There are numerous debates over who created the first video game, with the answer depending largely on how video games are defined. The evolution of video games represents a tangled web of several different industries, including scientific, computer, arcade, and consumer electronics. Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universe phenomenon. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... Computer industry is a collective term used to describe the whole range of businesses involved in developing computer software, designing computer hardware, the manufacture of computer components and the provision of information technology services. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Consumer electronics is electronic equipment intended for use by everyday people. ...

Definition and Useage of Terms

The "video" in "video game" traditionally refers to a raster display device.^[1] However, with the popular catch phrase use of the term "video game", the term now implies all display types, formats, and platforms. Suppose the smiley face in the top left corner is an RGB bitmap image. ... A catch phrase is a phrase or expression that is popularized, usually through repeated use, by a real person or fictional character. ... Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a universe phenomenon. ...

Historians have also sought to bypass the issue by instead using the more inclusive "digital games" descriptive.^[2] However, this term still leaves out the earlier analog based computer games.

History

The NIMROD computer.

The earliest known interactive electronic game was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann on a cathode ray tube^[3] in 1947. The game was a missile simulator inspired by radar displays from World War II. It used analogue circuitry, not digital, to drive the CRT, and used an overlay for the targets since graphics could not be drawn at the time.^[1] Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... A special purpose computer that played the game of Nim, designed and built by Ferranti and displayed at the Exhibition of Science during the 1951 Festival of Britain. ... Cathode ray tube employing electromagnetic focus and deflection Cutaway rendering of a color CRT Electron guns Electron beams Focusing coils Deflection coils Anode connection Mask for separating beams for red, green, and blue part of displayed image Phosphor layer with red, green, and blue zones Close-up of the phosphor... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

On the 5th of May, 1951, the NIMROD computer was presented at the Festival of Britain. Using a panel of lights for its display, it was designed exclusively to play the game of 'NIM', this was the first instance of a digital computer designed specifically to play a game.^[4] NIM is a simple game, where you start with a number of piles of tokens — traditionally matches. Each player in turn takes one or more tokens from any one pile, and the game continues until the last token is taken from the last remaining pile. The simplest way of playing the game is when the winner is the one who takes the last item. There is also a 'Reverse' game, where the loser in the one forced to take the last token. NIMROD could play either version of the game. 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... A special purpose computer that played the game of Nim, designed and built by Ferranti and displayed at the Exhibition of Science during the 1951 Festival of Britain. ... The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in May 1951 in London. ... Nim is a two-player mathematical game of strategy in which players take turns removing objects from distinct heaps. ...

Tennis for Two recreation.

In 1952, Alexander S. Douglas made the first computer game to use a graphical display, OXO (Noughts and Crosses), for the EDSAC computer. Image File history File links Tennis_for_Two. ... Image File history File links Tennis_for_Two. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... OXO (also known as Noughts and Crosses) is a tic-tac-toe computer game made for the EDSAC computer in 1952. ... Tic-tac-toe, also called noughts and crosses and many other names, is a paper and pencil game between two players, O and X, who alternate in marking the spaces in a 3×3 board. ... EDSAC EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) was an early British computer (one of the first computers to be created). ...

In 1958, William Higinbotham made an interactive game named Tennis for Two for the Brookhaven National Laboratory's annual visitor's day. This display was meant to promote atomic power, and used an analog computer and the vector display system of an oscilloscope.^[5][6] Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... William (Willy) A. Higginbotham (October 25, 1910 - November 10, 1994), a physicist, is credited with creating one of the first video games, Tennis for Two, which is similar to PONG. He created it on an oscilloscope in 1958, while the Head of the Instrumentation Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory, to... Tennis for Two was a game developed in 1958 on an oscilloscope which simulated a game of tennis or ping pong. ... ≠ Aerial view of Brookhaven National Laboratory. ... The general meaning of atomic is irreducible. That is, reduced to the smallest possible part. ... Illustration showing the interior of a cathode-ray tube for use in an oscilloscope. ...

