
-
16:28 - 16:30[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
16:30 - 16:31Now the established
gaming leader, -
16:31 - 16:33Atari was the place
where top programming -
16:33 - 16:36talent wanted to be.
-
16:36 - 16:39STEVE KENT: Steve Jobs
showed up unannounced one day -
16:39 - 16:40and wanted a job.
-
16:40 - 16:45He was unwashed, unkempt,
smelled bad, had no degree. -
16:45 - 16:48Al Alcorn's secretary came to
him and said, what do I do? -
16:48 - 16:50And Al Alcorn's
comment was, well -
16:50 - 16:52we should either hire
him or call the cops. -
16:52 - 16:54And Al hired him.
-
16:54 - 16:58TONY HAWK: Jobs brought
along a buddy, Steve Wozniak. -
16:58 - 17:00NOLAN BUSHNELL: We
hired Steve Jobs -
17:00 - 17:03and we didn't know that
we sort of got Woz along -
17:03 - 17:04with the package.
-
17:04 - 17:07He was never an official
employee of Atari -
17:07 - 17:11but hung out with Jobs
a lot in the labs. -
17:11 - 17:13They did break out, actually.
-
17:13 - 17:14STEVE KENT: There
was a line of bricks -
17:14 - 17:17and you tried to break the
bricks away by knocking -
17:17 - 17:19the ball against them.
-
17:19 - 17:22It was Pong only it was
Pong turned vertical. -
17:22 - 17:23[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
17:23 - 17:25TONY HAWK: Pretty soon, Jobs
and Wozniak broke out of Atari -
17:25 - 17:29to start their own little
business, Apple Computer. -
17:29 - 17:34Jobs asked his boss to invest
in the idea, Bushnell declined. -
17:34 - 17:37The company's capital was tied
up producing home Pong units -
17:37 - 17:40and developing their next
home console concept. -
17:40 - 17:42They called it--
-
17:42 - 17:44NOLAN BUSHNELL: The VCS,
the Video Computer System -
17:44 - 17:46was the 2600.
-
17:46 - 17:50And became universally
known as the Atari. -
17:50 - 17:53[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
17:53 - 17:55AL ALCORN: The idea
behind the 2600 -
17:55 - 17:58was to get away from having
to build a whole new custom -
17:58 - 18:00chip for every new game.
-
18:00 - 18:03So if we can make the game just
be in a cartridge and software, -
18:03 - 18:06we could release it much
faster and much cheaper -
18:06 - 18:09than we could with
a whole new game. -
18:09 - 18:10TONY HAWK: Nolan
needed big money -
18:10 - 18:13to develop and launch the 2600.
-
18:13 - 18:17He got it by
selling the company. -
18:17 - 18:18[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
18:18 - 18:21Warner Communications, headed
by Chairman Steve Ross, -
18:21 - 18:24paid Bushnell $28
million for Atari. -
18:24 - 18:27Not bad for a $500 investment.
-
18:27 - 18:29Plus, Nolan would
still draw a paycheck -
18:29 - 18:30as the company chairman.
-
18:30 - 18:31[CHA-CHING]
-
18:31 - 18:34[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
18:34 - 18:37In October of 1977, supported
by a handful of games -
18:37 - 18:41like Street Racer,
Indy 500, and Kombat, -
18:41 - 18:47the Atari 2600 hit the streets.
-
18:47 - 18:49STEVE KENT: It was a bomb.
-
18:49 - 18:50It did nothing.
-
18:50 - 18:52They didn't get them out
in time for Christmas. -
18:52 - 18:55They didn't sell, the
ones that were out there. -
18:55 - 18:58And Warner hit the roof.
-
18:58 - 18:59[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
18:59 - 19:00AL ALCORN: The
net result of that -
19:00 - 19:04was they removed Nolan
and put in Ray Kassar, who -
19:04 - 19:07was the person from the east
coast who worked at Burlington -
19:07 - 19:11Industries and was probably
a more professional, -
19:11 - 19:14big businessman to run Atari.
-
19:14 - 19:15TONY HAWK: Nolan was out.
-
19:15 - 19:17But don't cry for this guy.
-
19:17 - 19:19He made even more money
with his next business, -
19:19 - 19:25a chain of family restaurants
called, Chuck E. Cheese. -
19:25 - 19:28Now, while all of this
was going on at Atari, -
19:28 - 19:33something even bigger was going
on in a galaxy far, far away. -
19:33 - 19:36In 1977, the movie
mega-hit Star Wars -
19:36 - 19:41sent the nation's sci-fi crazy.
-
19:41 - 19:43And in less than
a year, a new game -
19:43 - 19:47arrived that cashed
in on the craze. -
19:47 - 19:50Atari's competitor Midway
got the arcade upper hand -
19:50 - 19:54with a Japanese import that went
by the name, Space Invaders. -
19:54 - 19:56JEFF GREEN: We're all
fascinated by the Pong machines -
19:56 - 19:59and then we were fascinated
by Space Invaders, which -
19:59 - 20:02again, was just lines
coming down from the screen. -
20:02 - 20:04TONY HAWK: Ultimately,
you couldn't win. -
20:04 - 20:06But it was the
first arcade machine -
20:06 - 20:09to record and
display a high score. -
20:09 - 20:12And that just made
people want to play more. -
20:12 - 20:13JEFF GREEN: You
look at games today -
20:13 - 20:16that cost literally millions
and millions of dollars -
20:16 - 20:20that take literally four or five
years, or more, to complete. -
20:20 - 20:25Most of those games don't rival
the game play and addictiveness -
20:25 - 20:28of Space Invaders.
-
20:28 - 20:29[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
20:29 - 20:32TONY HAWK: It took Atari nearly
a year but they did strike back -
20:32 - 20:34with Asteroids.
-
20:34 - 20:38An updated version of
Slug Russells' Spacewar. -
20:38 - 20:41The object, breakup
a surrounding storm -
20:41 - 20:44of falling asteroids and
avoid getting blown up -
20:44 - 20:46by a fleet of flying saucers.
-
20:46 - 20:48JOHN SMEDLEY: I can
remember Asteroids -
20:48 - 20:50like there's no tomorrow.
-
20:50 - 20:53Going down there and literally
begging my mother for quarters. -
20:53 - 20:56And you know, an hour later
I'm back asking for more. -
20:56 - 20:58It's a good memory for me.
-
20:58 - 21:00JOHN ROMERO: The first ones
that I played was basically -
21:00 - 21:04Space Invaders and Asteroids.
-
21:04 - 21:05I always spent my
allowance really fast. -
21:05 - 21:07It was only $5 a week.
-
21:07 - 21:09It was like two
days and I mean, I -
21:09 - 21:11was stretching it as
far as I could go. -
21:11 - 21:16[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
21:16 - 21:18TONY HAWK: As the '70s disco
danced their way into history, -
21:18 - 21:201980 arrived.
-
21:20 - 21:24And true 8-bit color came
to the arcade screens. -
21:24 - 21:26Up until then, any
colors seen in a game -
21:26 - 21:29had been achieved by
using tinted overlays. -
21:29 - 21:33Atari was pumping out hits
like Missile Command and Battle -
21:33 - 21:36Zone, which had a custom version
built for the American military -
21:36 - 21:37to use in combat training.
-
21:37 - 21:40
-
21:40 - 21:42One of the biggest
hits of the year -
21:42 - 21:45was Defender from
Williams, an Atari rival. -
21:45 - 21:47This was another
"fight the aliens" game -
21:47 - 21:49but it was cooler
because it had a radar -
21:49 - 21:50screen that let
you see everything -
21:50 - 21:53that was coming your way.
-
21:53 - 21:56But there was one invader
no one saw coming. -
21:56 - 21:57Check him out.
-
21:57 - 21:59He's got a classic profile.
-
21:59 - 22:04[PAC-MAN MUSIC PLAYING]
-
22:04 - 22:05[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
22:05 - 22:08His name, Pac-Man.
-
22:08 - 22:10He was born at a
Japanese game company -
22:10 - 22:15called Namco and brought to the
US by Atari's nemesis, Midway. -
22:15 - 22:17Originally called
Puck-Man, Midway -
22:17 - 22:20was afraid vandals would
have too much fun changing -
22:20 - 22:22the first letter of his name.
-
22:22 - 22:26Small and yellow, he ate
everything in his path. -
22:26 - 22:28Little dots and
ghosts with names -
22:28 - 22:32like Blinky, Pinky,
Inky, and Clyde. -
22:32 - 22:34
-
22:34 - 22:36AL KAHN: I loved Pac-Man.
-
22:36 - 22:39It was just such a simplistic
movement with a joystick -
22:39 - 22:44and yet it was easy to
play, hard to master. -
22:44 - 22:46And that was really, I
think, the secret of it. -
22:46 - 22:47[PAC-MAN SOUND EFFECTS]
-
22:47 - 22:50[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
22:50 - 22:52TONY HAWK: It was also the
first time a character was -
22:52 - 22:55the star of a video game.
-
22:55 - 22:57Most important thing
about characters? -
22:57 - 22:59You can license them.
-
22:59 - 23:01[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
23:01 - 23:04Pretty soon, Pac-Man had a
song in the top 40 charts. -
23:04 - 23:06A Saturday morning TV show.
-
23:06 - 23:10And he even made it to the
cover of Time magazine. -
23:10 - 23:11[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
23:11 - 23:15Then a year later, Ms. Pac-Man
showed up on the scene. -
23:15 - 23:17Same profile, only
this time sporting -
23:17 - 23:19a bow and a beauty spot.
-
23:19 - 23:24There were also more mazes, more
ghosts, an even bigger success. -
23:24 - 23:27[MS. PAC MAN THEME MUSIC
PLAYING] -
23:27 - 23:29[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
23:29 - 23:31Time to head back over
to Japan and the company -
23:31 - 23:33called Nintendo.
-
23:33 - 23:37They got their start in 1889
manufacturing playing cards. -
23:37 - 23:41By 1980, under the leadership
of Hiroshi Yamauchi, -
23:41 - 23:45the company was desperate to
cash in on the video craze. -
23:45 - 23:47STEVE KENT: Nintendo
was doing modestly well -
23:47 - 23:49in the Japanese arcade business.
-
23:49 - 23:52They could not get a foot
in, in the US market. -
23:52 - 23:55In desperation, Yamauchi
turned to this guy -
23:55 - 24:00he had hired named
Shigeru Miyamoto. -
24:00 - 24:01TONY HAWK: By
Japanese standards, -
24:01 - 24:03Miyamoto was sort of a wild man.
-
24:03 - 24:07When it came to music, he loved
the Beatles and bluegrass. -
24:07 - 24:11He played the banjo and
he loved designing toys. -
24:11 - 24:16STEVE KENT: And they said,
can you make a game for us? -
24:16 - 24:18Miyamoto started spouting
off about how he'd do this -
24:18 - 24:19and he'd do that.
-
24:19 - 24:21And Yamauchi's like,
yeah, yeah, sure. -
24:21 - 24:23Just make us a good game.
-
24:23 - 24:24TONY HAWK: Miyamoto came
up with something that -
24:24 - 24:26had never been done in gaming.
-
24:26 - 24:28A story to motivate the action.
-
24:28 - 24:31[DONKEY KONG MUSIC PLAYING]
-
24:31 - 24:33A gorilla runs away
from a carpenter -
24:33 - 24:36and steals the
carpenters girlfriend. -
24:36 - 24:38Carpenter chases the
gorilla through a factory -
24:38 - 24:39to rescue the girl.
-
24:39 - 24:41Hey, nobody said
it was Shakespeare. -
24:41 - 24:46[DONKEY KONG MUSIC PLAYING]
-
24:46 - 24:49Literally translated, Miyamoto
Japanese title for the game -
24:49 - 24:52came out as, "Stubborn Gorilla."
-
24:52 - 24:55Wanting something sexier, he
went to the Japanese/English -
24:55 - 24:56Dictionary.
-
24:56 - 24:59For stubborn, he
came up with donkey. -
24:59 - 25:01Gorilla became Kong.
-
25:01 - 25:03Yamauchi called his
American headquarters, -
25:03 - 25:06headed by Minoru Arakawa
and Howard Lincoln, -
25:06 - 25:08and gave everyone that
good news on the game. -
25:08 - 25:11STEVE KENT: And he
said, Donkey Kong. -
25:11 - 25:12I mean, they almost passed out.
-
25:12 - 25:15They were like, Donkey Kong?
-
25:15 - 25:16What's a Donkey Kong?
-
25:16 - 25:19I think Howard Lincoln's comment
was, Donkey Kong, Konkey Dong. -
25:19 - 25:20I mean, come on.
-
25:20 - 25:23But Donkey Kong
was a magic game. -
25:23 - 25:26[DONKEY KONG MUSIC PLAYING]
-
25:26 - 25:27[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
25:27 - 25:29TONY HAWK: Donkey Kong
fever swept the arcades. -
25:29 - 25:33Closely followed
by Donkey Kong Jr. -
25:33 - 25:36When it came to merchandising,
the monkey was natural. -
25:36 - 25:40But it was really the man who
became the breakout character. -
25:40 - 25:42Plans were soon made to give
the little guy with the mustache -
25:42 - 25:44his own game.
