Father of video games: the life of Ralph Baer

Kevin Hofer

8.3.2022

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

«Pong» is considered the first video game. Alas, the idea was stolen. Both the game and console were invented by Ralph Baer, who would be celebrating his 100th birthday today.

It’s 1969. On an old tube TV, a square moves quickly from left to right. It’s being peppered back and forth by two other, larger squares. Then, a shaky: «So here we are, playing ping-pong when we should be working.» The voice belongs to Ralph Baer. What he’s showing right now will one day establish an entire industry. It’s the birth of video games as we know them today.

Early years and escape

Ralph Baer was born on March 8, 1922, in Pirmasens, Germany. He showed a talent for construction at an early age, playing with building sets. But his great childhood passion was reading and writing. He liked to tell stories and create his own worlds.

His schooling was abruptly interrupted at the age of 14: as a member of a Jewish family, he had to leave school. In 1938, his family fled to the USA to escape the Nazis – more precisely, to New York City. Baer was 16 years old at the time.

He started working in a factory. But he knew this wasn’t his calling. A few months in, he saw someone reading a magazine on the subway. An ad arouses his interest: «Earn money in radio and television technology.» Baer felt something special, and got trained by correspondence course.

Another key moment occurred during his time at the factory: his first invention. One of his jobs involved punching holes through a pad using a lever. One piece at a time. To simplify this task, he built a device that allowed him to simultaneously make holes through ten documents. His desire to invent was awakened.

After graduating as a radio and television technician, Baer quit his job at the factory and moved to this new field for a few years. He provided on-site services, even transporting equipment to stores for repairs. The fact he did everything on foot, bus or train didn’t bother the modest teenager. He loved his work.

Caught up in the war

Despite fleeing Germany, Baer still became involved in the war and was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1943. He was stationed in the United Kingdom. Here, he suggested that, as a German, he could help the Allies recognise and understand German soldiers and their weapons. His suggestion was approved and he became an instructor. Along the way, he taught himself algebra.

After the war, Baer planned to pursue a bachelor’s degree in television engineering. This was tricky, as the last time he attended school was when he was 14 years old. He didn’t have an official high school diploma. But thanks to an entrance exam, which Baer passed with flying colours, he nevertheless got to study in Chicago.

In 1955, he got a job at Sanders Associates, a military supply company. At Sanders, Baer consistently worked his way up. Among other things, he designed listening devices and radar systems. His inventive genius finally got to run wild, and by 1966 he was chief engineer.

The first game console

One day in August 1966, Baer was sitting at a bus stop, deep in thought. As a television technician, he knew that many living rooms throughout the U.S. contained TV sets. So far, however, they could only be used to watch TV. Then, an idea: what if TVs could also be used to play games? Hopefully together, as a family.

Baer told his employer about his idea. At first, his superiors weren’t enthusiastic. But as he was otherwise a great employee and had the necessary enthusiasm for his project, they let him have his way – even though Sanders was actually a defence contractor. Together with colleague William Harrison, he set about developing the first games console.

After a little over a year, the two had a prototype ready: the Brown Box. Harrison and Baer used it to play ping-pong, as the above video shows. The box projected squares onto the TV, with two of them operated by controllers. Thus, the Brown Box had all the elementary functions we know and love today.

But they didn’t just invent a ping-pong video game for Brown Box. They dreamt up a whole range of games: a hunting game where one square had to chase another – using a light gun, which they invented along the way. The games all had one thing in common: you needed at least two people to play them. An essential feature to Baer. Single player games didn’t make sense to him. They should be a family activity.

Baer filed a patent for his invention and set out to find a distributor for his and Harrison’s creation. Following a long search, the Magnavox company released the console in September 1972. The name: Odyssey.

Baer and Harrison no longer had anything to do with the Odyssey itself. Magnavox had acquired the licence for the product from Sanders, and could design it as they wished. In three years, 350,000 units of the Odyssey were sold.

Baer v. Bushnell and later years

Ralph Baer and William Harrison hadn’t just invented the video game console, they invented video games themselves. Nevertheless, today someone else is usually associated with them: Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell was the head of Atari at the time. In June 1972, the company had huge success with its coin-operated game «Pong».

Pong was strongly reminiscent of the ping-pong game that Baer invented in 1967. In fact, Bushnell attended a presentation for the Odyssey in early 1972, unceremoniously cribbing for his «Pong» project.

A legal battle between Atari and Magnavox followed. Magnavox would come out on top, Atari having to pay royalties to the manufacturer of the Odyssey. Yet, for many years, public perception perceived Bushnell as the inventor of video games.

This affected Baer. He retreated, quitting his job at Sanders, and came up with new creations in his basement. Especially electric children’s games. The inventor applied for more than 150 patents until his death in 2014. His greatest success: Simon/Senso. A toy where players have to remember and correctly reproduce sequences of sounds and colours.

Late recognition

in 2006, Baer’s importance to the video game industries was finally recognised. He received the National Medal of Technology for inventing video games. The highest U.S. award in science and engineering. Gratification for Baer at last, who in 2006 told Stern:

This article is based on a documentary by VGXTV and this interview by Noir Magnétique.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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