Who invented the first computer game? Who invented the first electronic and computer games? Who invented games.

In that year, computer games have an anniversary. After all, 70 years ago, the first electronic game, which subsequently gave rise to the whole gaming industry. So let's remember how it all began!

First step

How the first electronic games were created, which became the forerunners computer entertainment? There is a very widespread opinion that similar games appeared thanks to the appearance of the first console, created by Ralph Baer. Others remember the famous EDSAC computer, where in 1956 the then-famous OXO game, also known as Noughts And Crosses, was created for it, which was the usual tic-tac-toe transferred to the screen of this device.

However, the first electronic entertainment appeared in 1947. It's about about the game "Rocket Simulator", which appeared on the basis of a cathode ray tube. The appearance of this device was strongly associated with the recent World War. It should be noted that the emergence of new computer technology was closely connected with the rapid development of military technology. Many of the people who pioneered the video game industry worked for the US or British military industry.

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Diagram of the "Rocket Simulator" device

The creator of Rocket Simulator, Thomas Goldsmith, was no exception. The fact is that he developed his project for DuMont Laboratories, which produced various military products during the war years, and also engaged in various army innovations, but the war ended, and demand for the company's products began to fall. Therefore, most likely, it was decided to start creating new products.

It is not surprising that Thomas Goldsmith, who had a very worthy track record, was attracted to create this device. He was an enthusiast of radio engineering, and also had a decent education, which he received at the prestigious Furman Institute, where the future creator of the game studied physics and other sciences. In addition, Goldsmith had a lot of experience. However, we note right away that he created the simulator together with his colleague Estel Ray Mann.

Thomas T. Goldsmith

According to various sources, work on the project began either in 1945 or in 1946, but already in 1947, scientists submitted their patent, which described in detail the operation of this device. The rocket simulator was only a prototype and it was never brought to full mind and, by the way, the device itself was created exclusively for a limited circle of people. The mass production of such a device was not planned. Still, it was rather bulky and uncomfortable.

As mentioned above, the game was launched on a cathode ray tube, which was connected to an oscilloscope used as a screen. The gameplay was unpretentious, the player was asked to control the rocket and shoot down various targets. Game control was not the most convenient, because then there were no joysticks or keyboards. Special screen applications were made for the game to control the rocket. As a result, the device resembled a military radar. Yes and myself game process evoked strong associations with the past war. Thus, we can say that the first game genre was a simulator made in the atmosphere of the Second World War.

This was the first electronic game that became the forerunner of computer entertainment. Unfortunately, "Rocket Simulator" never became a game for the masses, although ports of this game later appeared for various computer systems.

Bertie the Brain Computer

Bertie the Brain

A little later, in 1950, a rather interesting device appeared in Canada, which is called “Bertie the Brain” in English-speaking sources. The most interesting thing is that this device was created solely in order to implement the game "tic-tac-toe" on it. This was a very unusual decision, especially considering the size of this computer, the height of the device reached 4 meters. And that's not to mention his weight. Bertie the Brain, unlike other similar computers, had a specially designed keyboard and display on which the game took place. And it was here that the difficulty setting of the game appeared, which was set manually.

"Bertie the Brain" was created by Joseph Cates, who lived a very long and turbulent life. He was born in 1921 in Austria, when this country was occupied by Germany, he was forced to flee because of his Jewish origin to Canada. Despite the difficulties of emigration, Cates managed to get a very good education in Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in mathematics and physics. An important role in his life was played by the Vacuum Tube Company, which developed both radars and radio tubes. Thanks to his talents, Cates was later able to take part in the creation of the first Canadian UTEC computer.

Joseph Cates

Unfortunately, "Bertie the Brain" lived a very short life. It was presented at a national exhibition in Canada, where it was a popular attraction with the local public, but shortly after the end of the exhibition, the computer was dismantled, and its existence was simply forgotten. However, its creator Joseph Keist, despite his venerable age (96 years old!) Is still alive and has recently given a very interesting interview about the fate of his offspring.

A year later, another interesting specimen appeared in the UK called Nimrod. This tube computer was specially designed to play Nim. It was created on the basis of the Ferranti Mark I computer and was created as a means to popularize computer technology and computing technologies. Australian engineer John Bennett took part in its development, who happened to participate in the creation of the first computers: EDSAC, Ferranti Mark 1 and SILLIAC.

Nimrod computer

Also at the exhibition, booklets were handed out, where they talked in detail about Nimrod and its capabilities. Like all devices of this kind, the computer was very bulky. However, it caused a great stir among the public. Nimrod became best known after its exhibition in Germany, when the future chancellor Ludwig Erhard played Nimrod.