-
25:44 - 25:47Everyone knew he had
personality but what he really -
25:47 - 25:49needed was a name.
-
25:49 - 25:51American Nintendo
chief Minoru Arakawa -
25:51 - 25:53came up with the answer.
-
25:53 - 25:55STEVE KENT: Originally,
he was Jump Man. -
25:55 - 26:00And the Nintendo's landlord
out here, Mario Sigali, -
26:00 - 26:01pissed off Arakawa.
-
26:01 - 26:06So then Arakawa re-named Jump
Man, Mario, after Mario Sigali. -
26:06 - 26:08TONY HAWK: And when
Mario got his new name, -
26:08 - 26:10he also got a new
job as a plumber. -
26:10 - 26:12Along with a new
brother named Luigi. -
26:12 - 26:14[MARIO BROS THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
-
26:14 - 26:16And the Mario Bros
jumped into the arcades -
26:16 - 26:20in a series of games that
are still popular today. -
26:20 - 26:23[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
26:23 - 26:25By 1982, it seemed
like the country -
26:25 - 26:27was having one great big party.
-
26:27 - 26:30Ronald Reagan was in power,
the economy was booming, -
26:30 - 26:32and the gaming industry
was taking a big slice -
26:32 - 26:34of the disposable income.
-
26:34 - 26:38Americans had now spent
over 75,000 man years -
26:38 - 26:40playing video games and dropped
more than 20 billion quarters -
26:40 - 26:42in the process.
-
26:42 - 26:44It looked like things
couldn't get any better. -
26:44 - 26:45And you know what?
-
26:45 - 26:47They couldn't.
-
26:47 - 26:48Players in the
video game industry -
26:48 - 26:50were about to move
up to the next level -
26:50 - 26:52and faced a revolution that
would tear the business apart. -
26:52 - 26:57[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
-
26:57 - 26:58[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
26:58 - 27:00This is the first
game I ever played. -
27:00 - 27:02There was a machine just like
it at the local pizza place. -
27:02 - 27:04Man, it's still great.
-
27:04 - 27:07Pac-Man, not the pizza.
-
27:07 - 27:09But there was one version of
this game that wasn't so hot. -
27:09 - 27:12In fact, it was so bad that it
nearly killed off video games -
27:12 - 27:13for good.
-
27:13 - 27:16Rewind to 1980.
-
27:16 - 27:17Namco and Midway's
Pac-Man is eating up -
27:17 - 27:19most of the arcade
business and cutting -
27:19 - 27:21into Atari's bottom line.
-
27:21 - 27:21[PAC-MAN SOUND EFFECTS]
-
27:21 - 27:24The company had a new
president, Ray Kassar -
27:24 - 27:26who was a marketing pro.
-
27:26 - 27:27Looking for a new
revenue stream, -
27:27 - 27:29he set his sights
on American homes -
27:29 - 27:34and getting the 2600
console into more of them. -
27:34 - 27:37Marketing 101, people
buy what they know. -
27:37 - 27:41And people know these guys.
-
27:41 - 27:43Space Invaders had kicked
Atari's butt in the arcades -
27:43 - 27:46back in 1978.
-
27:46 - 27:49Now Kassar thought they were
the ones who could save it. -
27:49 - 27:51In the best, can't beat
them, join them tradition, -
27:51 - 27:54he went straight to Taito, the
original Japanese company that -
27:54 - 27:56designed the game and
bought the rights to a home -
27:56 - 27:59version of Space Invaders.
-
27:59 - 28:03When it hits stores,
2600 sales skyrocketed. -
28:03 - 28:04Kassar wanted more.
-
28:04 - 28:08DAVID CRANE: We were asked to do
home versions of popular arcade -
28:08 - 28:08titles.
-
28:08 - 28:12Very difficult task
because the Atari 2600 -
28:12 - 28:16is a very simple game
system, electronically. -
28:16 - 28:18Whereas an arcade
game has $4,000 -
28:18 - 28:20worth of technology in it.
-
28:20 - 28:21TONY HAWK: Faster
than you could say -
28:21 - 28:25Asteroids, more Atari arcade
knockoffs hit store shelves. -
28:25 - 28:29Atari soon had a reputation
as a profitable company -
28:29 - 28:31and a great place
to work, but only -
28:31 - 28:35if you were in upper management.
-
28:35 - 28:38ALAN MILLER: The culture
changed at Atari. -
28:38 - 28:42When Bushnell was forced out
and the new management came in, -
28:42 - 28:44they didn't understand
the industry. -
28:44 - 28:45They didn't understand
consumer electronics. -
28:45 - 28:47They didn't
understand technology. -
28:47 - 28:50They had little respect
for the creative work -
28:50 - 28:52that was being done by game
designers such as myself. -
28:52 - 28:55
-
28:55 - 28:57AL ALCORN: These
engineers would create -
28:57 - 29:00a software program that would
result in $20- $30 million -
29:00 - 29:02in sales.
-
29:02 - 29:04And they were making
this little paltry salary -
29:04 - 29:06and they figured gee, I'd
like to get a penny or two -
29:06 - 29:08or three per each cartridge.
-
29:08 - 29:10DAVID CRANE: So we go to
the president of Atari -
29:10 - 29:14and point that out, and he said
to us, and I'll quote, he said, -
29:14 - 29:18you are no more important
to that game than the person -
29:18 - 29:21on the assembly line
who puts it together. -
29:21 - 29:22That didn't sit
too well with us. -
29:22 - 29:24[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
29:24 - 29:26TONY HAWK: Contempt
breeds competition. -
29:26 - 29:28So four of Atari's
top game designers -
29:28 - 29:32gave Kassar the kiss off and
started their own company. -
29:32 - 29:37- You blast light
out of your sense. -
29:37 - 29:40Star Master by Activision.
-
29:40 - 29:42
-
29:42 - 29:44ALAN MILLER: The most
significant thing -
29:44 - 29:47about Activision was that it
was the first independent video -
29:47 - 29:48game publisher.
-
29:48 - 29:51Prior to our formation,
all game software -
29:51 - 29:54was created by the
hardware manufacturers. -
29:54 - 29:56DAVID CRANE: One of the
differences with Activision -
29:56 - 30:01was we promoted the game
creator as an author. -
30:01 - 30:03If you're creative
at what you do, -
30:03 - 30:06you kind of like some
recognition from the public. -
30:06 - 30:07ALAN MILLER: Activision
was a huge success. -
30:07 - 30:11We grew from $0 in
revenue to $160 million -
30:11 - 30:14in revenue in three years.
-
30:14 - 30:19TONY HAWK: Their first hits
included Pitfall, Ka-Boom, -
30:19 - 30:20and Freeway.
-
30:20 - 30:22- I came up with Freeway
on Lakeshore Drive -
30:22 - 30:24in Chicago, which is
10 lanes of traffic. -
30:24 - 30:26Looked out the window
and there was this idiot -
30:26 - 30:28trying to cross the street.
-
30:28 - 30:29And I'm looking at
that and I said, -
30:29 - 30:31that would make a
good video game. -
30:31 - 30:35
-
30:35 - 30:37TONY HAWK: Atari wasn't the
only game in town anymore. -
30:37 - 30:40More companies were
making more consoles. -
30:40 - 30:43Activism was making
games for all of them. -
30:43 - 30:46Magnavox had the Odyssey 2.
-
30:46 - 30:50Famous toymaker Mattel
had Intellivision. -
30:50 - 30:53Mattel's ads for
their console featured -
30:53 - 30:56intellectual literary
figure George Plimpton. -
30:56 - 30:58- I've been comparing the
exciting new Intellivision -
30:58 - 31:01space game Star Strike with
one of the most popular Atari -
31:01 - 31:02games, Asteroids.
-
31:02 - 31:04TONY HAWK: I guess they
figured most Americans had -
31:04 - 31:07to be dragged away from
reading War and Peace to play -
31:07 - 31:08video games.
-
31:08 - 31:11- Star Strike features our
most exciting visual effect-- -
31:11 - 31:12total destruction of a planet.
-
31:12 - 31:15Which is why after
Star Strike, Asteroids -
31:15 - 31:18left [INAUDIBLE] rather flat.
-
31:18 - 31:22To-to-total destruction
of a planet. -
31:22 - 31:24TONY HAWK: Then another unlikely
player showed up on the field-- -
31:24 - 31:28a plastic pool
maker called Coleco. -
31:28 - 31:31- We had looked at this
whole arcade position -
31:31 - 31:34and believed that electronics,
as it related to kids, -
31:34 - 31:37was going to be very,
very important angle. -
31:37 - 31:39So we started to work on a
number of different products -
31:39 - 31:43that's used electronic
chips as they're heart. -
31:43 - 31:45- I'm an electronic quarterback.
-
31:45 - 31:48I start in the back field
and follow my blockers. -
31:48 - 31:48- Blockers?
-
31:48 - 31:50I don't have any blockers.
-
31:50 - 31:52MAN: Coleco's
Electronic Quarterback. -
31:52 - 31:55- We did the head to head
series of dedicated games, -
31:55 - 31:56where you played
against an opponent -
31:56 - 31:57on the other side of the game.
-
31:57 - 31:59- Now we can play
at the same time. -
31:59 - 32:00- I'm offense.
-
32:00 - 32:01- I'm defense.
-
32:01 - 32:02MAN: With Head to Head,
you're really in the game. -
32:02 - 32:03A power sweep.
-
32:03 - 32:04You pass.
-
32:04 - 32:04He blitzes.
-
32:04 - 32:05Intercepts.
-
32:05 - 32:07- This is real competition.
-
32:07 - 32:10- And we did the miniature
tabletop arcade games, -
32:10 - 32:13which are miniature versions
of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. -
32:13 - 32:15They looked exactly
like the arcade games. -
32:15 - 32:16- They were very successful.
-
32:16 - 32:21And that Coleco on the road
to developing more video -
32:21 - 32:25and electronic games.
-
32:25 - 32:28TONY HAWK: And the new console
called Coleco Vision was born. -
32:28 - 32:31- Coleco Vision was an attempt
to try and replicate as closely -
32:31 - 32:35as possible in those days
the actual experience -
32:35 - 32:35of the arcade.
-
32:35 - 32:37TONY HAWK: Knowing
they needed a hot game -
32:37 - 32:39to kick off their console
sales, they set their sights -
32:39 - 32:41on the arcade hit--
-
32:41 - 32:44Donkey Kong.
-
32:44 - 32:46And bought themselves
a six month -
32:46 - 32:48exclusive to the
game from Nintendo. -
32:48 - 32:53Coleco Vision became
the smash hit of 1982. -
32:53 - 32:55- And Donkey Kong
was the driver. -
32:55 - 32:56We impacted it with the unit.
-
32:56 - 32:57You bought the
Coleco Vision, you -
32:57 - 32:59got a Donkey Kong cartridge.
-
32:59 - 33:02
-
33:02 - 33:04TONY HAWK: Suddenly,
another 800 pound gorilla -
33:04 - 33:06came into the room--
-
33:06 - 33:07Universal Studios.
-
33:07 - 33:10They claimed that Nintendo's
Donkey Kong violated -
33:10 - 33:12their copyright on
the movie King Kong -
33:12 - 33:14and they wanted their
piece of the action. -
33:14 - 33:16- It's a great court case.
-
33:16 - 33:19They actually at one point
brought in a Donkey Kong -
33:19 - 33:22machine and played
the game for the judge -
33:22 - 33:25in the middle of the core,
which was quite a scene. -
33:25 - 33:26TONY HAWK: But the
biggest laugh came -
33:26 - 33:29when court papers, prepared
by Universal's own lawyers, -
33:29 - 33:31revealed that the
original copyright holder -
33:31 - 33:35that the rights fall
into the public domain. -
33:35 - 33:38- So in the end, not
only did they lose, -
33:38 - 33:41they have to pay damages
and court expenses. -
33:41 - 33:43TONY HAWK: Hate to say
it, but we got to-- -
33:43 - 33:45Nintendo made a monkey
out of Universal. -
33:45 - 33:50
-
33:50 - 33:52And what about those monkeys
who were running Atari? -
33:52 - 33:56- They were affected by waves
of people leaving the company-- -
33:56 - 33:57first, Activision.
-
33:57 - 33:59Then there was
another wave after us. -
33:59 - 34:02And so they lost their
very best programmers. -
34:02 - 34:03TONY HAWK: Desperate,
Atari licensed -
34:03 - 34:07the arcade classic Pac-Man and
ordered 12 million cartridges. -
34:07 - 34:09[BEEPING]
-
34:09 - 34:10It sucked.
