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Videogames: In the Beginning
evanak (Evan Koblentz) writes "Last year, at the PhillyClassic videogame event, I noticed a teenager wearing an ironic t-shirt. His shirt showed an original Nintendo controller and said 'Know your roots.' Sadly, it's not just modern youngsters who are unaware of their technological roots -- sometimes even we self-proclaimed adult über nerds are equally unaware. Regarding videogames, this is especially true, and now industry pioneer Ralph Baer is trying to rectify the situation. His attempt takes the form of a sincere autobiography, although with mixed results. The book is titled Videogames: In the Beginning." Read on for the rest of Koblentz's review.
Videogames: In the Beginning
author
Ralph Baer
pages
260
publisher
Rolenta Press
rating
8
reviewer
Evan Koblentz
ISBN
0964384817
summary
Autobiography of the inventor of home videogames
According to Rolenta publisher Lenny Herman (the author of Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames), Baer became interested in documenting his own experiences a few years ago, when the mainstream media began heaping praise with increasing frequency on Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
Baer begins his story as expected: a detailed explanation of why he, not Bushnell, should be called the father of videogames. Baer, as Slashdot readers probably know, invented the prototype console that eventually became the Magnavox Odyssey. He explains that he suggested building a game feature to differentiate Loral Electronics' high-end televisions in 1951, but that his idea was declined by management; that he got serious about the idea and built his first prototype while working at defense contractor Sanders Associates in late 1966; and that Bushnell attended a demonstration (and signed the guestbook) in 1972 before founding Atari and consequently building his own version of Pong.
That's fair, and if Baer were to conclude the first chapter with the book's subtitle -- "the inventor of home videogames" (note the qualifier of "home" vs. "all") -- then it would be an acceptable story. However, he takes the argument into a different and surprising direction. He asserts that everything before his time -- such as Willy Higginbotham's 1958 oscilloscope-based tennis game at Brookhaven National Laboratory and MIT hacker Steve Russell's Spacewar from the 1960s -- were not "real" games simply because they used non-standard screens and weren't commercially viable. (But so what? They were no less entertaining. By common sense, and not a console purist's definition, a "videogame" is a game played on a video screen, period. I'm sorry if Bushnell gets credit for the invention of practical, home videogames where Baer rightfully deserves it, but that's no reason to indict the whole history of creative computer science.)
Happily, the Baer drops the matter after the first chapter, and continues telling the story of his adventures working with Sanders and Magnavox. Better yet, it turns out that these adventures are fascinating and worth reading no matter when or what Baer originally invented. Among the technologies he helped to develop were methods for delivering game content over cable television networks, the use of cartridges for storing game data, interactive videotape and videodisk systems, instant-replay features for sports games, and methods for drawing on the screen. He also invented the famous electronic Simon toy. For most of this time, he made a living by designing military simulators for Sanders Associates. In addition, for most of these issues, Baer includes not just prose about the how and why, but also detailed and full-color technical notes, illustrations, and even schematics. There are also sections focusing on the business issues he faced while trying to get Magnavox and other large corporations (such as Coleco and Nintendo) interested in his unproven ideas, which of course were correct, or else you wouldn't be read this. Another section of the book deals with lawsuits involving Bushnell.
Baer has two more treats for us before closing his autobiography. First, he includes eight appendices, focusing on the Simon and other toys; a television games chronology; a Magnavox timeline; notebook entries from 1966-1972; patents; schematics and experiments; timelines of all of his projects sorted by date and category; and a bibliography. Second, for hands-on readers, there is an optional CD available for $10, which includes the necessary information for building your own Brown Box prototype and with video of Baer demonstrating how to play it. (My review copy didn't include the CD, so I'm basing this on what's stated in the book and on an email from the publisher.)
Overall, I recommend checking out this book. There are other videogame histories, but none so thorough from the perspective of a pioneer who actually lived it. If you can get past the controversial first chapter, you will find a great tale of ingenuity, persistence, ambition, and justice, along with some very cool technological insights. Or, as summarized by Steve Wozniak on the back cover, "I can never thank Ralph enough for what he gave to me and everyone else." Game on!
You can purchase Videogames: In the Beginning from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
According to Rolenta publisher Lenny Herman (the author of Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames), Baer became interested in documenting his own experiences a few years ago, when the mainstream media began heaping praise with increasing frequency on Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
Baer begins his story as expected: a detailed explanation of why he, not Bushnell, should be called the father of videogames. Baer, as Slashdot readers probably know, invented the prototype console that eventually became the Magnavox Odyssey. He explains that he suggested building a game feature to differentiate Loral Electronics' high-end televisions in 1951, but that his idea was declined by management; that he got serious about the idea and built his first prototype while working at defense contractor Sanders Associates in late 1966; and that Bushnell attended a demonstration (and signed the guestbook) in 1972 before founding Atari and consequently building his own version of Pong.
That's fair, and if Baer were to conclude the first chapter with the book's subtitle -- "the inventor of home videogames" (note the qualifier of "home" vs. "all") -- then it would be an acceptable story. However, he takes the argument into a different and surprising direction. He asserts that everything before his time -- such as Willy Higginbotham's 1958 oscilloscope-based tennis game at Brookhaven National Laboratory and MIT hacker Steve Russell's Spacewar from the 1960s -- were not "real" games simply because they used non-standard screens and weren't commercially viable. (But so what? They were no less entertaining. By common sense, and not a console purist's definition, a "videogame" is a game played on a video screen, period. I'm sorry if Bushnell gets credit for the invention of practical, home videogames where Baer rightfully deserves it, but that's no reason to indict the whole history of creative computer science.)
Happily, the Baer drops the matter after the first chapter, and continues telling the story of his adventures working with Sanders and Magnavox. Better yet, it turns out that these adventures are fascinating and worth reading no matter when or what Baer originally invented. Among the technologies he helped to develop were methods for delivering game content over cable television networks, the use of cartridges for storing game data, interactive videotape and videodisk systems, instant-replay features for sports games, and methods for drawing on the screen. He also invented the famous electronic Simon toy. For most of this time, he made a living by designing military simulators for Sanders Associates. In addition, for most of these issues, Baer includes not just prose about the how and why, but also detailed and full-color technical notes, illustrations, and even schematics. There are also sections focusing on the business issues he faced while trying to get Magnavox and other large corporations (such as Coleco and Nintendo) interested in his unproven ideas, which of course were correct, or else you wouldn't be read this. Another section of the book deals with lawsuits involving Bushnell.
Baer has two more treats for us before closing his autobiography. First, he includes eight appendices, focusing on the Simon and other toys; a television games chronology; a Magnavox timeline; notebook entries from 1966-1972; patents; schematics and experiments; timelines of all of his projects sorted by date and category; and a bibliography. Second, for hands-on readers, there is an optional CD available for $10, which includes the necessary information for building your own Brown Box prototype and with video of Baer demonstrating how to play it. (My review copy didn't include the CD, so I'm basing this on what's stated in the book and on an email from the publisher.)
Overall, I recommend checking out this book. There are other videogame histories, but none so thorough from the perspective of a pioneer who actually lived it. If you can get past the controversial first chapter, you will find a great tale of ingenuity, persistence, ambition, and justice, along with some very cool technological insights. Or, as summarized by Steve Wozniak on the back cover, "I can never thank Ralph enough for what he gave to me and everyone else." Game on!
You can purchase Videogames: In the Beginning from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
"If Pacman had affected us as kids we'd be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music."
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire
I've been racking my brain to think why it's ironic ... I deduced that the person wearing the t-shirt was in-fact an Atari 2600 joy-stick
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Jeez everyone knows that video games were invented by Al Gore!
Seriously though this story makes me think back on how much fun I used to have playing River Raid and PitFall (damn those alligators!)
News Reporters Make Tasty Polar Bear Treats!
When I was your age, I decided not to walk to school uphill both ways 10km in the snow with no shoes to stay home and play games like Donkey Kong Mario Bros 1. Now all you wippersnappers play bling bling games like Quarter Life 2, and Battlefield 2-thousand or something. Hooligans I tell you.
Valkyrie is about to die! Wizard needs food -- badly!
I miss the days when i could play C64, Atari, Coleco and Intellivision until i had square eyes. Not a care in the world, as i was in the public school system.
Many of those kids, now grown adults, are still in the public school system.
"We Didn't Stop Atari" By Francisco Rangel
l
(To the tune of We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel)
Harry Potter, Pokemon, Tomb Raider, Digimon
Monkey Island, Space Invaders, Super Mario
Maniac Mansion, Zero Mission, Mortal Kombat, Pole Position
Grand Theft Auto, Ninja Gaiden, Pong and Yu-gi-oh
Megaman, Depth Bomb, Asteroids, Robotron
Tetris, and Army Men, River Raid, and Suikoden
Castlevania, Kirby, Demolition Derby
Dragon Warrior, LEGO Racers, Yoshi's Island, Gauntlet
I really miss Atari. From when I was younger, Now the games are longer
So, I still play Nintendo. Like to keep it old-skool, 8-bit's always so cool
South Park Rally, Harvest Moon, Jungle Hunt and Zoo Tycoon
Double Dragon, Puyo Puyo, NBA Jam
Duck Hunt, Tony Hawk, Chrono Trigger, Chuck Rock
Q*Bert, Sonic, Worms, and Serious Sam
Half-life, Max Payne, Zak McKraken, and Bloodrayne
Onimusha, Sam and Max, Age of Empires, Golden Axe
Home run, Outer Space, Prince of Persia, Death Race
Alley Cat, Paperboy, Sinistar, SimCity
I used to love my gameboy
First they made it Color, Then they made is smaller
My portable companion
It has been enhanced now, So it's called "Advance" now
Bomberman, Burning Fight, Killer Instinct, Gyromite
Frogger, Basketball, Day of the Tentacle
Solitaire, and Sim Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ice Climber, and Descent, and Unreal Tournament
There's Street Fighter, Zaxxon, Duke Nukem, Mafia
Need for Speed, Halo, Turok: Evolution
Rampage, Deus Ex, and that BMXXX
Metroid Prime and Fusion, Dance Dance Revolution
Genesis made by Sega. 16 bits of power Made Nintendo cower
They made Super Nintendo. Neither one was hated, Neither dominated
Leisure Suit Larry, Project Gotham Racing
Punchout, Zork, Doom, Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Legend of Kyrandia, DOA Beach Volleyball
Dig Dug, Nethack, Contra and Plaque Attack
Zelda, Moon Patrol, Battlezone and Star Control
Zero Wing, Baldur's Gate, FIFA Soccer 98
The 3D Revolution. First we saw Playstation, Our infatuation
N64 and Dreamcast. Came along to fight it, But they couldn't smite it
Splinter Cell, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong is back again
Warcraft, Starcraft, Centipede, Xybots
Pitfall, Pengo, Burger Time, 3D Castle Wolfenstein
Ninja Turtles in Japan, Roger Wilco needs a tan.
