A brief history of video games (Part I) - Safwat Saleem

电子游戏简史 (第一部分) - Safwat Saleem

翻译人员: zicheng zhou 校对人员: Chenlu Wang

Hi, I'm Medium Invader

大家好，我是来自经典电子游戏

from the classic video game Space Invaders,

Space Invaders（太空侵略者）的 Medium Invader，

and I want to tell you a little bit

今天我来和大家讲讲

about where video games came from.

电子游戏是怎么来的。

A video game is an electronic game

电子游戏是一种

that has an interface designed for human interaction

可以在显示屏界面上与人们相互交流的

on a video device.

电子类游戏。

Simple.

简单点说，

Video games are used by scientists,

电子游戏的使用人群中有科学家，

the military,

军人，

and people like you,

还有像你一样的人，

and their evolution has spread across arcades,

它们的进化经历了大型游戏机台，

consoles,

computers,

家用游戏机，

电脑，

smart phones,

智能手机，

and all kinds of other electronics.

以及各种其他电子设备

These days video games are everywhere,

这几年到处都是电子游戏，

but they were actually made in science labs.

但其实它们是在实验室中制造的。

In fact, the earliest U.S. video game patent on record

实际上，美国记录上最早的电子游戏专利证书

was in 1948,

是1948年申请的，

and at the time it was referred to

而在那时，它被称为

as a cathode-ray tube amusement device.

阴极射线管娱乐设备。

That's a mouthful!

真拗口啊！

Some of the earliest video games include

最早的电子游戏包括

the Nimrod computer,

The Nimrod computer（尼姆罗德计算机），

OXO,

oxo（圈差圈），

Tennis for Two,

Tennis for Two (双人网球)，

and my personal favorite, Spacewar!

以及我最喜欢的，Spacewar （太空之战）！

But none of these early video games

但是这些早期游戏中没有任何一款

were ever sold to the public

卖给过平民百姓

because they were either too huge

因为它们要么太庞大

or too expensive

要么贵的要死

to get out of the lab.

完全拿不出实验室。

This all changed when a man named Ralph Baer

但是一个叫 Ralph Baer 的人看电视时

looked at his television screen and wondered

突然想到电视屏幕完全可以干别的事情

how else it might be used.

从此改变了一切。

In 1972, Baer's idea to get video games

1972年，Baer 把电子游戏

out of the science lab and into the living room

从实验室搬到客厅的主意

led to the release of a game console

导致了家用游戏机的发行

called Odyssey.

它叫 Odyssey （奥德赛）

Odyssey allowed you to play a game on your TV.

奥德赛使你可以在电视机上玩游戏

At about the same time,

几乎同时，

two other people, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney,

另外两人，Nolan Bushnell 和 Ted Dabney

were working on something similar

在一个叫Atari （雅达利）的小公司

in a little company called Atari.

着手干一件差不多的事情

You might have heard of it,

你有可能听说过，

and even if you haven't,

也有可能没有。

I'm sure that your Dad has.

但我肯定你爸爸听说过。

Atari's first major game release was in 1972,

雅达利首款主打游戏于1972年发行，

an arcade game called Pong.

是一款叫 Pong 的游戏。

It was an immediate hit,

顿时引起了极大轰动。

and it's credited

这款游戏也被誉为

as the first commercially successful video game.

首款获得成功的商业化游戏。

Atari then released a home version of Pong in 1974.

之后雅达利于1974年又推出了 Pong 的家庭版

By 1978, competition between Atari

到了1978年，雅达利

and another game company called Midway

与另一家电子游戏公司 Midway 之间的竞争

was heating up.

开始升温。

Midway had licensed an arcade game

Midway为日本

for the Japanese company, Taito,

Taito（太东）公司注册了一款的街机游戏

that put them on the map.

使它们名声大噪。

The game:

这款游戏：

Space Invaders.