-
34:10 - 34:12- It flickered, it
didn't look like Pac-Man, -
34:12 - 34:16it didn't play well, it was
hard to control, it was ugly, -
34:16 - 34:18it was an awful game.
-
34:18 - 34:21TONY HAWK: And a financial
disaster, big time. -
34:21 - 34:25[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
34:25 - 34:28Steve Ross, chief of Atari's
corporate parent, Warner -
34:28 - 34:31Communications, decided
to step in and he brought -
34:31 - 34:33one of Hollywood's biggest
talents along with him-- -
34:33 - 34:35Steven Spielberg.
-
34:35 - 34:39In the summer of 1982, ET was
burning up the box office, -
34:39 - 34:42and Ross wanted to
ride that bike too. -
34:42 - 34:44He paid a cool $25
million for the right -
34:44 - 34:47to use Steve's extra
terrestrial in a new video game, -
34:47 - 34:50and he promised to have
it out by Christmas. -
34:50 - 34:53- I think they had to develop
the game in eight weeks instead -
34:53 - 34:56of nine months.
-
34:56 - 34:58It's kind of hard to
make a game be really fun -
34:58 - 35:02and have a lot of depth in it
in a period of a eight weeks. -
35:02 - 35:04- And it was so bad.
-
35:04 - 35:07The ones that they sold,
most of them were returned. -
35:07 - 35:12- In '83, Atari sent diesel
trucks into the New Mexico -
35:12 - 35:15desert packed with unsold
cartridges and they buried -
35:15 - 35:16them.
-
35:16 - 35:18- The legend was, they had
to run in and pour concrete -
35:18 - 35:20over them to make
them really go away. -
35:20 - 35:21Ugly, ugly.
-
35:21 - 35:22I basically killed Atari.
-
35:22 - 35:23It was the end of Atari.
-
35:23 - 35:26
-
35:26 - 35:28TONY HAWK: By early
1983, it looked -
35:28 - 35:32like the home gaming boom
was going bust for everyone. -
35:32 - 35:34- 30 companies got a couple
million dollars in venture -
35:34 - 35:37capital, hired a
couple of programmers -
35:37 - 35:39off the street who'd
never designed games, -
35:39 - 35:42and developed a video
game and tried to sell it -
35:42 - 35:47and nobody was buying it,
because it was garbage. -
35:47 - 35:51It was ironic, because when
we saw those 30 new companies, -
35:51 - 35:53we looked at each other and
said, none of these guys -
35:53 - 35:55are going to be in
business a year from now. -
35:55 - 35:57And we didn't take
that one step further -
35:57 - 35:59and say, and my god, what that's
going to do to the business. -
35:59 - 36:01TONY HAWK: In the
next two years, -
36:01 - 36:02Warner Communications
dumped Atari -
36:02 - 36:05and got out of the industry.
-
36:05 - 36:08Mattel shut down production
of their Intellivision system. -
36:08 - 36:12Coleco sales dropped
through the floor. -
36:12 - 36:15And in 1985, just as
everything really hit bottom, -
36:15 - 36:17Nintendo stood up
and said they weren't -
36:17 - 36:21going to take it anymore and
launched their own gaming -
36:21 - 36:21console--
-
36:21 - 36:26the Nintendo Entertainment
System or NES. -
36:26 - 36:28Everyone thought
they were crazy. -
36:28 - 36:30- All of a sudden,
Nintendo came in, -
36:30 - 36:33better graphics, better
color, better sound. -
36:33 - 36:35Boom, rock and roll--
-
36:35 - 36:36total success.
-
36:36 - 36:39MAN: Nintendo has the
most video game hits, -
36:39 - 36:42like Baseball and Excite Bike.
-
36:42 - 36:45Now, you're playing with power.
-
36:45 - 36:47- They really brought in
a new age of video games -
36:47 - 36:50with the simple introduction
of the NES system. -
36:50 - 36:51They've rethought everything.
-
36:51 - 36:53They said, the way a
cartridge is loaded, -
36:53 - 36:55the way the controllers
are designed-- -
36:55 - 36:58they said, let's start over and
create a really friendly game -
36:58 - 37:00system for families to enjoy.
-
37:00 - 37:04TONY HAWK: And who was leading
the Nintendo NES charge? -
37:04 - 37:06Their Donkey Kong
hero Mario, now -
37:06 - 37:08starring in Super Mario Bros.
-
37:08 - 37:11- They came out with Super Mario
Bros, which was a great game-- -
37:11 - 37:15so far beyond anything that
has existed before in he home. -
37:15 - 37:19It made side scrolling vivid,
and it gave you puzzles-- -
37:19 - 37:21hidden puzzles and fun puzzles.
-
37:21 - 37:25It characterized
what games could be. -
37:25 - 37:29And it was a phenomenon
all over again. -
37:29 - 37:31- Once that happened, it
really changed the business, -
37:31 - 37:34because then Sega started
looking at the business -
37:34 - 37:35more seriously.
-
37:35 - 37:38TONY HAWK: Sega was
short for Service Games. -
37:38 - 37:40It had actually gotten its start
as an American company then -
37:40 - 37:43imported pinball machines
to military bases in Japan -
37:43 - 37:45after World War II.
-
37:45 - 37:50But by 1986, Sega was a
Japanese company toiling away -
37:50 - 37:51in the arcade business.
-
37:51 - 37:53Seeing Nintendo's
success, they came out -
37:53 - 37:55with their first console--
-
37:55 - 37:57the Sega Master System.
-
37:57 - 38:00Most of their games were
repackaged arcade titles -
38:00 - 38:02and couldn't compete with
the exciting originals -
38:02 - 38:04that Nintendo was cranking out.
-
38:04 - 38:06It would take another
five years before Sega -
38:06 - 38:09would get a real shot of
pushing Nintendo and Mario -
38:09 - 38:12off their high latter.
-
38:12 - 38:15- And the Japanese really took
over the video game industry, -
38:15 - 38:18because we had these games
that anyone could play, -
38:18 - 38:21anyone could understand
and everyone loves. -
38:21 - 38:23And they're very simple,
they're very easy to get into. -
38:23 - 38:25And the hardware is more
powerful than anything -
38:25 - 38:27we've seen from
the American side. -
38:27 - 38:30So these guys, they were able
to bring back video games, -
38:30 - 38:32like they brought it
back from the dead. -
38:32 - 38:34TONY HAWK: After
a five year slump, -
38:34 - 38:36consoles were clawing their
way back into homes only -
38:36 - 38:39to meet a new challenger--
the personal computer. -
38:39 - 38:41We can barely remember
life without them, -
38:41 - 38:43but in the early
'80s, these machines -
38:43 - 38:44were the hot new thing.
-
38:44 - 38:47And they were about to take
video game play to a higher -
38:47 - 38:50level, create new competition
for gaming dollars -
38:50 - 38:52and give game designers
a new opportunity -
38:52 - 38:54to take even more power
into their own hands. -
38:54 - 38:58
-
38:58 - 39:00You know how some
people always seem -
39:00 - 39:02to be in the right
place at the right time? -
39:02 - 39:05Maybe it has more to do
with being ready to step up -
39:05 - 39:06than just dumb luck.
-
39:06 - 39:08And the video game
industry has always -
39:08 - 39:10been packed with risk
takers, people who -
39:10 - 39:13can't wait to take their shot.
-
39:13 - 39:15Time for another chapter
in our tale of two Steve-- -
39:15 - 39:17Jobs and Wozniak.
-
39:17 - 39:18Remember?
-
39:18 - 39:20Those two guys who left Atari
to start their own thing. -
39:20 - 39:23By the early '80s, their Apple
2 Home Computer was a must -
39:23 - 39:27buy for tech heads everywhere,
at a whopping $1,300 a pop. -
39:27 - 39:30- I just thought
I had to have one. -
39:30 - 39:34I convinced my wife that I would
somehow make it pay for itself. -
39:34 - 39:37And we spent well
over a month's income -
39:37 - 39:41for the two of us buying
that first Apple 2 computer. -
39:41 - 39:48And well, I guess I did make
it pay for itself eventually. -
39:48 - 39:50TONY HAWK: Computers were
making word processing a breeze -
39:50 - 39:53and typewriters were being
tossed out of office windows -
39:53 - 39:54everywhere.
-
39:54 - 39:56But coming out of
Atari, the two Steves -
39:56 - 39:59had gaming in their blood
and knew that working hard -
39:59 - 40:01meant playing harder.
-
40:01 - 40:04So they made sure their
baby was built to game. -
40:04 - 40:06- Once you have a
PC on your desk, -
40:06 - 40:08you soon realize
that it's something -
40:08 - 40:09that you can goof off on.
-
40:09 - 40:12And right from
the very beginning -
40:12 - 40:14of PCs on desktops
in the workplace, -
40:14 - 40:15there were games to play.
-
40:15 - 40:18In those days-- the
mid-80s, a lot of them -
40:18 - 40:21were just text games like Zork.
-
40:21 - 40:23The great thing about that
is because it was all text, -
40:23 - 40:25it actually kind of
looked like work. -
40:25 - 40:29TONY HAWK: A rival PC, the
Commodore 64 came out in 1982, -
40:29 - 40:30and was even more successful.
-
40:30 - 40:3422 million machines
were sold in 1983 alone. -
40:34 - 40:39Well, maybe because
that one was only $600. -
40:39 - 40:42- When the Commodore
64 first came out, -
40:42 - 40:44I bought one of those
like the first day -
40:44 - 40:46and spent like the next month
just learning machine, trying -
40:46 - 40:48every last feature of it.
-
40:48 - 40:49And then, the first
game I did actually -
40:49 - 40:50was on he Commodore 64.
-
40:50 - 40:52- I would go into
the college and there -
40:52 - 40:54were students
programming on the Apple, -
40:54 - 40:57so I could ask them, how do
you get the dot on the screen. -
40:57 - 40:58And I'm just asking them
all the basic commands -
40:58 - 41:01and writing them all down and
trying to make my own programs -
41:01 - 41:03in the corner on the machines.
-
41:03 - 41:05- I love playing on a computer
a lot more than a console -
41:05 - 41:07because, I felt like the
interaction was there. -
41:07 - 41:11There was a lot more fun in
actually programming things -
41:11 - 41:14rather than just being passive
and letting somebody else make -
41:14 - 41:16the game for me.
-
41:16 - 41:18That was really when I
fell in love with games. -
41:18 - 41:21[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
41:21 - 41:23TONY HAWK: Back at
Apple, a young employee -
41:23 - 41:26named Chip Hawkins was
getting ready to pull a Steve -
41:26 - 41:29Jobs on Steve Jobs and
take off on his own. -
41:29 - 41:32
-
41:32 - 41:35- At Apple, Steve
Jobs was treating him -
41:35 - 41:39like a worthless MBA instead
of like the future CEO -
41:39 - 41:41and rockstar.
-
41:41 - 41:44- The big idea I had
was to basically bring -
41:44 - 41:47a lot of practices
from Hollywood -
41:47 - 41:51into this new digital
medium elevating -
41:51 - 41:54the development of the
product to that of an art form -
41:54 - 41:58and treating the creative
talent as artists. -
41:58 - 42:01TONY HAWK: In October of 1982,
Electronic Arts was born. -
42:01 - 42:05
-
42:05 - 42:08[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
42:08 - 42:10- We wrote the business
plan in November '82. -
42:10 - 42:12And two weeks
later, Atari, which -
42:12 - 42:15had just shipped ET,
announced that they -
42:15 - 42:18weren't going to make their
revenue, or profit, targets. -
42:18 - 42:19And what they were
doing was they -
42:19 - 42:22were spending their money
on bulldozers bulldozing -
42:22 - 42:25all those ETs into the ground.
-
42:25 - 42:28We though cartridge video
games we're done for ever. -
42:28 - 42:30So we took a big risk and
we launched and only did -
42:30 - 42:32floppy disk PC games.
-
42:32 - 42:36TONY HAWK: Trip had to get
people's eyes back on gaming -
42:36 - 42:40and he did it by catching
their eye on the store shelves. -
42:40 - 42:43- I immediately gravitated
towards thinking -
42:43 - 42:45that the product should be
packaged like a record album. -
42:45 - 42:48And it was very successful
in the marketplace in that, -
42:48 - 42:53a lot of people really liked
those early record albums. -
42:53 - 42:57[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
42:57 - 42:59TONY HAWK: Trip also figured
sports stars would look great -
42:59 - 43:00on box covers.
-
43:00 - 43:02Not sure why.
-
43:02 - 43:04Maybe he ate a lot of Wheaties.
-
43:04 - 43:07Whatever the reason, he went
after two of the biggest-- -
43:07 - 43:09Larry Bird and
Julius Erving, better -
43:09 - 43:12known as Dr. J.
Each got about $25K -
43:12 - 43:15for a snapshot and their names.
-
43:15 - 43:18And the doctor himself got
involved in the game design. -
43:18 - 43:21- We asked him questions about
how he played and strategies -
43:21 - 43:23and we wanted to understand
what kind of shots -
43:23 - 43:25he would take from
different parts of the floor -
43:25 - 43:27and what his shooting
percentages were. -
43:27 - 43:29- We exactly built
into the game. -
43:29 - 43:31And then we said, imagine
you're really going one on one -
43:31 - 43:34with Larry, what
would the outcome be. -
43:34 - 43:37And he goes, if I went
one-on-one with Larry, -
43:37 - 43:40I'd beat him every time.
-
43:40 - 43:42Cool.
-
43:42 - 43:46- Premiering on the Apple
2 and Commodore 64, Dr. J -
43:46 - 43:51and Larry Bird go one on
one was a huge seller. -
43:51 - 43:52Next up, football.
-
43:52 - 43:55The tie-in, John Madden.
-
43:55 - 43:57With a big name,
give him a big shock. -
43:57 - 44:01You see, in the early '80s,
technology would only allow -
44:01 - 44:02seven players on each team.
-
44:02 - 44:08- Madden looked at it and he
goes, where's the other guys? -
44:08 - 44:13Well, this is an Apple 2
and it only has 64k of ram. -
44:13 - 44:17So actually having seven on
seven is a huge breakthrough. -
44:17 - 44:18And he just gets
the stink face-- -
44:18 - 44:22it's like, where are the
other-- that's not football. -
44:22 - 44:25You can shift that if you
want, but not with my name on. -
44:25 - 44:27We're thinking,
he's got our money. -
44:27 - 44:30So I would go back to Rob
and Anthonic, the programmer -
44:30 - 44:33and designer, and say,
it's got to be a 11-on-11. -
44:33 - 44:38And he goes, that's impossible.
-
44:38 - 44:41Two years later when the
11-on-11 game was finished, -
44:41 - 44:42we shipped it.
-
44:42 - 44:47[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
44:47 - 44:50TONY HAWK: And in 1988, the
ultimate video sports game -
44:50 - 44:52franchise was born,
along with one -
44:52 - 44:55of the greatest video
marketing opportunities ever. -
44:55 - 44:57Like football itself,
a new version of Madden -
44:57 - 45:02started arriving every season
with new teams, statistics, -
45:02 - 45:03and players.
-
45:03 - 45:05- And I said, this
is the crown jewel. -
45:05 - 45:06We're going to build
the company around this. -
45:06 - 45:08This is going to be a
hugely successful product. -
45:08 - 45:11Madden's success proofed
that sports can be very, very -
45:11 - 45:13good for EA, and it
has, giving birth -
45:13 - 45:16to a whole subdivision
within the company. -
45:16 - 45:20And it doesn't stop there,
from action to adventure, -
45:20 - 45:23from franchises to tie-in
titles, these guys are on it. -
45:23 - 45:25Now going for over
20 years, they -
45:25 - 45:26are the biggest
and most successful -
45:26 - 45:28publisher of video games ever.
-
45:28 - 45:33In 2003, the revenues
topped $2.5 billion. -
45:33 - 45:36But hey, we're starting to
get ahead of ourselves here. -
45:36 - 45:42Put the brakes on and
let's rewind back in 1979. -
45:42 - 45:44This is Ken Williams
and his wife Roberta. -
45:44 - 45:47Based in LA, Ken had just
started a computer consulting -
45:47 - 45:50business called Online Systems.
-
45:50 - 45:53And then, one day, he bought
his own computer along -
45:53 - 45:55with a computer game.
-
45:55 - 45:57- Roberta started playing it and
she got really, really hooked. -
45:57 - 46:01Then after she got hooked, she
said, you know, I can do that. -
46:01 - 46:03And it turned out that
she could not only do it, -
46:03 - 46:05she could do it brilliantly.
-
46:05 - 46:10TONY HAWK: In 1980, she
started writing her own game-- -
46:10 - 46:12Mystery House.
-
46:12 - 46:14- The adventure game
genre really developed -
46:14 - 46:17around what the
PC was capable of, -
46:17 - 46:20which was exploration
and storytelling. -
46:20 - 46:22You could type in
walk left and you -
46:22 - 46:23would get a description of--
-
46:23 - 46:24OK, now you're in the field.
-
46:24 - 46:27It was all text based.
-
46:27 - 46:29TONY HAWK: An avid
movie lover, Roberta -
46:29 - 46:31loved visuals, and
insisted the game would -
46:31 - 46:34be more fun if there were
pictures to go along with it. -
46:34 - 46:37- She couldn't understand
why the hardware at the time -
46:37 - 46:40couldn't do the things
that she wanted done. -
46:40 - 46:44And so she would just say, Ed,
you've gotta make this happen. -
46:44 - 46:47And somehow Ken would
work on it and figure it -
46:47 - 46:49out some kind of thing
and make it happen. -
46:49 - 46:52Because of her, Ken created
this software program -
46:52 - 46:56that allowed them to store
hundreds of graphic screens -
46:56 - 46:58on one single floppy disk.
-
46:58 - 47:01And they produced the first
adventure game for the Apple 2 -
47:01 - 47:02that had graphics.
-
47:02 - 47:02It
-
47:02 - 47:04- They take these
games in a baggy -
47:04 - 47:06and they'd drive them
around California -
47:06 - 47:08about have computer
shops sell them. -
47:08 - 47:11And that got successful and
that became their company. -
47:11 - 47:14
-
47:14 - 47:18TONY HAWK: Ken and Roberta sold
80,000 copies of Mystery House. -
47:18 - 47:20More games started
coming, some were -
47:20 - 47:24originals, some adaptations
of arcade titles. -
47:24 - 47:27They also moved their
office out of the LA kitchen -
47:27 - 47:30and into a building just
outside Yosemite National Park. -
47:30 - 47:34Name change time too-- the
company became Sierra Online. -
47:34 - 47:37Then IBM knocked on
the new office door. -
47:37 - 47:39They wanted a game for their
new consumer machine, the PC -
47:39 - 47:40Junior.
-
47:40 - 47:43Roberta came up with King's
Quest, a fantasy adventure -
47:43 - 47:46game filled with knights,
treasures and puzzles. -
47:46 - 47:49It would also let gamers
play from a third person -
47:49 - 47:50perspective.
-
47:50 - 47:52Controlling and
moving a character -
47:52 - 47:53inside a physical world--
-
47:53 - 47:55a first for adventure games.
-
47:55 - 47:58- My first experience with
question was just a revelation. -
47:58 - 48:01It was kind of a very, very
early form of virtual reality, -
48:01 - 48:02that I was the main character.
-
48:02 - 48:05And I was actually creating
the story as I went along. -
48:05 - 48:07I thought that was very
exciting as a storyteller -
48:07 - 48:09and very compelling
for me as a gamer. -
48:09 - 48:13
-
48:13 - 48:15TONY HAWK: Like the movie
biz, success brought -
48:15 - 48:18equals and a few spin-offs too.
-
48:18 - 48:21
-
48:21 - 48:24With each game,
Roberto's vision expanded -
48:24 - 48:26and Ken had to think
fast to keep up with it. -
48:26 - 48:27- She said, well, I want color.
-
48:27 - 48:30And he said, well, Apple
only has six colors -
48:30 - 48:31and they're kind of weird.
-
48:31 - 48:33And she said, well,
make more than that. -
48:33 - 48:33And so he did.
-
48:33 - 48:35She wanted sound.
-
48:35 - 48:37So he convinced
[? Rollins ?] to produce -
48:37 - 48:40a mini board and a sound
card so that the PCs could -
48:40 - 48:42have music soundtracks.
-
48:42 - 48:44Because with them,
the sound cards -
48:44 - 48:48really came into the PC world.
-
48:48 - 48:50TONY HAWK: And like
Nintendo with Mario, -
48:50 - 48:53Ken and Roberta knew continuing
characters like Leisure Suit -
48:53 - 48:57Larry could be just as
lucrative as franchise titles. -
48:57 - 48:59- The first Leisure Suit Larry
King game had a very simple -
48:59 - 49:06plot-- you were a 39-year-old
virgin software salesman in Las -
49:06 - 49:10Vegas for one night and
hoping to lose your virginity. -
49:10 - 49:13And you can do that through a
variety of means, none of which -
49:13 - 49:18were very sexy or
stimulating, but we're funny. -
49:18 - 49:19That's what made it successful.
-
49:19 - 49:22It was a risqué title.
-
49:22 - 49:25[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
49:25 - 49:27TONY HAWK: Despite all of
the success that Sierra -
49:27 - 49:29and Electronic Arts we're
finding in the mid-80s, -
49:29 - 49:31their audience
still consisted of. -
49:31 - 49:33A highly specialized group
of tech heads and gamers -
49:33 - 49:35with computers becoming
an everyday part -
49:35 - 49:38of everyone's work and
home life, a money making -
49:38 - 49:42stream of potential players was
just sitting there untapped. -
49:42 - 49:44All someone needed
was one simple game. -
49:44 - 49:47It needed to be something
that anyone could play, -
49:47 - 49:49a game so addictive that
workers around the world -
49:49 - 49:50would have to cover their
computer screens when -
49:50 - 49:51the boss walked by.
-
49:51 - 49:53Well, that game was
about to arrive. -
49:53 - 49:58
-
49:58 - 50:01In terms of global
obsession, this next game -
50:01 - 50:02broke all the records.
-
50:02 - 50:04It was one of those classic--
-
50:04 - 50:07why didn't I think of that
ideas, a game so simple, -
50:07 - 50:09no one in the world
could resist playing. -
50:09 - 50:12It was called Tetris.
-
50:12 - 50:15And next to cocaine, It was
the most addictive substance -
50:15 - 50:18being passed around in
the party hardy 1980s. -
50:18 - 50:22And the idea came right
out of party central. -
50:22 - 50:24Well, make that
Communist Party central. -
50:24 - 50:27
-
50:27 - 50:30In 1984, Alexey
Pajitnov enough was -
50:30 - 50:32working at the Academy
of Science in Moscow. -
50:32 - 50:35Occupation-- mathematician.
-
50:35 - 50:37His hobbies-- puzzles.
-
50:37 - 50:41Alexey came up with Tetris
using his computer at work. -
50:41 - 50:45He based it on an old Russian
puzzle game called Pentomino. -
50:45 - 50:48- So this is original Pentomino,
which I brought from Russia. -
50:48 - 50:52And I had an idea to make
to play a game with this. -
50:52 - 50:54And let's start to program it.
-
50:54 - 50:57And when I program it, I see--
-
50:57 - 51:00well, in order to
put it there, you -
51:00 - 51:03need to flip it or rotate it.
-
51:03 - 51:06That was the moment
when Tetris was born. -
51:06 - 51:09[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
51:09 - 51:11TONY HAWK: In 1985,
the game was ready -
51:11 - 51:15and Alexey made his big
launch, Soviet style. -
51:15 - 51:16- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH],,
in Russian, -
51:16 - 51:19means that you give the
copy to your friends. -
51:19 - 51:24And that was like a
forest fire, you know? -
51:24 - 51:27In two weeks, it was on
every single PC in Moscow, -
51:27 - 51:30and probably in Russia.
-
51:30 - 51:31I don't know.
-
51:31 - 51:34TONY HAWK: And of course, Alexey
made a ton of money, retired -
51:34 - 51:36and he's been sitting
around sipping -
51:36 - 51:38Stoli in this 30-room
mansion ever since. -
51:38 - 51:39Yeah, right.
-
51:39 - 51:43This was the Soviet
Union, remember? -
51:43 - 51:46- It was Communist
power in Russia, -
51:46 - 51:49so basically, at
that point, we are -
51:49 - 51:55agreeing that I will grant them
all my rights for 10 years. -
51:55 - 51:58TONY HAWK: So the Communists
did what any good capitalist -
51:58 - 52:02would do, they sold the rights
to Tetris around the world. -
52:02 - 52:06It started showing up on US
computers in January of 1988. -
52:06 - 52:09Soon everyone was
playing, at home, at work, -
52:09 - 52:13on company time, personal time,
it didn't seem to matter-- -
52:13 - 52:15the nation was transfixed.
-
52:15 - 52:16Kids, ask your parents.
-
52:16 - 52:20If they say they never
played Tetris, they're lying. -
52:20 - 52:21- Tetris is very intuitive.
-
52:21 - 52:23Kids are very good at Tetris.
-
52:23 - 52:26Adult people, even senior
people like these games. -
52:26 - 52:33Everyone would find something
for himself in this game. -
52:33 - 52:34TONY HAWK: Smelling
a hit, Nintendo -
52:34 - 52:38used Tetris to launch Gameboy,
their new handheld gaming -
52:38 - 52:39device.
-
52:39 - 52:41- The very big part
of the Tetris success -
52:41 - 52:44is connected to Gameboy.
-
52:44 - 52:48Somehow, this platform and this
game was born for each other. -
52:48 - 52:51Gameboy for Tetris sold them
the number of 30 million. -
52:51 - 52:54It's a pretty big number.