Hogan's Alley, Excitebike, Quest For Glory, Counter-strike
Ultima, 7th Guest, Quake, Joust, Everquest
Klax, Defender, Earthworm Jim, The Incredible Machine
Final Fantasy, and Loom, I have no space in my room
New consoles are arriving. GameCube, PS2, We've got Xbox,too
New consoles will be coming. But when these are gone
We will still play on and on and on and on...
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2004/06/stop_atari.htm
Technoli
It's like a maze of twisty tunnels all alike.
[Insert pithy quote here]
>His shirt showed an original Nintendo controller and said 'Know your roots.'
Wish I still had my old t-shirt which showed the solution of a quadratic equation and had the same motto...
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
Why else would the fundamental unit of computer logic be the Al-Gore-ithm?
Either that or we just discovered Alanis Morissette's user name
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
After giving up playing WoW, i can say that im quite sure he isnt the only 5year old playing it :D
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
i don't know how the 'know your roots' t-shirt is ironic.
;-]
I'm sure NTK used to sell a far more suitable T-shirt for such events, courtesy of the foul-mouthed UK Resistance. Imagine the following, in huge white monospaced lettering on a black shirt:
10 PRINT "RETRO GAMES ARE SHIT"
20 GOTO 10
I'd be amazed if the wearer were to escape alive...
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
Top of the list: Death of hardware
;)
Me and this guy from across town used to pound the living hell out of each other at 14.4K. At first, it was friendly rivalry but later, shit started getting abused.
The first casualty was my nice, almost new 500 MB hard drive. I still remember it: There I was, circling around back of the cathedral to take him out when all of a sudden I turn around and get a face full of rocket. Totally surprised (and pissed), I pounded my fist on the table screaming incoherantly (probably something similar to, "Son a BITCH!") and within my desktop I heard the scariest noise ever: 'whhhhiiiirrrrr... Click... whhhhhiirrrrr'. Yep. Destroyed my hard drive that day.
But my buddy did even better than that a few weeks later. I had helped him get a motherboard and processor but I had no case to donate. He ended up with this old Hyundai case. Man did that suck! Everything in the case was off by like half a centimeter (a Dremel can only do so much)!
Anyway, because of the sickly case design, he'd have to keep it open with a room fan blowing into the case to keep it from overheating. It was kinda comical and sad at the same time.
Now, how many of you remember that level with all the REALLY THIN walls you had to walk on with lava below? Well, I found out that the spawnpoints were such that he could not finish the level if I didn't want him to. I'd simply wait for him to get on those thin walls and blow him away.
After doing this (I'm not kidding) around 40 times, he texts me and says something like, "Godddamint chuk. if you fucking do that one more time im done." I'm sure you realize that this kind of message is the kind that almost insures his death. The funny thing was, he was on the walls again when I came around the corner, rocket launcher in hand. I fired off a round - purposely missing him and he got so freaked out that he fell off the wall into the lava.
{CLICK!}
Game over! I didn't find out what happened until the next day as he was too embarrassed and angry to talk to me. Apparently, when he accidentally fell off the wall in the game, his RL leg shot out and caught the 'case fan'. The case fan (with a nice, conductive metal grating) fell into his motherboard and shorted the whole mess out - EVEN his VESA (Whoa! 32-bit Trident chipest - hot stuff!) video card.
It was about that time that we both realized that maybe we were taking things a bit too seriously. Then Duke Nukem 3D came out... But that is a different story.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Ouch. You know that feeling when you hear a song that came out when you were in high school, and you realize that it's on a classic rock station? Then that jewel in your hand starts blinking, and you hear in your head "Ah, the firey ritual of Carousel... perhaps you'll be renewed!"
I think i just dated myself in a post about dating myself...