The first microcomputers such as the Altair 8800 and Apple I were marketed to a niche of electronics hobbyists as most required assembly from a kit. In 1977, pre-assembled machines with BASIC in ROM became available, including the "Trio of '77": the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80 Model I. The latter two retailed for under $1,000, but lacked game joysticks and high-resolution color video.[11] Third-party developers created games for all of these platforms. The TRS-80 benefited from Radio Shack's retail stores, which displayed computers and accessories locally in an era where many personal computers were mail-ordered from manufacturers.
In 1979, Atari unveiled the Atari 400 and 800 computers, built around a chipset originally meant for use in a game console, and which retailed for the same price as their names. In 1981, IBM introduced the IBM 5150 PC with a $1,565 base price,[12] while Sinclair Research introduced its low-end ZX81 microcomputer for ₤70. By 1982, new desktop computer designs were commonly providing better color graphics and sound than game consoles and personal computer sales were booming. The TI 99/4A and the Atari 400 were both at $349, Radio Shack's Color Computer sold at $379, and Commodore International had just reduced the price of the VIC-20 to $199 and the 64 to $499.[13][14][15]
Games dominated home computers' software libraries. A 1984 compendium of reviews of Atari 8-bit software used 198 pages for games compared to 167 for all other software types.[16] Because computers generally had more memory and faster processors than a console, they permitted more sophisticated games. They could also be used for tasks such as word processing and home accounting. Games were easier to duplicate, since they could be packaged as floppy disks or cassette tapes instead of ROM modules (though some cassette-based systems retained ROM modules as an "instant-on" option). This opened the field to a cottage industry of third-party software developers. Writeable storage media allowed players to save games in progress, a useful feature for increasingly complex games which was not available on the consoles of the era.
In 1982 a price war began between Commodore and Texas Instruments, and home computers became as inexpensive as video-game consoles;[17] Because of vertical integration, Commodore—which even discontinued list prices—could make a profit when selling the 64 for a retail price of $200.[18] Dan Gutman, founder in 1982 of Video Games Player magazine, recalled in 1987 that "As the first wave of the personal computer boom started, the video games market began to taper off. People asked themselves, 'Why should I buy a video game system when I can buy a computer that will play games and do so much more?'"[19] By the time TI was ready in 1983 to introduce the 99/2 computer, designed to sell for $99, the TI-99/4A sold for $99;[20] the Atari 800's price in July was $165;[21] and after Commodore cut the retail price of the 64 to $300 in June 1983 some stores began selling it for as little as $199. A newspaper stated in September 1983 about the cancellation of the Intellivision III, "Who was going to pay $200-plus for a machine that could only play games?"[22] Commodore explicitly targeted video game players by offering competitive upgrades, where rival systems could be traded for a discount toward the purchase of a Commodore 64. Commodore's ownership of chip fabricator MOS Technology allowed manufacture of integrated circuits in-house, so the VIC-20 and C64 sold for much lower prices than competing home computers. Atari and Texas Instruments were squeezed out of the desktop market. Many European and Japanese computer manufacturers chose to avoid the saturated U.S. market, hence the North American absence of computers like the MSX and Amstrad CPC.[citation needed]
By 1983, Gutman wrote, "Video games were officially dead and computers were hot". He renamed his magazine to Computer Games in October 1983, but "I noticed that the word games became a dirty word in the press. We started replacing it with simulations as often as possible". Soon "The computer slump began ... Suddenly, everyone was saying that the home computer was a fad, just another hula hoop". Computer Games published its last issue in late 1984.[19] In 1988, Computer Gaming World founder Russell Sipe noted that "the arcade game crash of 1984" had "took down the majority of the computer game magazines with it." He stated that, by "the winter of 1984, only a few computer game magazines remained," and by the summer of 1985, Computer Gaming World "was the only 4-color computer game magazine left."[23]
What if the video game crash of 1984 never happened?
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Originally Posted by ColecoFan1981