-
52:54 - 52:57[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
52:57 - 52:59TONY HAWK: Not only
was the game a hit, -
52:59 - 53:02it helped establish the Gameboy
as a viable and popular gaming -
53:02 - 53:04platform that could move
software numbers that -
53:04 - 53:08rivaled consoles and
PCs, and continues to do -
53:08 - 53:09that kind of business today.
-
53:09 - 53:14
-
53:14 - 53:18The best part of the story,
in 1996, Tetris rights -
53:18 - 53:19returned to Alexey.
-
53:19 - 53:22Now, instead of Stoli, he's
sipping Starbucks in Seattle -
53:22 - 53:25where he works with Microsoft.
-
53:25 - 53:26And new generations
are discovering -
53:26 - 53:29Tetris on a variety
of platforms, -
53:29 - 53:30including mobile phones.
-
53:30 - 53:34- We collect and distribute
royalties for the game. -
53:34 - 53:38They are not that big
anymore, but it's still-- -
53:38 - 53:39it's still good.
-
53:39 - 53:42
-
53:42 - 53:46TONY HAWK: As the 1990s kicked
in, Nintendo was riding high. -
53:46 - 53:47Not only was the
Gameboy doing great, -
53:47 - 53:50but Nintendo had single-handedly
rebuilt the home console -
53:50 - 53:55market, leaving Atari and
the toy makers in the dust. -
53:55 - 53:58The NES was the leader of the
pack with their lock on hit -
53:58 - 54:00titles and game franchises.
-
54:00 - 54:04Sega was also hanging in there
with their master system. -
54:04 - 54:07They decided it was time to
challenge Nintendo supremacy -
54:07 - 54:11and in 1989, Sega launched
the Genesis console. -
54:11 - 54:13- When the Sega
Genesis came out, -
54:13 - 54:16it really brought video
games to the next generation -
54:16 - 54:18of technical capabilities.
-
54:18 - 54:21- Our agency created the
slogan, Genesis does when -
54:21 - 54:24Nintendon't, which meant,
we had a 16-bit system, -
54:24 - 54:25they have an 8-bit system.
-
54:25 - 54:27It was the first
competitive position -
54:27 - 54:31in the video game industry in
terms of home game systems. -
54:31 - 54:33TONY HAWK: In the no
holds barred campaign, -
54:33 - 54:36Sega rolled out
their secret weapon-- -
54:36 - 54:39a blue hedgehog called Sonic.
-
54:39 - 54:40- They said, you know what?
-
54:40 - 54:42This is going to be our mascot.
-
54:42 - 54:44He's going to have
more of an attitude, -
54:44 - 54:46he's going to be here toward
a slightly older audience -
54:46 - 54:48and he's going be fast.
-
54:48 - 54:51[INAUDIBLE] show Sonic just
like, whizzing by on his feet -
54:51 - 54:53and just going super
fast, while Mario is just -
54:53 - 54:54kind of jumping up and down.
-
54:54 - 54:59And they really made Mario out
to be some kid's character, -
54:59 - 55:02while Sonic was, hey, this
is the next hottest thing. -
55:02 - 55:03TONY HAWK: And this sound--
-
55:03 - 55:03MAN: Sega!
-
55:03 - 55:06TONY HAWK: Heard at the end
of every Sega commercial, -
55:06 - 55:08piled on the attitude.
-
55:08 - 55:11While Sega and Nintendo were
fighting over the home market, -
55:11 - 55:13gamers we're heading
back to the arcades -
55:13 - 55:16where the games were
more graphic and intense, -
55:16 - 55:20games like Street Fighter
2 and Mortal Kombat. -
55:20 - 55:22- Mortal Kombat is a
game where after you've -
55:22 - 55:25beaten your opponents, you can
put in what's called a fatality -
55:25 - 55:27and you can rip out their
spine and their skull -
55:27 - 55:30or stick your hand
into their chest -
55:30 - 55:32and pull out their hard or a
whole bunch of other really -
55:32 - 55:33grizzly little endings.
-
55:33 - 55:39
-
55:39 - 55:40TONY HAWK: Both
Sega and Nintendo -
55:40 - 55:42wanted to match
the visual quality -
55:42 - 55:45of these intense arcade games.
-
55:45 - 55:47Sega saw possibilities
in a new format-- -
55:47 - 55:49the CD-ROM.
-
55:49 - 55:53One CD could hold 320 times more
data than a console cartridge. -
55:53 - 55:56To you and me that's
just more gaming power. -
55:56 - 55:59But just as Sega began
to consider the CD-ROM, -
55:59 - 56:01personal computers
beat them to the punch. -
56:01 - 56:04
-
56:04 - 56:09In 1993, a new game designed
for the Macintosh home computer -
56:09 - 56:11made its debut.
-
56:11 - 56:14- Blue pages.
-
56:14 - 56:16TONY HAWK: It was
designed by Rand and Robin -
56:16 - 56:19Miller, two brothers who had
found modest success designing -
56:19 - 56:21children's computer games.
-
56:21 - 56:24Working out of their garage
in Spokane, Washington, -
56:24 - 56:28they crafted an immersive
interactive world-- -
56:28 - 56:30Myst.
-
56:30 - 56:34- Typically, games start
with a game play system, -
56:34 - 56:35ours start with a place.
-
56:35 - 56:38
-
56:38 - 56:39In our minds, we we're
building real places -
56:39 - 56:41that people could
lose themselves in. -
56:41 - 56:43They'd sit down in
front of their computer, -
56:43 - 56:47they'd turn the lights
down, turn the sound up, -
56:47 - 56:50and they'd forget that
they were in this world -
56:50 - 56:54and they would feel like
they were in that world. -
56:54 - 56:57The graphics in Myst
were what defined it, -
56:57 - 57:00because for the first time,
I think people saw stuff -
57:00 - 57:02on your screen that
could be mistaken -
57:02 - 57:04for real images of real places.
-
57:04 - 57:07
-
57:07 - 57:09There were some
terrific constraints -
57:09 - 57:12like, we couldn't actually
move the pictures in real time. -
57:12 - 57:17So we built them very
realistic, but they were still. -
57:17 - 57:21Myst was the killer
app for CD, because it -
57:21 - 57:25allowed for this incredible
wealth of graphics -
57:25 - 57:27that we had really
never seen before. -
57:27 - 57:29A floppy disk just
couldn't handle -
57:29 - 57:30the size of these graphics.
-
57:30 - 57:35
-
57:35 - 57:37TONY HAWK: Myst became
the must have game, -
57:37 - 57:41selling 250,000
copies in 12 months. -
57:41 - 57:44It stayed on computer game best
seller lists for the next three -
57:44 - 57:47years, selling over
4 million copies. -
57:47 - 57:52It also turned the Miller
brothers into a millionaires. -
57:52 - 57:54- I smile because I
look back and think, -
57:54 - 57:57when we were two stupid
brothers sitting in the garage, -
57:57 - 57:59we didn't have great insight.
-
57:59 - 58:04We maybe had some good instincts
and the timing was right. -
58:04 - 58:07For loads of gamers, Myst
was a watershed moment, -
58:07 - 58:09with it's enchanting
magical graphics helping -
58:09 - 58:11to create a completely
immersive experience. -
58:11 - 58:14But the next killer
application for multimedia PC -
58:14 - 58:18would follow arcade games on a
much darker more brutal road. -
58:18 - 58:20And suddenly, the
video game industry -
58:20 - 58:22would find itself in
a head on collision -
58:22 - 58:24with the US government.
-
58:24 - 58:28[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
58:28 - 58:3020 years after the
awesome success of Pong, -
58:30 - 58:32video games had morphed
from the geeky hobby -
58:32 - 58:35for computer engineers to
addictive entertainment -
58:35 - 58:36for the masses.
-
58:36 - 58:38And like all success
stories, the industry -
58:38 - 58:43soon attracted the attention
of big business and law makers. -
58:43 - 58:46OK, let's back up to
1981 for a second. -
58:46 - 58:49This is the original castle
Wolfenstein, a classic, -
58:49 - 58:53let's-fight-the-Nazis
computer game. -
58:53 - 58:57When it came to action gaming,
this was as good as it got. -
58:57 - 58:59But just 11 years
later, technology -
58:59 - 59:02would take it from this to this.
-
59:02 - 59:05Wolfenstein 3D
was the brainchild -
59:05 - 59:09of id Software, a company run by
two young game designers named -
59:09 - 59:12John Carmack and John Romero.
-
59:12 - 59:15Based in Texas and both
in their early 20s, -
59:15 - 59:17they were hardcore
gamers with a passion -
59:17 - 59:20for movies like
Aliens and Evil Dead -
59:20 - 59:23and a love for
heavy metal music. -
59:23 - 59:26Combine these influences
with Carmack's recent mastery -
59:26 - 59:29of smooth scrolling
3D graphics for the PC -
59:29 - 59:32and you got one of 1992's
breakout computer games, -
59:32 - 59:35especially when the buzz
got out about it's blood -
59:35 - 59:36and gore content.
-
59:36 - 59:39- People were quite
literally blown away by it, -
59:39 - 59:41because they had never
seen anything like this. -
59:41 - 59:43And it really showed
that there could -
59:43 - 59:47be this whole interesting,
compelling, edgy gaming -
59:47 - 59:52experience on a PC that you
were able to find on consoles -
59:52 - 59:54or necessarily in arcades.
-
59:54 - 59:56TONY HAWK: It was also
one of the first games -
59:56 - 59:59to be played to a first
person perspective. -
59:59 - 60:02Since you needed to shoot
a lot of people to win, -
60:02 - 60:04it helped coin the
video genre title-- -
60:04 - 60:07first person shooter.
-
60:07 - 60:10- First person shooter is
where your eyes are the monitor -
60:10 - 60:13basically and you get to see
your hands or your weapons -
60:13 - 60:15or whatever in front
of you-- so it's you. -
60:15 - 60:17And first person to us was
the most successful interface -
60:17 - 60:18that there was,
because you didn't -
60:18 - 60:22have to think about
anything but just what -
60:22 - 60:24you're doing in the game.
-
60:24 - 60:26TONY HAWK: But the best
thing about Wolfenstein 3D -
60:26 - 60:28was the way it was sold.
-
60:28 - 60:30With more and more computers
hooking up to the internet, -
60:30 - 60:33Carmack and Romero could take
advantage of a new distribution -
60:33 - 60:36system called shareware.
-
60:36 - 60:39- Shareware was a really, really
radical concept at the time, -
60:39 - 60:42because what it basically
meant is that you would -
60:42 - 60:44be giving games away online--
-
60:44 - 60:48portions of a game, hoping
that people got hooked. -
60:48 - 60:51- Here's the first third in a
trilogy that you get for free -
60:51 - 60:53and you leave them with a
cliffhanger and all this stuff, -
60:53 - 60:55so they have to
buy the other two. -
60:55 - 60:59- And it was like crack
basically over the internet. -
60:59 - 61:01TONY HAWK: And a
lot of people got -
61:01 - 61:04hooked on Wolfenstein's
hardcore style. -
61:04 - 61:0618 months later,
Carmack and Romero -
61:06 - 61:08gave them their next fix.
-
61:08 - 61:11The game was called Doom.
-
61:11 - 61:14
-
61:14 - 61:17- December 10 of 1993
when we released Doom, -
61:17 - 61:20we'd been up for about 30
hours before that working. -
61:20 - 61:22- Id was trying to
get this uploaded, -
61:22 - 61:27but there were so many
people waiting online -
61:27 - 61:30that id could not
get in to upload it. -
61:30 - 61:31- And the files--
-
61:31 - 61:33it should had been
an empty directory-- -
61:33 - 61:35but people were putting
sentences in there -
61:35 - 61:37as file names.
-
61:37 - 61:39They're making, when
will it be here? -
61:39 - 61:40And hurry up and stuff.
-
61:40 - 61:42It's like a whole directory
full of sentences. -
61:42 - 61:45And we're just like,
these people are insane. -
61:45 - 61:50- What id had to do was to tell
everybody to just back off, -
61:50 - 61:53don't come on for a few minutes
while they upload the game. -
61:53 - 61:59
-
61:59 - 62:01TONY HAWK: When it came to
graphic action and intensity, -
62:01 - 62:04Doom pushed it farther
than Wolfenstein -
62:04 - 62:07and was an even bigger success.
-
62:07 - 62:10- My most seminal
gaming experience -
62:10 - 62:11was playing Doom
with my headphones -
62:11 - 62:14on late at night with my
wife asleep in the other room -
62:14 - 62:17and being really terrified.
-
62:17 - 62:18And feeling stupid
for being terrified, -
62:18 - 62:21but still being terrified.
-
62:21 - 62:24TONY HAWK: The other thing that
made Doom appealing to gamers -
62:24 - 62:28was its multi-player
capabilities. -
62:28 - 62:29- Go, go, go.
-
62:29 - 62:31TONY HAWK: Network a
few computers together -
62:31 - 62:32and you could start
shooting at your buddies -
62:32 - 62:33inside the same game.