Despite the fact that the machine was created as a learning device, visitors to the exhibition were not particularly interested in technical details or computer science, but they were attracted by the very possibility of playing a game with a computer. Moreover, the Nimrod did not have a display or its analogue. His role was played by flashing lamps that imitated the sticks from Nym's game. The computer had another funny property, it could play against itself.

Ludwig Erhard plays with Nimrod

However, the real breakthrough came in 1952 with the release of a game called OXO, which was a computerized version of the famous tic-tac-toe game. Most researchers believe that it is "OXO" that can be called a full-fledged computer game. This statement is due to the fact that "OXO" was released on the EDSAC computer, which at that time was a fairly advanced device. The computer had at its disposal simple computing programs. It was also possible for him to write programs in a symbolic language.

By the way, the creation of EDSAC was supervised by the British Ministry of Defense, which allocated the necessary funds for the development of this computer. In addition, Britain sought to create competitive products and therefore considered the United States as the main rival in this direction, although it should be noted that EDSAC had much in common with the similar American project EDVAC, from which British scientists borrowed architecture.

EDSAC computer. It was on it that the first computer game was released.

In the early 1950s, British scientist Sandy Douglas was introduced to EDSAC while studying at the University of Cambridge. Given the parameters of this computer, Douglas decided to write his scientific dissertation on the topic of human-machine interaction. As a result of this, the first computer game "OXO" appeared.

Despite the more advanced hardware, the game itself was, of course, primitive, and the hardware for it was just as cumbersome. In addition to the EDSAC computer itself, which occupied an area of ​​20 square meters, the game itself required a CRT (cathode ray tube) and a rotary dialer. The last element was needed to control the game by inserting a cross or a zero. Like Rocket Simulator, the game did not get any distribution, as it was on a single copy of EDSAC and was used as a local curiosity.

In the 1950s and 60s, several more very significant games, but we will talk about them in the next article.

Write

Often the creation of video games was a by-product of scientific discoveries. So, in 1958, a nuclear physicist, an employee of the Brookhven laboratory - Willy Higinbotham (Willy Higinbotham), invented

The first in the world computer video game . As a screen, he used the screen of an oscilloscope. As one of the creators of the atomic bomb, Higinbotham was engaged in serious scientific research. And he was an avid tennis fan and player. He wanted to come up with entertainment to demonstrate the capabilities of his scientific laboratory. In 3 weeks, he created the video game "Tennis for Two" (Tennis for Two). In the game, the “ball” bounced off a horizontal line at the bottom of the screen, and it was necessary to beat it off with a “racquet” - it served as a short line at the top of the screen. A remote control was made with buttons "right" and "left". The game was extremely popular, with lab staff waiting hours for their turn to play. But the game did not last long: when it took an oscilloscope to work, Higinbotham dismantled the gaming device. The physicist did not patent the idea, as he believed that he had not made an outstanding discovery. How wrong he was - time showed. All subsequent video games have been, in fact, the reincarnation of Tennis for Two. But

father of video games They call Arthur Douglas (A. S. Douglas). This British scientist defended his thesis in 1952 in Cambridge.

As an appendix to the dissertation was his development - a game computer program

Tic-tac-toe). It was played on the university computer. In fact, it was only a demonstration of the capabilities of the computer, and was not a game in the generally accepted sense of the word.

Have you read the answer to the question Who invented the first computer game? and if you liked the material, then write it down in your bookmarks - » Who invented the first computer game?? .
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In that year, computer games have an anniversary. After all, 70 years ago, the first electronic game appeared, which subsequently gave rise to an entire gaming industry. So let's remember how it all began!

First step

How were the first electronic games created, which became the forerunners of computer entertainment? There is a very common belief that these games appeared thanks to the appearance of the first console, created by Ralph Baer. Others remember the famous EDSAC computer, where in 1956 the then-famous OXO game, also known as Noughts And Crosses, was created for it, which was the usual tic-tac-toe transferred to the screen of this device.

However, the first electronic entertainment appeared in 1947. We are talking about the game "Rocket Simulator", which appeared on the basis of a cathode ray tube. The appearance of this device was strongly associated with the recent World War. It should be noted that the emergence of new computer technology was closely connected with the rapid development of military technology. Many of the people who pioneered the video game industry worked for the US or British military industry.

To bookmarks

Diagram of the "Rocket Simulator" device

The creator of Rocket Simulator, Thomas Goldsmith, was no exception. The fact is that he developed his project for DuMont Laboratories, which produced various military products during the war years, and also engaged in various army innovations, but the war ended, and demand for the company's products began to fall. Therefore, most likely, it was decided to start creating new products.