In 1961, MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen created the game Spacewar on a DEC PDP-1 computer which also used a vector display system.^[1][6] 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT, MapúaTech or simply Mapúa) is a private, non-sectarian, Filipino tertiary institute located in Intramuros, Manila. ... Steve Russel created the first videogame, Spacewar at the Tech Model Railroad Club at the MIT. Categories: Substubs ... Spacewar! is one of the earliest known digital computer games. ... DEC, dec or Dec may refer to: December - a month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar Department of Environment and Conservation Digital Equipment Corporation - a computer and technology company, now part of HP Declination - a term from astronomy Diethylcarbamazine - a drug commonly used to treat infections by filarial parasites... The PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) was the first computer in Digital Equipments PDP series and was first produced in 1960. ...

The Magnavox Odyssey released in 1972.

In 1966, Ralph Baer resumed work on an intial idea he had in 1951 to make an interactive game on a television set. The Brown Box, the last prototype of seven, was released in May 1972 by Magnavox under the name Odyssey. It was the first home video game console.^[1] This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... The Magnavox Odyssey was the worlds first commercially sold video game console. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Ralph H. Baer (born 1922) is a German-born American inventor, noted for his many contributions to games and the video game industry. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... The Magnavox Odyssey is the worlds first video game console. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Magnavox (Latin for loud voice) is a consumer electronics company that is now part of Philips Consumer Electronics. ... The Magnavox Odyssey was the worlds first commercially sold video game console. ... Four different video game consoles from different generations. ...

Baer was involved in court battles over patents that spanned the 1970s and 1980s. These trials defined a video game as an apparatus that displays games by manipulating the video display signal of the raster equipment: a television set, a monitor, etc. The previous computer games did not use a video display, so did not qualify as such in the courts.^[1] Suppose the smiley face in the top left corner is an RGB bitmap image. ...

Baer's position was further substantiated on February 13, 2006 when he was given a National Medal of Technology by President George W. Bush, in honor of his "groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games".^[7] February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The National Medal of Technology is an honor granted by the President of the United States to inventors and innovators that have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology. ...

In 1971, Bill Pitts and Hugh Tuck developed the first coin-operated computer game, Galaxy Game, at Stanford University using a DEC PDP-11/20 computer; only one unit was ever built (although it was later adapted to run up to eight games at once). Two months after its installation, Computer Space by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney was released, which was the first coin-operated video game to be commercially sold (and the first widely available video game of any kind, predating the Odyssey by six months). Both games were variations on the vector display 1961 Spacewar, however Bushnell and Dabney's used an actual video display by having an actual television set in the cabinet. 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... The Galaxy Game is the earliest known coin-operated video game. ... Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in Stanford, California. ... The PDP-11 was a 16-bit minicomputer sold by Digital Equipment Corp. ... Computer Space is a video arcade game released in November, 1971 by Nutting Associates. ... Nolan K. Bushnell 9000 (born February 5, 1943) is an American electrical engineer and entrepreneur who founded both Atari and the Chuck E. Cheeses Pizza-Time Theaters chain. ... Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell created the first arcade game, Computer Space, in 1971 and founded Atari Computers in 1972. ...

PONG, often thought of as the first video game, was not released until 1972 (a year after Computer Space), and the home version did not come out until 1975 (three years after the Odyssey). PONG also used the same television design as Computer Space. PONG helped bring computerized video games into everyday life. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Notes and references

External links

Research

• Ralph H. Baer Papers, 1943-1953, 1966-1972, 2006 - Ralph Baer's prototypes and documentation housed at the Smithsonian Lemelson Center.
• PONG-Story
• Classic Gaming Expo 2000: Baer Describes the Birth of Videogames

Game emulation

• EDSAC Emulator (to play OXO)
• NIM Interactive Simulation for Be OS operating system
• Spacewar! Java Emulation
• Tennis for Two Emulation

See also

• History of video game consoles (first generation)
• History of video game companies