Cathoda-Ray Tube Amusement Device - Tennis for Two
The Earliest Video Games
1947
The very first type of video games was called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the USA by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1947. This amusement device consisted of eight vacuum tubes to simulate a missile firing at a target. It contained knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Because the technology to draw computer graphics electronically lacked at the time, the small targets were drawn on an overlay placed on the screen. This was the earliest thing we can consider a video game.
1949
Charley Adama created an un-interactive Bouncing Ball; a program designed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Whirlwind computer. All one saw was a ball bouncing, but it was the base for all the video games to come.
1951
While developing television technologies for an electronics company; Loral in New York, inventor Ralph Baer came up with the idea of finding a way to give the audience the ability to manipulate what was on the television sets, the role they had as a passive observer would turn to interactive manipulation. He believed that he could use the lights and patters he used in his work to achieve this goal. He proposed this to the company, but funds were low and the idea was not pursued.
1952
A.S. Douglas, a student of the University of Cambridge wanted to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction and therefore created a graphical version of the well known tic-tac-toe was developed. The program was called OXO, developed on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) computer. It used a cathode ray tube as a visual display to store the memory content thus the player competes against the computer.
1958
William Higinbotham, assigned to create some was of entertaining visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, decided to develop an electronically based attraction for the visitors. Using an oscilloscope and analog computer he created a game called Tennis for Two. It consisted of a simple tennis court from the side featuring a gravity-controlled ball that, like in tennis, needed to be played over the “net”. It was played with two box-shaped controllers both with a trajectory knob and a button for hitting the ball. It was of great success and two versions were created, but then went out of fashion in 1959.
1947
The very first type of video games was called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the USA by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1947. This amusement device consisted of eight vacuum tubes to simulate a missile firing at a target. It contained knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Because the technology to draw computer graphics electronically lacked at the time, the small targets were drawn on an overlay placed on the screen. This was the earliest thing we can consider a video game.
1949
Charley Adama created an un-interactive Bouncing Ball; a program designed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Whirlwind computer. All one saw was a ball bouncing, but it was the base for all the video games to come.
1951
While developing television technologies for an electronics company; Loral in New York, inventor Ralph Baer came up with the idea of finding a way to give the audience the ability to manipulate what was on the television sets, the role they had as a passive observer would turn to interactive manipulation. He believed that he could use the lights and patters he used in his work to achieve this goal. He proposed this to the company, but funds were low and the idea was not pursued.
1952
A.S. Douglas, a student of the University of Cambridge wanted to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction and therefore created a graphical version of the well known tic-tac-toe was developed. The program was called OXO, developed on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) computer. It used a cathode ray tube as a visual display to store the memory content thus the player competes against the computer.
1958
William Higinbotham, assigned to create some was of entertaining visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, decided to develop an electronically based attraction for the visitors. Using an oscilloscope and analog computer he created a game called Tennis for Two. It consisted of a simple tennis court from the side featuring a gravity-controlled ball that, like in tennis, needed to be played over the “net”. It was played with two box-shaped controllers both with a trajectory knob and a button for hitting the ball. It was of great success and two versions were created, but then went out of fashion in 1959.
1947
The very first type of video games was called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the USA by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1947. This amusement device consisted of eight vacuum tubes to simulate a missile firing at a target. It contained knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Because the technology to draw computer graphics electronically lacked at the time, the small targets were drawn on an overlay placed on the screen. This was the earliest thing we can consider a video game.
1949
Charley Adama created an un-interactive Bouncing Ball; a program designed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Whirlwind computer. All one saw was a ball bouncing, but it was the base for all the video games to come.
1951
While developing television technologies for an electronics company; Loral in New York, inventor Ralph Baer came up with the idea of finding a way to give the audience the ability to manipulate what was on the television sets, the role they had as a passive observer would turn to interactive manipulation. He believed that he could use the lights and patters he used in his work to achieve this goal. He proposed this to the company, but funds were low and the idea was not pursued.
1952
A.S. Douglas, a student of the University of Cambridge wanted to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction and therefore created a graphical version of the well known tic-tac-toe was developed. The program was called OXO, developed on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) computer. It used a cathode ray tube as a visual display to store the memory content thus the player competes against the computer.
1958
William Higinbotham, assigned to create some was of entertaining visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, decided to develop an electronically based attraction for the visitors. Using an oscilloscope and analog computer he created a game called Tennis for Two. It consisted of a simple tennis court from the side featuring a gravity-controlled ball that, like in tennis, needed to be played over the “net”. It was played with two box-shaped controllers both with a trajectory knob and a button for hitting the ball. It was of great success and two versions were created, but then went out of fashion in 1959.
