Jos Kirps is the creator of several software and web projects, including Galaxiki, a fictional galaxy where site members can get their own solar system and the Open Source CorneliOS webOS.
When asked about the very first video game ever released most experts will tell you that it was Pong, the famous table tennis inspired video game released in 1972 by Atari Inc. But Pong wasn't the first one, as a company called Nutting Associates had already released their Computer Space game in 1971.
Computer Space was created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabne, who later founded Atari. The gaming idea was based on Spacewar! (see below), but the really revolutionary concept was to create a machine specifically for a game (instead of programming a game for an existing hardware). The classic arcade game had been invented.
The game was quite simple, you had to control a space ship and would fire missiles at flying saucers. Computer Space's technology was very primitive - no microprocessor and no modern memory architecture, the entire minimalistic computer was made of only 74 logic circuits using diode arrays as memory. But it came in an outstanding futuristic cabinet, which was available in various colors.
While the Computer Space game was quite successful on college campuses, it didn't perform well in bars. It was probably too complicated back then, as people had never seen such a kind of game before. Pong, which was a huge success only shortly after, was much more easy to play and to understand.
While Computer Space was the first computer game available for the public, the were games even before it. Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck had programmed Galaxy Game two months before Computer Space was released (in September 1971), but it was only available at Stanford University. Galaxy Game, again, was based on Spacewar!, a game created on a PDP-1 back in 1961 by Steve "Slug" Russell, Martin "Shag" Graetz and Wayne Wiitanen.
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Cafe World Domination - Cafe World Domination Guide Review
By: Rose Daly | 23/12/2009Do you love playing Cafe World? Do you want to get ahead of the game and cook all the dishes that you want, buy all the decors, walls, chairs and tables you like? Well, you are on the right track. If you want to discover more tips, secrets and more strategies then Cafe World Domination can help you with it.
Cafe World Game Tips - Cafe World Domination
By: Rose Daly | 23/12/2009Playing Cafe World is such a fun and addicting thing to do. You can spend hours in front of your computer playing this game. Zynga Games definitely hit the jackpot with Cafe World. Many people are searching for more Cafe World Game Tips that they can use to advance into the game. This is a very enjoyable and fun game, I am sure you will love it like many people do.
Guides To Dominate Cafe World - Cafe World Domination
By: Rose Daly | 23/12/2009If there is one game that I am sure most of us are enjoying, it would probably be Cafe World. More and more people are addicted to this fun and enjoyable game. One can help but become addicted to the latest game craze in town. Try asking your friend what is the game he/she is enjoying today, one of the top answers would be Cafe World. Since many people have become addicted to it, many guides to dominate Cafe World have sprouted. No one can blame them.
The consequences of having a bad alignment and the flaws of the alignment system
By: hally | 23/12/2009Having a bad alignment and getting red do come with some consequences. Everyone both previous friends and opponents in the game will regard you as an obvious target, in addition, you are no longer popular to your own racial towns who in turn hate you, and what is the worse, you will be attacked by the guard towers. You can not enjoy the same rights as normal players, for example, you are not permitted to bind at the same bindstone as normal players.
Beginner's Guide to Farming Kinah In Aion
By: Emma | 23/12/2009Every one always needs Kinah. Most do not want to spend countless number of hours farming for little to no profit. These are some of the more effective methods for farming Kinah and be able to afford some of those pretty orange items.
MapleStory Rogue & Hermit Builds
By: Emma | 23/12/2009This is an introduction to the extraordinary class of Thieves, Assassins, and Hermits. Well, what we say, this is our favorite class in the game. We mean, cmon, you get to be a ninja who jumps around tossing hoards of awesome-looking throwing stars everwhere. What's there not to like? At level 80, you even get to become a Pirate.
The Runescape Cooking Skill
By: Rebecca | 23/12/2009A look at the cooking skill in Runescape and how you can create any recipe with just a stove, fire, or a cooking spit.
The Most Popular Dress Up Games
By: Erin Petersson | 23/12/2009Girls are fond of playing dress up games online. Anyone can play barbie , bratz, wedding, couple or animal dress up games. The best dress up games are the ones that are timeless.
They Killed a 14 Year Old Boy, Just to See if it Was Possible to Commit the Perfect Crime
By: Jos Kirps | 17/01/2008 | News & SocietyNathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were two wealthy University students who murdered a 14 year old boy in 1924. They were only 19 and 18 years old, and they killed the boy just to prove themselves that it was possible to commit a perfect crime.
Intellivision: a Game Console Far Ahead of Its Time
By: Jos Kirps | 17/01/2008 | Computer GamesIntellivision was the first 16 bit game console ever released and introduced a lot of new concepts and technologies: innovative game controllers, superior graphics and sound, game downloads, home computer extensions, a voice synthesis device and a synthesizer keyboard for example.
How to Get your Own Domain Name
By: Jos Kirps | 17/01/2008 | Domain NamesA lot of people now have a blog, many more are planning to get one and some people even run an entire website. An own domain name would be cool - but now that domain names are quite inexpensive it becomes in fact very hard to find an available one.
A Tribute to Captain Future
By: Jos Kirps | 17/01/2008 | TelevisionCaptain Future is science fiction character invented by writer Edmond Hamilton. Captain Future first became popular during the 1940's when stories about the character were published in pulp magazines, later on he got his own magazine and finally he got cult status after the anime series was produced in the late 1970's.
The Worst Movie Ever: a Turkish Star Wars Clone
By: Jos Kirps | 17/01/2008 | MoviesThere are many bad sci-fi movies, and for many years movie addicts even considered Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" to be the worst movie of all times. But "Plan 9" is still a pretty good movie when compared to "Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam", a film commonly known as "Turkish Star Wars".
How to Put a Virtual Solar System Onto your Website or Blog
By: Jos Kirps | 17/01/2008 | BloggingWouldn't it be cool if you could place a solar system with exoplanets onto your site? Okay, this may sound quite irritating, so let me explain...
Do you Know What a Moon Buggy Is?
By: Jos Kirps | 16/01/2008 | ScienceThe Lunar Rover (sometimes also called the "moon buggy", and officially named Lunar Roving Vehicle - LRV) was a surface exploration rover used on the Moon during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions.