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Ralph Baer - The Father of Videogames?

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the credit-where-credit-is-due dept.

mcgeek writes "Lauren Gonzalez interviews Ralph Baer, co-creator of Odyssey over at the High Times website. Is he the 'father of videogames?' An interesting detailed interview, with comments on graphics versus game play, patents, Odyssey, the arcade business mafia, Ping-Pong, and the games of today." Mr. Baer seems to be all over the place lately.

4 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. No. by schild · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm gonna go with Shigeru Miyamoto for having created Zelda, Mario, and Donkey Kong. Everything lept forward from there, the man was an innovator and an unparalleled genius when it came to designing simplistic, stripped-down games. I, easily and without question, classify him at the father of modern gaming.

    --
    schild
    editor, f13.net
    1. Re:No. by johannesg · · Score: 3, Insightful
      ..."troll"? Get real. I'm making an honest point here, supported by arguments. To be the "father" of videogaming he would need to be part of the group that started it, and to do that he needed to be around at the time it started. He wasn't; therefore he isn't.

      He is an overal genius, but just like van Gogh is NOT the father of painting (seeing there were numerous genius pointers before him), Miyamoto is NOT the father of videogaming.

      Wait; I forget rabid Nintendo fan-boy'ism. What was I thinking...

  2. Enough with the question marks! by lightspawn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Video games do not have a father. They can have a "father", in which case it means whatever you want it to mean. It could be RB, it could be the person who first played pong-on-a-scope, or it could be some obscure SF writer who did a short story about them in the thirties.

    Asking the question in the title is completely meaningless.

    Mod this as a troll if you like, but I have to say it again: Question marks do not belong in article titles. If it's ask slashdot, fine, but otherwise...

    Let's try the slashdot treatment on the front page of CNN.com.

    Bidding farewell to Reagan?
    McDonald's gets low-carb Coke?
    Kimmel show pulled for comments?
    Florida drivers sue over records?

    See what I mean? It just doesn't work.

    Here, I'm posting with no karma bonus, so only two people have to mod me down to get to -1.

  3. Re:No to your no. by TenaciousPimple · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While Miyamoto has created many great games, Baer is more fitting as the father of video games, as he had a hand in their actual, initial creation. While Miyamoto has made great contributions to video games, Baer was instrumental in creating the first 'interactive television game' back in the 60s. Without the first 'Pong', you might not have had your Donkey Kong.