It is not surprising that Thomas Goldsmith, who had a very worthy track record, was attracted to create this device. He was an enthusiast of radio engineering, and also had a decent education, which he received at the prestigious Furman Institute, where the future creator of the game studied physics and other sciences. In addition, Goldsmith had a lot of experience. However, we note right away that he created the simulator together with his colleague Estel Ray Mann.

Thomas T. Goldsmith

According to various sources, work on the project began either in 1945 or in 1946, but already in 1947, scientists submitted their patent, which described in detail the operation of this device. The rocket simulator was only a prototype and it was never brought to full mind and, by the way, the device itself was created exclusively for a limited circle of people. The mass production of such a device was not planned. Still, it was rather bulky and uncomfortable.

As mentioned above, the game was launched on a cathode ray tube, which was connected to an oscilloscope used as a screen. The gameplay was unpretentious, the player was asked to control the rocket and shoot down various targets. Game control was not the most convenient, because then there were no joysticks or keyboards. Special screen applications were made for the game to control the rocket. As a result, the device resembled a military radar. And the gameplay itself evoked strong associations with the past war. Thus, we can say that the first game genre was a simulator made in the atmosphere of the Second World War.

This was the first electronic game that became the forerunner of computer entertainment. Unfortunately, "Rocket Simulator" never became a game for the masses, although ports of this game later appeared for various computer systems.

Bertie the Brain Computer

Bertie the Brain

A little later, in 1950, a rather interesting device appeared in Canada, which is called “Bertie the Brain” in English-speaking sources. The most interesting thing is that this device was created solely in order to implement the game "tic-tac-toe" on it. This was a very unusual decision, especially considering the size of this computer, the height of the device reached 4 meters. And that's not to mention his weight. Bertie the Brain, unlike other similar computers, had a specially designed keyboard and display on which the game took place. And it was here that the difficulty setting of the game appeared, which was set manually.

"Bertie the Brain" was created by Joseph Cates, who lived a very long and turbulent life. He was born in 1921 in Austria, when this country was occupied by Germany, he was forced to flee because of his Jewish origin to Canada. Despite the difficulties of emigration, Cates managed to get a very good education in Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in mathematics and physics. An important role in his life was played by the Vacuum Tube Company, which developed both radars and radio tubes. Thanks to his talents, Cates was later able to take part in the creation of the first Canadian UTEC computer.

Joseph Cates

Unfortunately, "Bertie the Brain" lived a very short life. It was presented at a national exhibition in Canada, where it was a popular attraction with the local public, but shortly after the end of the exhibition, the computer was dismantled, and its existence was simply forgotten. However, its creator Joseph Keist, despite his venerable age (96 years old!) Is still alive and recently gave a very interesting interview about the fate of his offspring.

A year later, another interesting specimen appeared in the UK called Nimrod. This tube computer was specially designed to play Nim. It was created on the basis of the Ferranti Mark I computer and was created as a means to popularize computer technology and computing technologies. Australian engineer John Bennett took part in its development, who happened to participate in the creation of the first computers: EDSAC, Ferranti Mark 1 and SILLIAC.

Nimrod computer

Also at the exhibition, booklets were handed out, where they talked in detail about Nimrod and its capabilities. Like all devices of this kind, the computer was very bulky. However, it caused a great stir among the public. Nimrod became best known after its exhibition in Germany, when the future chancellor Ludwig Erhard played Nimrod.

Despite the fact that the machine was created as a learning device, visitors to the exhibition were not particularly interested in technical details or computer science, but they were attracted by the very possibility of playing a game with a computer. Moreover, the Nimrod did not have a display or its analogue. His role was played by flashing lamps that imitated the sticks from Nym's game. The computer had another funny property, it could play against itself.

Ludwig Erhard plays with Nimrod

However, the real breakthrough came in 1952 with the release of a game called OXO, which was a computerized version of the famous tic-tac-toe game. Most researchers believe that it is "OXO" that can be called a full-fledged computer game. This statement is due to the fact that "OXO" was released on the EDSAC computer, which at that time was a fairly advanced device. The computer had at its disposal simple computing programs. It was also possible for him to write programs in a symbolic language.

By the way, the creation of EDSAC was supervised by the British Ministry of Defense, which allocated the necessary funds for the development of this computer. In addition, Britain sought to create competitive products and therefore considered the United States as the main rival in this direction, although it should be noted that EDSAC had much in common with the similar American project EDVAC, from which British scientists borrowed architecture.

EDSAC computer. It was on it that the first computer game was released.