-
62:33 - 62:34MAN: Here they come.
-
62:34 - 62:36Here they come.
-
62:36 - 62:40TONY HAWK: Carmack and Romero
called it death matching. -
62:40 - 62:41- But through all
of pretty much 1994, -
62:41 - 62:43I was just addicted
to death match. -
62:43 - 62:45It was just the
coolest thing I'd ever -
62:45 - 62:48experienced my entire life.
-
62:48 - 62:51TONY HAWK: For two young guys in
their 20s, the success of Doom -
62:51 - 62:53was a dream come true.
-
62:53 - 62:55Practically overnight,
the id software founders -
62:55 - 62:57had become multimillionaires.
-
62:57 - 63:00- I totally had fun
buying fun cars and houses -
63:00 - 63:02and all that kind of stuff.
-
63:02 - 63:03- Romero with show up
at gaming conventions -
63:03 - 63:06and there would be people
literally bowing at his feet -
63:06 - 63:07and doing the Wayne's World--
-
63:07 - 63:08I'm not worthy.
-
63:08 - 63:12They really were the
rock stars at that time. -
63:12 - 63:14And then, when all
of the controversy -
63:14 - 63:16came out for violent
games, then they -
63:16 - 63:21had all that too to kind
of stoke their image. -
63:21 - 63:23TONY HAWK: In the year
leading up to Doom's release, -
63:23 - 63:26violent video games had become
headline news makers, but not -
63:26 - 63:28in a good way.
-
63:28 - 63:30Popularity of games
like Street Fighter 2 -
63:30 - 63:33and Mortal Kombat among
young children and teenagers -
63:33 - 63:35had parents and
lawmakers blaming -
63:35 - 63:39video games for everything,
from unfinished homework -
63:39 - 63:42to antisocial behavior
and rising street crime. -
63:42 - 63:45In late 1993, the
issue was picked up -
63:45 - 63:47by Connecticut Senator
Joseph Lieberman -
63:47 - 63:50who formed a Senate committee
to investigate video game -
63:50 - 63:51violence.
-
63:51 - 63:54- We're not talking about
Pac-Man or Space Invaders -
63:54 - 63:55anymore.
-
63:55 - 63:59We're talking about video games
that too often glorify violence -
63:59 - 64:04and teach children to enjoy
inflicting the most gruesome -
64:04 - 64:07forms of cruelty imaginable.
-
64:07 - 64:09We are calling on the
video game industry -
64:09 - 64:12today to recognize its
responsibility to the parents -
64:12 - 64:13and children of this country.
-
64:13 - 64:16
-
64:16 - 64:18TONY HAWK: Lieberman's Senate
committee wagged their finger -
64:18 - 64:21at the uncensored
version of Mortal Kombat -
64:21 - 64:24and an obscure game
called Night Trap. -
64:24 - 64:27- In the game, you
play a guy who's -
64:27 - 64:31trying to protect a house
full of sorority girls that -
64:31 - 64:33are being attacked by these
fledgling vampires, who -
64:33 - 64:37apparently don't have fangs
yet so they use this drill -
64:37 - 64:40contraption that hooks up to the
neck and sucks their blood out. -
64:40 - 64:42The game wasn't
selling, it wasn't fun, -
64:42 - 64:45it was a silly game.
-
64:45 - 64:47TONY HAWK: Lieberman called
a gratuitous and offensive -
64:47 - 64:51and ought not to be available
to people in our society. -
64:51 - 64:54His comments turned Night Trap
into one of the biggest selling -
64:54 - 64:56games of the year.
-
64:56 - 64:58[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
64:58 - 65:00The result of the
government hearing -
65:00 - 65:02was that all major
game producers -
65:02 - 65:05agreed to set up the
Entertainment Software Rating -
65:05 - 65:07Board to rate games.
-
65:07 - 65:10Violence didn't go away, but
now it came with a warning. -
65:10 - 65:14- I was actually a key proponent
in the creation of the rating -
65:14 - 65:15system for video games.
-
65:15 - 65:18So I'm a big believer
in honest packaging -
65:18 - 65:20and providing consumers
with all the information -
65:20 - 65:22they need to make a
good product decision -
65:22 - 65:24and to know what
they're getting. -
65:24 - 65:26- If you don't let your
kids see r-rated movies, -
65:26 - 65:28you shouldn't let your
kids play m-rated games. -
65:28 - 65:31And once that becomes more
ingrained in American culture -
65:31 - 65:34in everyone's minds, then
the whole violence issue -
65:34 - 65:36in video games will
become less of an issue. -
65:36 - 65:38TONY HAWK: With the
government battle behind them, -
65:38 - 65:41Sega and Nintendo were now free
to start beating each other up -
65:41 - 65:43in the marketplace again.
-
65:43 - 65:46Sega fired the first volley
by announcing their plan -
65:46 - 65:47to launch a new
home system called -
65:47 - 65:50the Saturn, which would
operate exclusively -
65:50 - 65:51from a CD-ROM drive.
-
65:51 - 65:53- Nintendo said, well, if
they're going to do it, -
65:53 - 65:54we've got to do it.
-
65:54 - 65:57So Nintendo partnered
with Sony and they -
65:57 - 66:02created a CD player
for the Super Nintendo -
66:02 - 66:04called the PlayStation.
-
66:04 - 66:07Only then, Nintendo
decided, you know what, -
66:07 - 66:09we don't trust Sony very much.
-
66:09 - 66:11And they partnered
up with Phillips. -
66:11 - 66:13They left Sony
standing at the altar. -
66:13 - 66:15TONY HAWK: And as anyone who's
been left at the altar knows, -
66:15 - 66:17revenge can be sweet.
-
66:17 - 66:19
-
66:19 - 66:22Nintendo's and Phillip's
plans for a CD-ROM system -
66:22 - 66:26began to fall apart and
consumer electronics giant Sony -
66:26 - 66:28decided they could make it
in the video game industry -
66:28 - 66:30all by themselves.
-
66:30 - 66:32- They kept the name
PlayStation, which I think -
66:32 - 66:34was a real thumbing of
the nose at Nintendo. -
66:34 - 66:35- Everybody knows
Sony is a company that -
66:35 - 66:38makes Walkmans and electronics.
-
66:38 - 66:39And then gradually,
over time, consumers -
66:39 - 66:42have accepted that Sony
represents really good quality -
66:42 - 66:43stuff.
-
66:43 - 66:45It was a natural progression.
-
66:45 - 66:47And then with the PlayStation,
they just dropped the bomb -
66:47 - 66:49and it was incredibly.
-
66:49 - 66:53
-
66:53 - 66:55TONY HAWK: The Sony
PlayStation hit the shelves -
66:55 - 66:58in September, 1995
and immediately left -
66:58 - 67:02Sega's new system, the
Saturn, in the dust. -
67:02 - 67:06- Technologically, you could
tell that the Saturn way -
67:06 - 67:07behind the PlayStation.
-
67:07 - 67:09The PlayStation handled 3D.
-
67:09 - 67:12All of a sudden, there
was no competition, -
67:12 - 67:14because here's Sony,
they've got a better unit, -
67:14 - 67:19the unit is $100 cheaper and
they've got all the games. -
67:19 - 67:21You can't compete with
something like that. -
67:21 - 67:22TONY HAWK: Especially
when Lara Croft -
67:22 - 67:26was playing on their team.
-
67:26 - 67:28- Thank you.
-
67:28 - 67:31TONY HAWK: When Tomb Raider
first came out in 1996, -
67:31 - 67:34it was only available
for the PlayStation. -
67:34 - 67:38- You had not only a female lead
character, but a sexy one, who -
67:38 - 67:40had big boobs and short shorts.
-
67:40 - 67:43She became really popular and
the game itself was incredible. -
67:43 - 67:45So Tomb Raider was
one of the key games -
67:45 - 67:48that helped make PlayStation.
-
67:48 - 67:49TONY HAWK: Two of
the other games -
67:49 - 67:51that helped push the
PlayStation to success -
67:51 - 67:56were a fighting game called
Tekken and Crash Bandicoot. -
67:56 - 67:59Crash did for Sony
when Mario and Sonic -
67:59 - 68:01had done for their competitors.
-
68:01 - 68:03And the character became sort
of an unofficial PlayStation -
68:03 - 68:04mascot.
-
68:04 - 68:07
-
68:07 - 68:10Sega just couldn't compete
with the might of Sony. -
68:10 - 68:14In 1999, Sega launched another
console, the Dreamcast. -
68:14 - 68:17It bombed.
-
68:17 - 68:19Sega quietly dropped out
of the console market -
68:19 - 68:23to concentrate on
game development. -
68:23 - 68:25Sony planned to follow
up the PlayStation -
68:25 - 68:27with the PlayStation
2, which would -
68:27 - 68:32be more of a multimedia machine,
able to play CD music and DVD -
68:32 - 68:34movies.
-
68:34 - 68:35But just when it
looked like Nintendo -
68:35 - 68:38would be the only
competition, a Seattle -
68:38 - 68:41based company decided it was
time to get into the business. -
68:41 - 68:45Oh, and that company was just
about the biggest in the US-- -
68:45 - 68:47Microsoft.
-
68:47 - 68:48- There are a lot
of people saying, -
68:48 - 68:52Sony is going to
replace the PC with PS2. -
68:52 - 68:56It occurred to me that the
only way to really counter -
68:56 - 68:58that would be to make
a dedicated device, -
68:58 - 69:02to make your game console.
-
69:02 - 69:04TONY HAWK: But Microsoft
was all about software -
69:04 - 69:06and had trouble convincing
people in the game business -
69:06 - 69:09that they knew what
they were doing. -
69:09 - 69:11- And we had about six months
of not being taken seriously, -
69:11 - 69:14because I would show up or
some other guys would show up -
69:14 - 69:16and say, hey, we're
from Microsoft. -
69:16 - 69:19We're making a game console
that will compete with Sony now. -
69:19 - 69:20That's a hard thing to say.
-
69:20 - 69:22That's like saying, we're
from the government, -
69:22 - 69:23we're here to help.
-
69:23 - 69:28[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
69:28 - 69:30TONY HAWK: But it turned
out that Microsoft -
69:30 - 69:31did know what they were doing.
-
69:31 - 69:35CROWD: 4, 3, 2, 1.
-
69:35 - 69:36[CHEERING]
-
69:36 - 69:38TONY HAWK: They even
got the hardware was -
69:38 - 69:41useless without killer games.
-
69:41 - 69:45When the software giant
released the Xbox in 2001, -
69:45 - 69:49they had an exclusive on
first person shooter-- -
69:49 - 69:51Halo.
-
69:51 - 69:53- You look at that
successful console launches -
69:53 - 69:54and you'll see,
the console becomes -
69:54 - 69:56a player for the popular game.
-
69:56 - 69:58The Xbox became the Halo player.
-
69:58 - 70:01Yes, this black device with the
green circle on it plays Halo. -
70:01 - 70:04- Halo was a big hit,
because the critics loved it, -
70:04 - 70:06then the hardcore gamers
really picked up on it, -
70:06 - 70:08and then word of mouth spread.
-
70:08 - 70:10
-
70:10 - 70:12TONY HAWK: Microsoft might
have established their gaming -
70:12 - 70:15credentials, but along with
Nintendo's new mini-disc -
70:15 - 70:16system--
-
70:16 - 70:19the Game Cube-- the Xbox
was still chasing the market -
70:19 - 70:20leader--
-
70:20 - 70:22Sony's PlayStation 2.
-
70:22 - 70:24Now, some of the biggest
multimedia corporations -
70:24 - 70:27in the world were gaining
control of the video game -
70:27 - 70:27industry.
-
70:27 - 70:29Real proof that there
were big bucks to be made -
70:29 - 70:32and that video games were now a
major part of the entertainment -
70:32 - 70:32business.
-
70:32 - 70:35And as entertainers,
the game designers -
70:35 - 70:36would have to keep
the hits coming. -
70:36 - 70:41[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
70:41 - 70:43Games today have gone way
past the run, jump and shoot -
70:43 - 70:45basics of the early titles.
-
70:45 - 70:48Instead of blowing up aliens
and aiming for high scores, -
70:48 - 70:50gamers are looking for a
more realistic, immersive and -
70:50 - 70:52open-ended experience.
-
70:52 - 70:54And the gaming audience
is changing too. -
70:54 - 70:56Boys, girls, men, women--
-
70:56 - 70:58they're all getting
into games big time. -
70:58 - 71:01Whether it's attempting to
cubed a 900 on a skateboard -
71:01 - 71:03from the safety of
your couch, or deciding -
71:03 - 71:08how much to tax the residents
of your very own virtual city. -
71:08 - 71:11Back in the late '80s, Will
Wright, a young programmer -
71:11 - 71:13and hardcore gamer
was fascinated by how -
71:13 - 71:14cities and societies work.