The very first type of video games was called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the USA by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1947. This amusement device consisted of eight vacuum tubes to simulate a missile firing at a target. It contained knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Because the technology to draw computer graphics electronically lacked at the time, the small targets were drawn on an overlay placed on the screen. This was the earliest thing we can consider a video game.
1949
Charley Adama created an un-interactive Bouncing Ball; a program designed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Whirlwind computer. All one saw was a ball bouncing, but it was the base for all the video games to come.
1951
While developing television technologies for an electronics company; Loral in New York, inventor Ralph Baer came up with the idea of finding a way to give the audience the ability to manipulate what was on the television sets, the role they had as a passive observer would turn to interactive manipulation. He believed that he could use the lights and patters he used in his work to achieve this goal. He proposed this to the company, but funds were low and the idea was not pursued.
1952
A.S. Douglas, a student of the University of Cambridge wanted to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction and therefore created a graphical version of the well known tic-tac-toe was developed. The program was called OXO, developed on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) computer. It used a cathode ray tube as a visual display to store the memory content thus the player competes against the computer.
1958
William Higinbotham, assigned to create some was of entertaining visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, decided to develop an electronically based attraction for the visitors. Using an oscilloscope and analog computer he created a game called Tennis for Two. It consisted of a simple tennis court from the side featuring a gravity-controlled ball that, like in tennis, needed to be played over the “net”. It was played with two box-shaped controllers both with a trajectory knob and a button for hitting the ball. It was of great success and two versions were created, but then went out of fashion in 1959.
1947
The very first type of video games was called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the USA by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1947. This amusement device consisted of eight vacuum tubes to simulate a missile firing at a target. It contained knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Because the technology to draw computer graphics electronically lacked at the time, the small targets were drawn on an overlay placed on the screen. This was the earliest thing we can consider a video game.
1949
Charley Adama created an un-interactive Bouncing Ball; a program designed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Whirlwind computer. All one saw was a ball bouncing, but it was the base for all the video games to come.
1951
While developing television technologies for an electronics company; Loral in New York, inventor Ralph Baer came up with the idea of finding a way to give the audience the ability to manipulate what was on the television sets, the role they had as a passive observer would turn to interactive manipulation. He believed that he could use the lights and patters he used in his work to achieve this goal. He proposed this to the company, but funds were low and the idea was not pursued.
1952
A.S. Douglas, a student of the University of Cambridge wanted to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction and therefore created a graphical version of the well known tic-tac-toe was developed. The program was called OXO, developed on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) computer. It used a cathode ray tube as a visual display to store the memory content thus the player competes against the computer.
1958
William Higinbotham, assigned to create some was of entertaining visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, decided to develop an electronically based attraction for the visitors. Using an oscilloscope and analog computer he created a game called Tennis for Two. It consisted of a simple tennis court from the side featuring a gravity-controlled ball that, like in tennis, needed to be played over the “net”. It was played with two box-shaped controllers both with a trajectory knob and a button for hitting the ball. It was of great success and two versions were created, but then went out of fashion in 1959.
1947
The very first type of video games was called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the USA by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann in 1947. This amusement device consisted of eight vacuum tubes to simulate a missile firing at a target. It contained knobs to adjust the curve and speed of the missile. Because the technology to draw computer graphics electronically lacked at the time, the small targets were drawn on an overlay placed on the screen. This was the earliest thing we can consider a video game.
1949
Charley Adama created an un-interactive Bouncing Ball; a program designed for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Whirlwind computer. All one saw was a ball bouncing, but it was the base for all the video games to come.
1951
While developing television technologies for an electronics company; Loral in New York, inventor Ralph Baer came up with the idea of finding a way to give the audience the ability to manipulate what was on the television sets, the role they had as a passive observer would turn to interactive manipulation. He believed that he could use the lights and patters he used in his work to achieve this goal. He proposed this to the company, but funds were low and the idea was not pursued.
1952
A.S. Douglas, a student of the University of Cambridge wanted to demonstrate his thesis on human-computer interaction and therefore created a graphical version of the well known tic-tac-toe was developed. The program was called OXO, developed on the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) computer. It used a cathode ray tube as a visual display to store the memory content thus the player competes against the computer.
1958
William Higinbotham, assigned to create some was of entertaining visitors to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, decided to develop an electronically based attraction for the visitors. Using an oscilloscope and analog computer he created a game called Tennis for Two. It consisted of a simple tennis court from the side featuring a gravity-controlled ball that, like in tennis, needed to be played over the “net”. It was played with two box-shaped controllers both with a trajectory knob and a button for hitting the ball. It was of great success and two versions were created, but then went out of fashion in 1959.
William Higinbotham
