Inventor of First Video Game Console Ralph Baer Died

Gamespot Article

The creator of the television gaming box is gone. Since video games are part of all our lives in a special way I think we should take some time to honor Ralph Baer. He was the starting point for a new medium, which has continued to expand to a point that all mediums that preceded it have, in fact, been eclipsed by interactive entertainment.

He made the Brown Box which developed into the Magnavox Odyssey. Making games like Shooting Gallery (inspiration for light gun games like Duck Hunt) and Table Tennis (Pong copied this idea).

RIP to a legend. Without him, I don't think video games would've ever existed.

@mastermetal777

Console Games perhaps, but not all video games in general.

@Lulu_Lulu: he was called the father of video games

@mastermetal777

I don't care if he was called Jesus, I'm not going to give him credit for something he didn't do. He made the 1st console right ? Well thats as far as his credit goes.

Yep, there was video games before the console. To say Baer invented video games is as erroneous as saying Columbus discovered America.

With that said, I do appreciate his contributions to video games, and he will be missed.

R.I.P Ralph Baer. You're contribution to modern pop culture will never be forgotten.

@JustPlainLucas

I've never even heard of this guy before, What console did he make anyway ? And what games where are on it ?

The Magnavox Odyssey. Might as well read this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_H._Baer

@JustPlainLucas

Too much work... I'l just pay tribute by playing something on my console...

While video games would be invented without him eventually, he is a huge contributor. He started the home console market.

GAME OVER.

@thedude-

So he makes one console and gets credit for the other 20 ?

I remember doing a media documentary on this man. R.I.P

RIP Ralph Baer, thank you for your contribution to the world of videogaming.

I love this commersial :)

Short answer, yes....

@thedude-

Atleast you kept it short.

@Lulu_Lulu: Haha I thought you would appreciate that. He gets credit to a degree. Kind of like Thomas Edison with Motion Picture or the light bulb. Many people went on to do much bigger works with those inventions but he put in the work to make the first standard product. Still trying to keep this answer short. I can be long winded.

@thedude-

If you trash talk Cutscenes and Stats then you can be as long winded as you want.... I'l take it all in. I appreciate the restraint..... Ive been exercising some restraint myself lately.

R.I.P. Ralph Baer

Thankyou for all that you contributed to gaming.

Is that just the same game with different backgrounds? At least the tennis, hockey and football seem to be :P

@Lulu_Lulu:You hate cutscenes too? Do you even enjoy modern games?

@ianhh6

If you're not the type of person who sees games as a compisition of multiple elements then I can see why you'd think me hating one thing = hating an entire game.

@Lulu_Lulu: Of course they're a composition of multiple elements, I get that. It's just games have been implementing more and more cutscenes over the years, which makes me wonder if you aren't just a little annoyed by the fact and hence at gaming as a whole.

But don't blow a gasket, you're a fan of pure gameplay, I get it :P

@ianhh6

Nope... Just gameplay, it needn't be pure..... It just needs to be unhindered.

I'll leave this here.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Baer.

@ianhh6: It seems like it`s based on the Pong game he invented, it`s pong with different layers you could put infront of your TV screen. This was a while before i was born. I started gaming when i was 4 in 1984 this is 1972. I`ts really interesting to see how gaming was back then compared to when i started gaming, at least we had polygon count in the 80`s, damn i feel old now haha:)

Here are games i grew up with, this is 12 years later than Magnavox Odyssey >

I would say Ralph Baer is the father of videogames, he invented Pong which is considered the very first video game, at least the very first video game for the consumer market >>

I appreciate his contribution to this medium.

@ojmstr: Wow I feel reeeaally young now, having grown up with the N64 then the PS2 and GC :P I've gotta say that gameplay doesn't look bad at all, must've been a blast to play the first time round, right?

@ojmstr

So not the very 1st Video Game then?

RIP a Legend and the reason we today have games.....

@Lulu_Lulu: Ralph Baer invented the very first commersial videogame system and he was the one who made it possible for everyone to have a gamingsystem in their living room. Someone else would probably do the same thing if he didn`t do it but if he didn`t we might still be playing on our Ps2 systems, think about that for a second Lulu;)

Here is the very first Videogame ever in history btw >>

Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device (1947)

@ianhh6: I also had a couple Nintendo systems after the Commodore 64 and then mostly playstation systems after that. Yeah it sure was a blast to play videogames back in the 80`s, gaming has been my nr 1 hobby ever since that first time i picked up a joystick and played a videogame for the first time. I will most likely never quit playing videogames, it`s such an interesting medium and artform at the same time that is constantly evolving. What i really like about gaming is that a videogame is really an artform from the beginning but it is you as a player who sets that artform in motion.

@ojmstr

Big whoop... I love gaming on PC.......

Truth