-
71:14 - 71:17Urban planning might not
sound like the next hot thing -
71:17 - 71:18in entertainment,
but Will thought -
71:18 - 71:22it was a great idea for a game.
-
71:22 - 71:24- Well, Sim City
was basically a game -
71:24 - 71:25where you're designing a city.
-
71:25 - 71:27It's almost like a
paint program in a way-- -
71:27 - 71:29you have a pallet of parts,
but the parts in this case -
71:29 - 71:33are things like roads or
industrial zones or schools. -
71:33 - 71:34And as you paint, things happen.
-
71:34 - 71:37People start building houses,
traffic appears on the roads, -
71:37 - 71:39there's pollution,
there's crime. -
71:39 - 71:41So we released in '89.
-
71:41 - 71:43It was a very different
sort of game at the time. -
71:43 - 71:46At that time, still most games
were very action oriented, -
71:46 - 71:47very clear goals.
-
71:47 - 71:50And at first, we were having
a hard time getting anybody -
71:50 - 71:52to even play it.
-
71:52 - 71:53TONY HAWK: Until a
rave review in Newsweek -
71:53 - 71:57put Sim City on the map
and sent sales of the game -
71:57 - 71:58through the roof.
-
71:58 - 72:00And a new gaming
franchise was born. -
72:00 - 72:04
-
72:04 - 72:07But the big payday came when
Will applied his simulation -
72:07 - 72:11concepts to the human form.
-
72:11 - 72:14When the Sims debuted
in February of 2000, -
72:14 - 72:16players can now build
simulations of actual people -
72:16 - 72:18and run their lives.
-
72:18 - 72:19- It's effectively
a dollhouse where -
72:19 - 72:21you get to a virtual life.
-
72:21 - 72:22And it's really fun to play.
-
72:22 - 72:26I think it's one of the most
innovative games ever made. -
72:26 - 72:28- The Sims is one of the
games that my daughter -
72:28 - 72:30will play, it's one of the
games that my wife will play. -
72:30 - 72:35Sims is one that they're
immediately drawn to. -
72:35 - 72:37TONY HAWK: Will Wright wasn't
the only one giving gamers -
72:37 - 72:39the power to build
their own world. -
72:39 - 72:425,000 miles east of Silicon
Valley, in England to be exact, -
72:42 - 72:45British designer
Peter Molyneux also -
72:45 - 72:46had a new take on game play.
-
72:46 - 72:48- Instead of playing
a hero, or instead -
72:48 - 72:51of playing a character, or
a plumber, or a hedgehog, -
72:51 - 72:53why don't you play a god.
-
72:53 - 72:57That's the most powerful thing
that you could possibly be. -
72:57 - 72:59TONY HAWK: Molyneux's
game, Populace -
72:59 - 73:02sold over 4 million
copies and gave birth -
73:02 - 73:04to a new genre, the god game.
-
73:04 - 73:08- Rather than actually
controlling a single character -
73:08 - 73:10with your godly
powers, your influence -
73:10 - 73:12lots of little characters.
-
73:12 - 73:13- Just as when you
were little kids -
73:13 - 73:15and you were setting
up your GI Joe's -
73:15 - 73:17in the sandbox or
whatever, you're -
73:17 - 73:21doing the same thing now,
but with digital toys. -
73:21 - 73:23TONY HAWK: If some gamers
got juiced being God, -
73:23 - 73:25others wanted to get
their kicks by playing -
73:25 - 73:28with a bunch of friends inside
the virtual world of a game. -
73:28 - 73:30When the internet
exploded in the '90s, -
73:30 - 73:33technology was able to
deliver their fantasy. -
73:33 - 73:35One of the first games to
really hook into the concept -
73:35 - 73:42was Carmack and Romero's 1996
follow up to Doom, Quake. -
73:42 - 73:47- Quake enabled 16 people
to play over the internet. -
73:47 - 73:50And that really
just blew it open. -
73:50 - 73:53There started to
be teams of gamers -
73:53 - 73:54and they called
themselves clans. -
73:54 - 73:55- All right, go.
-
73:55 - 73:56- Go now.
-
73:56 - 73:58- I just wake up in
the morning and can't -
73:58 - 74:01wait to go hope on the
game and see who's there -
74:01 - 74:06or say hi or pop in
and go kill people. -
74:06 - 74:09[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
74:09 - 74:11TONY HAWK: Not
exactly the usual way -
74:11 - 74:12to win friends and
influence people. -
74:12 - 74:15Within months of Quake's
release, some of the clans -
74:15 - 74:20decided to have a get together,
so they can meet face to face. -
74:20 - 74:23- QuakeCon is really
a grassroots event. -
74:23 - 74:26It was about 50 guys that
wanted to get together, -
74:26 - 74:28because they met online,
and thought, well, -
74:28 - 74:30we'll just do it in Texas.
-
74:30 - 74:31And it just grew.
-
74:31 - 74:33- This has become
a yearly vacation. -
74:33 - 74:36It's my time to just
have fun, stay up late, -
74:36 - 74:41sleep late, meet people
I play against online. -
74:41 - 74:43- We're in a senior
gaming league -
74:43 - 74:45and we have our own competition.
-
74:45 - 74:49Anyone over the
age of 35 can play. -
74:49 - 74:50I just have fun.
-
74:50 - 74:54- We came out here to meet our
fellow teammates that we play -
74:54 - 74:55on-- it's NADs--
-
74:55 - 74:57North American Destroyers.
-
74:57 - 75:00And our NADs set up a group
for the younger children. -
75:00 - 75:01We call them NITs--
-
75:01 - 75:02NADS In Training.
-
75:02 - 75:05
-
75:05 - 75:07TONY HAWK: Seven years on
from their first fan fest, -
75:07 - 75:11QuakeCon attracts over
5,000 players every summer. -
75:11 - 75:15Texas in August, they've
got to love Quake. -
75:15 - 75:17It seemed people
couldn't get enough -
75:17 - 75:18of playing in big groups.
-
75:18 - 75:20So game designers started
coming up with games -
75:20 - 75:24that thousands of computer
gamers could play online. -
75:24 - 75:28- But when you go from 16 or
8 or 32 people to thousands, -
75:28 - 75:30it's massively multi-player.
-
75:30 - 75:32A massively multi-player
game is where -
75:32 - 75:34you are running
the game on your PC -
75:34 - 75:38and thousands of other people
are connecting to the server. -
75:38 - 75:40And that connection is allowing
you to interact with the game -
75:40 - 75:43and communicate with others.
-
75:43 - 75:46TONY HAWK: Hot titles included
Ultima Online, Lineage -
75:46 - 75:50and Everquest-- the
brainchild of John Smedley. -
75:50 - 75:53In 1999, he persuaded Sony to
create a whole new customer -
75:53 - 75:57service online so that 30,000
people could play at once. -
75:57 - 75:59- We make a world for
people to play in. -
75:59 - 76:01On Everquest, we
have a 60 person team -
76:01 - 76:05that does nothing but make
this world unique every day. -
76:05 - 76:08So when they come into work,
they're changing creatures, -
76:08 - 76:10they're adding new
quests, they're -
76:10 - 76:13looking at what the players
have done and saying, -
76:13 - 76:15OK, that's a little too easy
for them, let's tweak that, -
76:15 - 76:17or maybe that's too hard.
-
76:17 - 76:21- There are dragons and
orcs and fairies and giants -
76:21 - 76:23and all sorts of creatures.
-
76:23 - 76:26And it's supposed to be a
virtual world to the extent -
76:26 - 76:31that, whether you're logged on
or not, the world keeps going. -
76:31 - 76:33TONY HAWK: So much for the
stereotype of a nerdy gamer -
76:33 - 76:35playing on his own.
-
76:35 - 76:38Now gamers, including
women, were joining forces -
76:38 - 76:42to take on the
challenges of Everquest. -
76:42 - 76:44- Women are really into
forming relationships. -
76:44 - 76:46And so women do go
to these worlds. -
76:46 - 76:49You often find that they
become community leaders. -
76:49 - 76:53They become the center
of a social group. -
76:53 - 76:55TONY HAWK: Soon millions
of computer gamers -
76:55 - 76:57around the world we're
logging on to massively -
76:57 - 76:58multi-player games.
-
76:58 - 77:02
-
77:02 - 77:05PlayStation and Xbox jumped
on the bandwagon in 2002 -
77:05 - 77:07when they made the
latest versions -
77:07 - 77:09of their consoles
internet friendly. -
77:09 - 77:12- The console online
scheme is really -
77:12 - 77:14just a response to the PC.
-
77:14 - 77:16They're looking at what's
happening on the PC -
77:16 - 77:18and saying, well,
we can do that too. -
77:18 - 77:20- If the game is entertaining
and you put it online -
77:20 - 77:22and it's entertaining
online, then it's awesome. -
77:22 - 77:24It's entertainment squared.
-
77:24 - 77:26If it's a bad game
and you put it online, -
77:26 - 77:28you're just spreading the misery
around in a more efficient way. -
77:28 - 77:32
-
77:32 - 77:33TONY HAWK: You probably
won't believe it -
77:33 - 77:37when we tell you this, but not
everyone plays games for fun. -
77:37 - 77:39Remember how back
in 1980, the US Army -
77:39 - 77:40ordered a special
version of Battlezone -
77:40 - 77:43from Atari to train the troops?
-
77:43 - 77:45The Marines even had
their own version of Doom -
77:45 - 77:49in 1994 to teach
teamwork skills. -
77:49 - 77:5321st century army recruits
are tech savvy and into video -
77:53 - 77:55games big time.
-
77:55 - 77:57So it made sense
for the military -
77:57 - 77:59to tap into all that expertise.
-
77:59 - 78:02- With these kids playing
13 hours, 20 hours a week-- -
78:02 - 78:03video games--
-
78:03 - 78:05these thumbs are very
agile, they know joysticks, -
78:05 - 78:06they know triggers.
-
78:06 - 78:08And they said, let's just
make our interfaces like that -
78:08 - 78:10and we're already
over the first hurdle -
78:10 - 78:14in getting them to kind of feel
comfortable in these systems. -
78:14 - 78:15TONY HAWK: In 2002,
the army gave away -
78:15 - 78:19a game called America's
Army to the American public. -
78:19 - 78:24Intended to test wannabe GIs,
it turned into a smash hit. -
78:24 - 78:27Then they drafted
Pandemic Studios -
78:27 - 78:28onto a top secret project.
-
78:28 - 78:31
-
78:31 - 78:34They wanted a game that would
get recruits ready for combat -
78:34 - 78:36without putting them at risk.
-
78:36 - 78:38Full Spectrum Warrior.
-
78:38 - 78:40- It's not a war
game where you are -
78:40 - 78:42running around and
celebrating the fact -
78:42 - 78:43that you're killing people.
-
78:43 - 78:46Your goal is to advance
to a certain location -
78:46 - 78:49or secure something to make
sure your men are safe. -
78:49 - 78:53It's a very different take
on other military games. -
78:53 - 78:54TONY HAWK: The army
also had a plan -
78:54 - 79:00to create a retail version
of Full Spectrum Warrior. -
79:00 - 79:03Of course, the GI Joe
game needed a few tweaks -
79:03 - 79:04to make it play for
a general public. -
79:04 - 79:07- The army product was made for
sergeants who are already fully -
79:07 - 79:08trained, years of experience.
-
79:08 - 79:11We couldn't make that assumption
with the average game player. -
79:11 - 79:15So it's up to us to teach as
you play all of the Army tactics -
79:15 - 79:16that the soldiers had
spent years learning. -
79:16 - 79:19- It's a design challenge,
because we're moving away -
79:19 - 79:21from the sim into the
purely entertainment -
79:21 - 79:23aspect of the game.
-
79:23 - 79:25So we were trying to
find creative ways -
79:25 - 79:28to keep it authentic, but
also keep the pace going. -
79:28 - 79:33Keep you moving forward, get
the action level up a bit. -
79:33 - 79:36[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
79:36 - 79:38TONY HAWK: Playing
the commercial version -
79:38 - 79:39might just be one of
the best recruiting -
79:39 - 79:42tools the Army could dream up.
-
79:42 - 79:45- Video games actively improve
your hand eye coordination -
79:45 - 79:47and can train you
directly in things that -
79:47 - 79:49are relevant to the military.
-
79:49 - 79:50They're planting those
seeds in your head -
79:50 - 79:51when you're really young--
-
79:51 - 79:53hey, you want to
be a super soldier, -
79:53 - 79:56or to play games-- the
Army is the place to go. -
79:56 - 79:58
-
79:58 - 80:00TONY HAWK: It's pretty ironic
that the same government that -
80:00 - 80:02a few years ago
hammered the video game -
80:02 - 80:04industry for
damaging young minds -
80:04 - 80:06and is now using the same
tools to hook and train -
80:06 - 80:09their raw recruits.
