1950s
The transistor revolution begins. Early video games emerge from research labs.
1950
5 eventsAl Charpentier born
The visual architect of the VIC-II
Bob Wakelin born
Ocean's visual voice
Dave Lebling born
The other Zork creator
Martin Alper born
Budget games pioneer
State Machines
State machines bring order to complex game logic—managing title screens, gameplay, pauses, and game-overs through clear transitions and isolated behaviour.
1951
1 event1952
3 eventsLight Pen
The forgotten input device that let users draw directly on CRT screens, popular for art software in the 1980s.
OXO: the first graphical video game
Alexander Douglas creates OXO (noughts and crosses) for his Cambridge PhD thesis, the earliest known game with a visual display.
Shigeru Miyamoto born
The father of modern game design
1953
4 events1954
10 eventsCommodore
From typewriter repair to the best-selling computer ever, Commodore's C64 and Amiga defined home computing for millions.
David Crane born
The man who made Pitfall!
First fully transistorised computer built
The TRADIC, built by Bell Labs for the US Air Force, becomes the first computer to use transistors instead of vacuum tubes throughout.
Geoff Crammond born
The racing simulation pioneer
Jim Sachs born
Amiga pixel art master
Marc Blank born
Zork's architect
Sid Meier born
Civilisation's father
Steven Vickers born
Architect of Sinclair BASIC
Tim Jenison born
NewTek founder
Toni Baker born
Voice of ZX assembly
1955
3 events1956
3 events1957
5 eventsDavid Whittaker born
The prolific game composer
Galoob
The American toy company that distributed the Game Genie and won the landmark lawsuit against Nintendo, establishing the legality of game enhancement devices.
Hip Tanaka born
The sound of Nintendo
Howard Scott Warshaw born
The E.T. developer
Steve Meretzky born
Infocom's comedy genius
1958
7 eventsDale Luck born
Amiga graphics pioneer
Dan Silva born
Creator of Deluxe Paint
Midway
Midway distributed classic arcade games including Pac-Man and Galaga in the US, later creating controversial hits like Mortal Kombat that sparked industry-wide content debates.
Midway Games
Midway Games dominated American arcades with Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and other hits before financial troubles led to bankruptcy and the rise of NetherRealm Studios.
The integrated circuit is invented
Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments creates the first integrated circuit, putting multiple transistors on a single chip and launching the microelectronics revolution.
The Stamper Brothers born
Rare's founding visionaries
Yu Suzuki born
Sega's arcade visionary