Editing Sprite (computer graphics) (section)

===Arcade video games===
The use of sprites originated with [[arcade video game]]s. [[Nolan Bushnell]] came up with the original concept when he developed the first arcade video game, ''[[Computer Space]]'' (1971). Technical limitations made it difficult to adapt the [[early mainframe game]] ''[[Spacewar!]]'' (1962), which performed an entire [[Refresh rate|screen refresh]] for every little movement, so he came up with a solution to the problem: controlling each individual game element with a dedicated [[transistor]]. The [[rockets]] were essentially hardwired [[bitmaps]] that moved around the screen independently of the background, an important innovation for producing screen images more efficiently and providing the basis for sprite graphics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swalwell |first1=Melanie |last2=Wilson |first2=Jason |title=The Pleasures of Computer Gaming: Essays on Cultural History, Theory and Aesthetics |date=12 May 2015 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-5120-3 |pages=109–10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BbW_DUV-pP4C&pg=PA110 |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516025657/https://books.google.com/books?id=BbW_DUV-pP4C&pg=PA110 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The earliest video games to represent [[player characters]] as human player sprites were arcade [[sports video games]], beginning with [[Taito]]'s ''[[TV Basketball]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Colby |first1=Richard |last2=Johnson |first2=Matthew S. S. |last3=Colby |first3=Rebekah Shultz |title=The Ethics of Playing, Researching, and Teaching Games in the Writing Classroom |date=27 January 2021 |publisher=[[Springer Nature]] |isbn=978-3-030-63311-0 |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZoXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |access-date=3 May 2021 |archive-date=3 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503195104/https://books.google.com/books?id=vZoXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/video-game-firsts.html Video Game Firsts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105041440/http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/video-game-firsts.html |date=2017-11-05 }}, The Golden Age Arcade Historian (November 22, 2013)</ref><ref>[http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=wide-flyer&db=videodb&id=4036&image=2 ''Basketball'' Flyer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708201534/http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=wide-flyer&db=videodb&id=4036&image=2 |date=2014-07-08 }} (1974), Arcade Flyer Museum</ref> released in April 1974 and licensed to [[Midway Manufacturing]] for release in North America.<ref name="Akagi">{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |lang=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=40-1, 51, 129 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n41/mode/2up}}</ref> Designed by [[Tomohiro Nishikado]], he wanted to move beyond simple ''[[Pong]]''-style rectangles to character graphics, by rearranging the rectangle shapes into objects that look like [[basketball]] players and [[basketball hoop]]s.<ref name="Smith">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Alexander |title=They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. I: 1971-1982 |date=19 November 2019 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |isbn=978-0-429-75261-2 |pages=191–95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT191 |access-date=16 May 2021 |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502064515/https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT191 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Nikkei">{{cite news |title=スペースインベーダー・今明かす開発秘話――開発者・西角友宏氏、タイトー・和田洋一社長対談 |trans-title=Space Invader, Development Secret Story Revealed Now―Interview With Developer Tomohiro Nishikado, Taito President Yoichi Wada |url=http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/special/20080318/1008218/ |access-date=3 May 2021 |work=[[The Nikkei]] |date=March 21, 2008 |lang=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323064622/http://trendy.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/special/20080318/1008218/ |archive-date=March 23, 2008}}
*{{cite web |title=Space Invaders – 30th Anniversary Developer Interview |url=http://shmuplations.com/spaceinvaders/ |website=Shmuplations}}</ref> [[Ramtek (company)|Ramtek]] released another sports video game in October 1974, ''Baseball'',<ref name="Akagi"/> which similarly displayed human-like characters.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Thorpe |first1=Nick |title=The 70s: The Genesis of an Industry |magazine=[[Retro Gamer]] |date=March 2014 |issue=127 |pages=24–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/retro_gamer/RetroGamer_127/page/26/mode/2up}}</ref>

The [[Namco Galaxian]] [[arcade system board]], for the 1979 arcade game ''[[Galaxian]]'', displays animated, multi-colored sprites over a scrolling background.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVTNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA59|title=The Golden Age of Video Games: The Birth of a Multibillion Dollar Industry|first=Roberto|last=Dillon|date=19 April 2016|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781439873243|via=Google Books}}</ref> It became the basis for [[Nintendo]]'s ''[[Radar Scope]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]'' arcade hardware and [[home console]]s such as the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120505103737/http://www.glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/how-the-famicom-was-born/making-the-famicom-a-reality/ Making the Famicom a Reality], ''Nikkei Electronics'' (September 12, 1994)</ref> According to Steve Golson from [[General Computer Corporation]], the term "stamp" was used instead of "sprite" at the time.<ref name=golson>{{cite AV media |people=Steve Golson |year=2016 |title=Classic Game Postmortem: 'Ms. Pac-Man' |medium=Conference |language=en |url=http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1023366/Classic-Game-Postmortem-Ms-Pac |access-date=2017-01-26 |time=20:30 |publisher=[[Game Developers Conference]] |quote=[…] 6 moving characters, what you would call today "sprites" we called them "stamps" back then, […].}}</ref>