via The Guardian
Ralph Baer, 'father of video games', dies at 92
An inventive and visionary engineer, Baer helped create the world’s first consumer video game console
It is rare that any creative industry can look at a single person and say with any confidence that they started it all. But perhaps that is possible with video game consoles, and perhaps that person is Ralph Baer, who has died at the age of 92.
Widely known as the “father of video games” Baer, a lifelong inventor and innovator, was instrumental in the design of the Magnavox Odyssey, the first ever commercial digital games console. With its futuristic looks, electronic game cards and strange analogue controller, it introduced consumers to the concept of interacting with games on their television sets. Released in the US in August 1972, it pre-dated Atari’s Pong arcade cabinet by several months.
Ralph Baer, 'father of video games', dies at 92
An inventive and visionary engineer, Baer helped create the world’s first consumer video game console
It is rare that any creative industry can look at a single person and say with any confidence that they started it all. But perhaps that is possible with video game consoles, and perhaps that person is Ralph Baer, who has died at the age of 92.
Widely known as the “father of video games” Baer, a lifelong inventor and innovator, was instrumental in the design of the Magnavox Odyssey, the first ever commercial digital games console. With its futuristic looks, electronic game cards and strange analogue controller, it introduced consumers to the concept of interacting with games on their television sets. Released in the US in August 1972, it pre-dated Atari’s Pong arcade cabinet by several months.