-
80:09 - 80:11The video game industry is
still full of surprises. -
80:11 - 80:13And now the biggest surprises
are not just the games -
80:13 - 80:16themselves, but who's playing,
how many billions of dollars -
80:16 - 80:20are involved and who wants
to be part of the action. -
80:20 - 80:23[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
80:23 - 80:26So video games have been
with us since the 1970s, -
80:26 - 80:28moving from arcades
to home consoles -
80:28 - 80:30to handhelds and cell
phones like this. -
80:30 - 80:32They've become
essential entertainment -
80:32 - 80:33for a whole generation.
-
80:33 - 80:36And with gross revenues of
over $20 billion a year, -
80:36 - 80:38the video game industry
is making more money -
80:38 - 80:39than the movie business.
-
80:39 - 80:42But they also continue to be a
lightning rod for controversy. -
80:42 - 80:44Anytime there's
trouble in society, -
80:44 - 80:46video games still get a
big chunk of the blame. -
80:46 - 80:49
-
80:49 - 80:54In 1999, two students went
on a horrific shooting spree -
80:54 - 80:55at their school and Columbine.
-
80:55 - 80:59And as society
searched for a reason, -
80:59 - 81:02people began to
blame video games. -
81:02 - 81:04- There was a videotape,
much later I think, -
81:04 - 81:07released of Eric Harris
talking about how -
81:07 - 81:10shooting up a high school saying
it would be just like Doom. -
81:10 - 81:13And the press ran with it.
-
81:13 - 81:15- They just said,
you know what, this -
81:15 - 81:17is bad for America's morality.
-
81:17 - 81:19It's corrupting kids
and it's causing kids -
81:19 - 81:21to do all sorts of bad
things, when there's -
81:21 - 81:24quite a bunch of problems making
kids do bad things nowadays. -
81:24 - 81:27- There's no correlation between
video games and human violence. -
81:27 - 81:28Human violence has
always been with us. -
81:28 - 81:31We're in a society
where politicians -
81:31 - 81:34and the special interest
groups pick on the new media. -
81:34 - 81:37It just underscores the fact
that it's not about video games -
81:37 - 81:39at all.
-
81:39 - 81:40TONY HAWK: And
with recent titles -
81:40 - 81:43like Max Pain and the
Grand Theft Auto series, -
81:43 - 81:46the controversy continues.
-
81:46 - 81:47Who knows if it will ever end.
-
81:47 - 81:52
-
81:52 - 81:57In 2004, 145 million Americans
are playing video games. -
81:57 - 81:59That's more than half of us.
-
81:59 - 82:01And they're not all
lonely teenage kids -
82:01 - 82:04sitting in a dark room
playing for hours on end. -
82:04 - 82:07- People still have this idea,
particularly in the United -
82:07 - 82:11States, that games are something
for a 14-year-old skater -
82:11 - 82:13criminals to do to avoid
doing their homework. -
82:13 - 82:17And when you point out that the
middle of our demographic is -
82:17 - 82:19the 26-year-old with a
lot of expendable income-- -
82:19 - 82:21is probably professional--
-
82:21 - 82:24they just refuse to believe it.
-
82:24 - 82:26- The female gaming
population is actually -
82:26 - 82:29the quickest growing segment
of the video game business. -
82:29 - 82:33- Almost every girl my age
has played a game in her life -
82:33 - 82:37and would not call
herself a gamer, but is. -
82:37 - 82:40TONY HAWK: Now 28% of
video gamers are women. -
82:40 - 82:43And for PC players, the
numbers are even higher-- -
82:43 - 82:4341%.
-
82:43 - 82:46
-
82:46 - 82:48With such a diverse
audience, the industry -
82:48 - 82:51has to use every available
resource to keep them hooked. -
82:51 - 82:54
-
82:54 - 82:57Thanks to the mega processing
power of 21st century -
82:57 - 82:59computers, programmers
have been able to develop -
82:59 - 83:02artificial intelligence,
which means -
83:02 - 83:04that non-player
characters in games -
83:04 - 83:07can apparently think
for themselves. -
83:07 - 83:09- What artificial
intelligence should do -
83:09 - 83:14is look at what you, a player,
enjoy, and what you, a player, -
83:14 - 83:17doesn't enjoy and adapt
the game accordingly. -
83:17 - 83:20Not only adapt
the challenges you -
83:20 - 83:23face, the opponents you face,
but adapt the storyline, -
83:23 - 83:26adapt the world itself.
-
83:26 - 83:30Yes, ultimately, we could
all be playing the same game, -
83:30 - 83:33but having a completely
different experience. -
83:33 - 83:37[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
83:37 - 83:39TONY HAWK: Sports
games are still huge, -
83:39 - 83:41and they've kept up with the
explosion of action sports -
83:41 - 83:43like snowboarding and
BMX and a little thing -
83:43 - 83:44called skateboarding.
-
83:44 - 83:47And there's some games here
I can really recommend. -
83:47 - 83:49In the latest one called
Tony Hawks Underground, -
83:49 - 83:52you could email a picture of
yourself to Neversoft, download -
83:52 - 83:55from their server, you match
up the points to your face -
83:55 - 83:57and you're in the game.
-
83:57 - 84:00It's pretty cool
if I say so myself. -
84:00 - 84:02- Whoa, not bad.
-
84:02 - 84:03Where are you from?
-
84:03 - 84:06- I came all the way down from
New Jersey for the Tampa Am. -
84:06 - 84:08- Talk about a
surprise attack, if you -
84:08 - 84:09stay on your board
tomorrow, you'll -
84:09 - 84:12walk away with the contest.
-
84:12 - 84:14TONY HAWK: Another method
of customizing games -
84:14 - 84:18has been around since the early
'90s when John Carmack and John -
84:18 - 84:20Romero put out software
that let gamers make -
84:20 - 84:22their own versions of Doom.
-
84:22 - 84:25Just like hot rodders
personalizing their cars, -
84:25 - 84:29gamers could now
modify or mod Doom, -
84:29 - 84:32bringing the gaming experience
to a new and even more personal -
84:32 - 84:33level.
-
84:33 - 84:35MAN: Game over man.
-
84:35 - 84:36- I put out all the
information out there -
84:36 - 84:38for how the sectors
and line segments -
84:38 - 84:41and everything was organized.
-
84:41 - 84:43So everyone had the information,
they could write tools for. -
84:43 - 84:46And that was the start
of the whole mod scene. -
84:46 - 84:47- Doom spawned
this whole culture -
84:47 - 84:50of mod making, which
was incredibly far -
84:50 - 84:53reaching and important,
because it was really -
84:53 - 84:56weaning the next generation
of game developers. -
84:56 - 84:59
-
84:59 - 85:01TONY HAWK: Check it out,
the next wave of designers -
85:01 - 85:04can even go to school to learn
how to create video games. -
85:04 - 85:08- For me, game design is design
field, like architecture. -
85:08 - 85:12It should have courses,
departments, whole schools -
85:12 - 85:15dedicated to it.
-
85:15 - 85:19TONY HAWK: At schools like
USC and the DigiPen Institute -
85:19 - 85:22of Technology in Seattle,
a degree in game design -
85:22 - 85:24is more than just a
workout for the thumbs. -
85:24 - 85:26- We want to teach
people how to be -
85:26 - 85:30critical thinkers
about this rich medium -
85:30 - 85:34that there isn't historically a
lot of academic grounding too. -
85:34 - 85:38- We have the Faculty of Science
and the Faculty of Fine Arts. -
85:38 - 85:41You may not have bargained
for so much math. -
85:41 - 85:43You may not have bargained
for so much physics. -
85:43 - 85:45You thought that if
you played video games, -
85:45 - 85:47you were going to be good at it.
-
85:47 - 85:50- Having more game related
studies in the university -
85:50 - 85:53context is part of
what needs to happen -
85:53 - 85:56for games to become a more
mature pop cultural medium. -
85:56 - 85:59
-
85:59 - 86:00TONY HAWK: But
future graduates will -
86:00 - 86:02have to be pretty
determined, because none -
86:02 - 86:07of the video pioneers are
going away anytime soon. -
86:07 - 86:10After 30 years in the business,
Atari founder Nolan Bushnell -
86:10 - 86:12is still coming up with ideas.
-
86:12 - 86:15His latest is called
uWink Inc, touch -
86:15 - 86:17screen coin-operated games.
-
86:17 - 86:20- We're generally
in adult locations. -
86:20 - 86:23Simple games, a little bit
Atari-esk, if you would. -
86:23 - 86:27Games that are well produced
and operate for adults. -
86:27 - 86:29You can sit down, you
play for a few minutes -
86:29 - 86:32and have a good time.
-
86:32 - 86:34TONY HAWK: And Nolan's
first company, Atari, -
86:34 - 86:37has changed hands a few
times and hit rock bottom -
86:37 - 86:40more than once, but
they've stormed back -
86:40 - 86:43with a slew of hit games like
Enter The Matrix and Unreal -
86:43 - 86:46Tournament.
-
86:46 - 86:49The rock star designers are
also looking at new ways -
86:49 - 86:51to deliver great games to us.
-
86:51 - 86:53Everyone's got a
cell phone, right? -
86:53 - 86:57With a cell phone, you can play
video games anytime, anywhere. -
86:57 - 86:58- Even though the
handset may not -
86:58 - 87:00have a lot of
computing power itself, -
87:00 - 87:04it's connected to an incredibly
vast computer network. -
87:04 - 87:09- I saw that now mobile
devices like PDAs -
87:09 - 87:12had the power to actually
play games well on them. -
87:12 - 87:14That's always kind of going
in the back of my mind -
87:14 - 87:17is, how can I do something else
that I think would be a killer -
87:17 - 87:19app for this new platform.
-
87:19 - 87:20TONY HAWK: With all
those guys still -
87:20 - 87:22pushing the envelope
and new designers -
87:22 - 87:24joining their ranks
every day, we can't even -
87:24 - 87:27imagine what games are going
to look like 10 years from now. -
87:27 - 87:32[MUSIC PLAYING]
-
87:32 - 87:35In just a few short
decades, video games -
87:35 - 87:37have led an
entertainment revolution. -
87:37 - 87:40Movies, television, they haven't
been the same since video games -
87:40 - 87:41arrived on the scene.
-
87:41 - 87:43- There's a perception
in the game industry -
87:43 - 87:46that games are in their infancy.
-
87:46 - 87:48We've achieved a
lot, but we're far -
87:48 - 87:50from where it's going to be.
-
87:50 - 87:52- And more than that, they
continue to massively impact -
87:52 - 87:54every aspect of our culture,
influencing everything -
87:54 - 87:57from education to the military.
-
87:57 - 87:59- People really do
wonder, how can we play -
87:59 - 88:00that damn thing for 40 hours?
-
88:00 - 88:03I mean, think about
40 hours a game. -
88:03 - 88:05It must be deep, it must
be doing something for you. -
88:05 - 88:07So the emotional experience we
have with games is something -
88:07 - 88:09everybody can have with games.
-
88:09 - 88:12
-
88:12 - 88:14- As the debate over their
violence and addictiveness -
88:14 - 88:16rages on, video
games also continue -
88:16 - 88:19to drive the leading edge
of computer technology, -
88:19 - 88:21opening players minds to
new concepts of strategy -
88:21 - 88:23and tactical thinking
and capturing -
88:23 - 88:26the attention of the world
in bold and unexpected ways. -
88:26 - 88:28- In the next 20
years, the person -
88:28 - 88:30who is in the White
House will have -
88:30 - 88:32played Super Mario Brothers.
-
88:32 - 88:34And what will that
mean for the way -
88:34 - 88:36that they think about
policy or the way -
88:36 - 88:38they think about resource
distribution or the way -
88:38 - 88:42they think about
problem solving. -
88:42 - 88:45- People in their 30s who
grew up playing this stuff -
88:45 - 88:47are now paying attention to it.
-
88:47 - 88:48And we don't think
twice about it. -
88:48 - 88:51And we don't think these
games are just for kids. -
88:51 - 88:54We don't think these games are
destroying the fabric of youth. -
88:54 - 88:57For us, it's just like
music, it's just like TV, -
88:57 - 88:59is just like film.
-
88:59 - 88:59It's part of life.
-
88:59 - 89:02
-
89:02 - 89:04- And thanks to the vision
of the guys behind the games, -
89:04 - 89:07there's a limit to where
they'll take us in the future. -
89:07 - 89:10The video invasion
is just beginning. -
89:10 - 89:18
-
89:18 - 89:21[OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING]
-
89:21 - 90:21
-
90:21 - 90:22WOMAN: GSN.
-
90:22 - 90:24GSN.
-
90:24 - 90:25
- Title:
- Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession [2004]
- Description:
-
Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession is a 2004 documentary exploring the history of the video game, from the arcade and all the way to the Xbox, hosted by skateboard legend Tony Hawk.
Please visit : http://gameplayerspecial.com
Like Us on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/GamePlayerSpecialThank you !!!!
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 01:30:26
![]() |
ut_captioning edited English subtitles for Video Game Invasion: The History of a Global Obsession [2004] |