The Origins and History of Video Games

The Birth of the Video Game

The story begins in a little laboratory in Brookhaven. A man by the name of William Higinbotham was head of the instrumentation division here at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).

During the fall many visitors would come to visit the laboratory, and Higinbotham was friends with them all. But he soon realized that many of his visitors seemed rather bored during their time at BNL. He wondered if there was something he could do to make their trip a little more interesting.

He decided to create a simple game: video tennis. Using a small oscilloscope, visitors would be able to compete against each other with the little dot on the screen in the game Higinbotham dubbed Tennis for Two.

Only three short years later, another development was made. This time it is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Three men: Steve Russell, J. Martin Graetz and Wayne Witanen want to create a computer program that will be able to show off the advanced technology of their PDP-1 mainframe.

Drawing inspiration from the classic Chronicles of the Lensman novels by venerable science fiction author E.E. "Doc" Smith, it is decided to create a science fiction video game, where two spaceships must fight each other using missiles. The game is created and is called Spacewar! by the team, led by Russell.

Enter the Arcade

Flash forward ten years to 1971. Two programmers, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, drawing their inspiration from Spacewar!, develop Computer Space. Computer Space is the first coin-operated video game.

Computer Space doesn't do as well as hoped, however. Bushnell and Dabney decide to form a new company dedicated to the new field of video
games, and name it Atari. They make a new game, and this one is destined to become one of the true hallmarks in the history of video games: PONG, created by engineer Al Alcorn.

PONG is a huge success, and other companies begin entering the arcade game market. Numerous games are made and sold across the country. The 1970's produces classic video games such as Space Invaders, the first video game to keep track of high scores, and Asteroids.