The First Video Game Came Long Before Pong

(iflscience.com)

26 points by geox5 days ago

2 comments

  • frozenseven5 days ago
    Related Ahoy documentary: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uHQ4WCU1WQc" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uHQ4WCU1WQc</a>
    • amiga38622 hours ago
      As per the conclusions of that great video, going back before Pong and defining a &quot;first&quot; video game depends heavily on your definition of both &quot;video&quot; and &quot;game&quot;<p>See also Wikipedia&#x27;s overview: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Early_history_of_video_games" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Early_history_of_video_games</a><p>If you want <i>Tennis for Two</i> (1958) to be first, you have to introduce criteria that excludes <i>OXO</i> (1952), <i>Checkers</i> (1952), and <i>Sheep and Gates</i> (1952)
      • jhbadger19 hours ago
        I don&#x27;t think it is unreasonable to define a &quot;video game&quot; as one employing video graphics and real time input. Things like Tennis for Two (and the later Spacewar) are clearly video games in a sense that mere simulations of board games are not.
    • qiine20 hours ago
      Its interesting how closely intertwined video games and computers are right from the early days!
  • qiqitori22 hours ago
    I built a basic version of Tennis for Two a while back, using regular op amps. Some modern oscilloscopes have bad X-Y mode implementations, but most non-extremely-cheap scopes are probably decent enough. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.qiqitori.com&#x2F;2024&#x2F;08&#x2F;implementing-tennis-for-two-using-op-amps&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blog.qiqitori.com&#x2F;2024&#x2F;08&#x2F;implementing-tennis-for-tw...</a><p>I&#x27;m also planning on selling a kit in the near future!