Video game crash of 1977 facts for kids

The video game crash of 1977 was one of the first times the world of video games faced a big problem. It's also called the 1977 video game crash or the forgotten video game crash. This event happened because too many similar video game consoles were being sold. Many companies that made games and consoles went out of business during this time. This crash came before another, bigger crash in 1983.

What Was the 1977 Video Game Crash?

Imagine a time when everyone wanted to play video games at home! In the 1970s, home video games were new and exciting. The first popular home game was Pong. It was a simple game where two players hit a ball back and forth.

Soon, many companies started making their own versions of Pong. They made game consoles that could only play one or two games, usually similar to Pong. These were called "Pong-clone" consoles.

Why Did the Crash Happen?

The main reason for the crash was that there were too many of these Pong-like consoles. Everyone wanted to make money from the new video game craze. So, lots of companies made very similar products.

• Too Many Consoles: There were hundreds of different companies selling almost the same game console.
• Lower Prices: Because there were so many consoles, companies had to sell them for very low prices to compete.
• Not Enough New Ideas: Most consoles only played Pong or very similar games. Players got bored quickly.

When prices dropped too low, companies couldn't make enough money. Many of them went broke and had to close down. This made the video game market "crash."

What Happened Next?

The 1977 crash was a tough time for the video game industry. But it also taught companies important lessons. They learned that they needed to offer more variety and better quality games.

After this crash, new types of consoles appeared. These consoles could play many different games using game cartridges. This change helped the industry grow again. However, another big crash happened a few years later in 1983.

Images for kids

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  The "Brown Box" prototype was the first step towards the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console.

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  Many early consoles looked like the arcade game Pong.