1973: Lunar Lander
Category: Mainframe
The first version of Lunar Lander is developed for DEC GT40 graphics terminals. In this game, players have to ration a limited amount of fuel to smoothly land on the surface of the moon. Like many other firsts, this game would be followed by a long series of ports and remakes, among them an Arcade conversion by Atari in 1979.
Play it
Play the official online version of the Atari’s arcade version of Lunar Lander.
1973: Lemonade Stand
Category: Mainframe, Home Computer
The first version of Lemonade Stand is developed by Bobb Jamison at MECC. This simple economic simulation lets players run their own lemonade stand, and have to estimate how much lemonade and advertising is needed for the upcoming day. The concept is easy to learn but a lot of fun, so the game was ported to other systems countless times, achieving particular popularity as Lemonade shipped with Apple II systems. You should have no problem finding a port you can play today. Below are a few links to get you started.
Play it
- Play a Flash remake directly in your browser at Geoffry Noles’ website.
- Find downloadable copies of a very nice remake for Windows and MacOS X systems at Codenautics.
- Get the text-based BASIC remake for DOS at Home of the Underdogs.
- Download the free trial of Lemonade Tycoon, a greatly expanded remake, at Shockwave.com.
1973: Maze War
Category: Mainframe
On an Imlac PDS-1 at NASA Ames Research Center in California, the first-person shooter is invented with a game called Maze War. Initially developed just as a maze game (appropriately called Maze), the developers soon came up with the idea of connecting multiple computers together so more people can explore the maze at the same time, and subsequently the idea of allowing players to shoot each other, resulting in the first FPS deathmatch mode – including a frag counter.
Links
- Read more about the history of Maze War and its further development in the excellent Wikipedia article.
- See DigiBarn’s website on the 30th anniversary of the game.
- Get a 99ยข remake for your iPhone or iPod Touch.