In the early 1950s, British scientist Sandy Douglas was introduced to EDSAC while studying at the University of Cambridge. Given the parameters of this computer, Douglas decided to write his scientific dissertation on the topic of human-machine interaction. As a result of this, the first computer game "OXO" appeared.

Despite the more advanced hardware, the game itself was, of course, primitive, and the hardware for it was just as cumbersome. In addition to the EDSAC computer itself, which occupied an area of ​​20 square meters, the game itself required a CRT (cathode ray tube) and a rotary dialer. The last element was needed to control the game by inserting a cross or a zero. Like Rocket Simulator, the game did not get any distribution, as it was on a single copy of EDSAC and was used as a local curiosity.

In the 1950s and 60s, several other very significant games were released, but we will talk about them in the next article.

Write

Everyone knows that when the first computer appeared, its creators could not have imagined that very soon it would become an indispensable thing in every home. Back then, in the late 1930s and early 1940s, a computer was the most complex computer, and to work with it, at least a serious university education was required. Now any elementary school student can work on a computer. True, his “work” is very different from what was done more than half a century ago. Moreover, the creators of computers in a nightmare could not dream that it would be possible to play on a computer. After all, they were created in special scientific institutes for processing the most important data.

But a person is able to adapt almost everything to his needs, and already in 1952, an English scientist presented an interesting program at the defense of his dissertation. It was called OXO and was nothing more than ordinary tic-tac-toe. True, Mr. Douglas did not set himself the goal of entertaining the audience and seating everyone to play on computers. His program simply demonstrated the capabilities of the computing machine more clearly, but that was the first step.

The next step was taken by an equally remarkable person who was a nuclear physicist by profession and worked in one of the strongest American laboratories. His name was William Higitbothen. It is he who is considered to be the creator of the game that the older generation remembers. Being an avid tennis player, he recreated the court on a computer screen. In the opinion of modern gamers, the game does not present anything interesting, just the ball flies from one half of the field to the other, and the players beat it off with a vertical strip moved by two buttons. The funny thing was that he was using an oscilloscope screen that hadn't been used in a while. The game became incredibly popular, and all the staff lined up to play a couple of sets. But the harsh reality required that the oscilloscope be used for work and the scientist had to disassemble the toy. However, the principle that the American used was the basis of many other games.

Educational toys and games for children are popular, but like everything else, they can go in and out of fashion.

There are quite a few classic toys of this type, as a rare exception, one can cite, perhaps, the “magic screen”, which has remained popular for several decades.

What is this toy, and who invented such a "magic screen".

Content:

Appearance

Externally, the device is a small plastic box, usually in a bright color.

In the classic version, it is rectangular and flat, reminiscent in size and appearance old .

Most of its front side is occupied by a screen covered with plastic or glass, on which the main actions take place.

On front side The case also has two handles that can be twisted in different directions.

Again, on the standard classic model, they are placed in the bottom two corners of the device below the screen.

This traditional version has undergone various changes - the shape of the device, the location of the handles, the type of case, etc. have changed, but its principle of operation and functionality have always remained unchanged.

Operating principle

How to use the device, and what can be done on it? This device gives the child the opportunity to draw on the screen.

The control is carried out by two handles, one of them moves the cursor vertically, the other horizontally.

As a result, dark lines appear on the silver background of the screen, and you can build broken lines consisting of vertical and horizontal segments.

Thus, with a sufficient degree of mastering the technology and getting used to it, you can create even quite complex drawings.

There are examples when artists created entire paintings on such devices. In order to clear the screen of the picture, just shake or turn the device over.

Device

How does such a device work? The main operating mechanism is a sealed container, a box, the large side of which is the working screen.

Inside this container is filled with aluminum very finely dispersed powder, but also a metal cursor is installed inside it, fixed and moving on static axes - vertical and horizontal.

He (cursor) rests against the glass on the reverse side of his sharp part. The line is drawn as follows:

3 As a result, a dark (cleaned) straight line appears on the screen on a light silvery (aluminum) background.

After shaking the device, this metal powder is again distributed evenly, filling the cleaned areas. As a result, the drawing is erased.

Invention

The device was invented by the Frenchman Andre Cassagne in the 50s of the twentieth century, and gave it the French name "magic screen" - L'Ecran Magic.

But in France, the device was almost never produced, the rights to it were quickly transferred to the Ohio Art organization, which improved it and gave it the look in which we still know it.

Name "Magic Screen" entrenched in Russia because it was with this name that the device began to appear in the 70s in the USSR.

It is worth noting that the technology was stolen, the permission of the copyright holders and the license for production was not obtained.

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