Space Invaders（太空侵略者）。

It featured iconic actors, like me,

创造了许多和我一样有代表性的角色

and it went on to become

并且在日后变为

the second highest selling arcade game of all time.

有史以来销量排行第二的电子游戏。

Space Invaders also helped kick off

Space Invader 帮忙敲开了

what is known as the Golden Age of Arcade Games.

被称为街机游戏黄金时代的大门。

In response, Atari followed

作为回应，雅达利很快发行了

with the release of the arcade game Asteroids,

电子游戏 Asteriods（打陨石），

which ranked sixth on the list

并且在电子游戏销售排名上

of highest selling arcade games.

排到第六。

It was a good game,

它是一款好游戏

but it's no Space Invaders.

但它不是 Space Invaders。

By 1980, color came to arcade games,

到了1980年，街机游戏开始有了颜色。

and this was also the year

同年，

that another video gaming milestone was born.

又一个划时代的游戏出现了

Pac-Man, created by the Japanese company Namco,

由日本Namco（南梦宫）公司创造的Pac-Man（食豆小子）

was brought to the U.S. by Midway.

被 Midway 引入美国。

Important to the spread

如果要说哪款游戏对于

of video games into popular culture,

电子游戏进入大众文化是至关重要的话

Pac-Man was a character that could be licensed.

食豆小子一定少不了。

It wasn't long before it had a song on the charts,

很快它就有了一首主题曲，

a Saturday morning television show,

星期六早间电视秀，

and all sorts of other products.

以及各种周边产品。

In just a year, Pac-Man arcade games

在一年内，食豆小子街机游戏

made over one billion dollars in quarters.

就赚了超过10亿美元。

Then, in 1981, a company called Nintendo

然后，1981年，一个叫Nintendo（任天堂）的公司

started making waves in the U.S. video game market

开始在美国电子游戏市场里活跃起来

with their release of Donkey Kong.

他们发行了游戏Donkey Kong（大金刚）。

It was the earliest video game

是第一个有故事情节

to have a story line.

的电子游戏。

The story went a bit like this:

故事大致是这样的

Donkey Kong is the pet

大金刚是一名木匠

of a carpenter named Jumpman.

Jumpman（跳人）的宠物

Jumpman mistreats his pet ape,

跳人没有把自己的猩猩养好，

so the ape steals his girlfriend,

于是这只猩猩就偷了他的女朋友，

leaving the game player to assume the role

让玩家扮演这个跳人的角色

of Jumpman and rescue the girl.

去英雄救美。

Jumpman was eventually renamed to Mario.

跳人最终被改名为Mario（马里奥）。

Other iconic arcade games from the early 80s include

80年代标志性的街机游戏还有

Frogger,

Frogger（青蛙过河）

Dragon's Lair,

Dragon‘s Lair（龙穴历险记）

and Mario Brothers.

以及Mario Brothers（马里奥兄弟）。

Perhaps the last iconic game considered

也许最后一个街机游戏黄金时代的

to be part of the Golden Age of Arcade Games

标志性游戏可以被认为是

is Double Dragon.

Double Dragon（双截龙）。

It was the first really successful example

它是第一个打杀型游戏的

of the beat-them-up genre.

成功典范。

It was released in 1987,

它于1987年发行，

and, like Donkey Kong,

和大金刚一样

it featured a damsel in distress storyline,

它也是一个美女被困的剧情

a storyline common in many video games.

这种剧情貌似已经在游戏中泛滥。

By the mid-90s, the Golden Age of Arcade Games

到了90年代中期，街机游戏的黄金时代

was coming to an end,

终于告终，

and the home game console

而家用游戏机

was gaining in popularity.

人气开始暴涨。

While arcade games continued

当街机游戏的销售额

to decline in sales over the years,

几年持续下滑的同时，

the popularity of video games was merely beginning,

电子游戏的普及才刚刚开始

and we'll talk about that

我们会在电子游戏简史

and a lot more

第二部分中

in part two of a brief history of video games.

讨论更多内容。