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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.
Are there any people out there who reminice once and a while about the days of playing Doom over IPX with 3 other players on various BBS's over 14.4K and having rocket wars? I found those days especially fun, even tho technology is so much better today.
I can still vividly recall playing Pac-Man and Scramble at the local roller rinks, and Donkey Kong and Defender at the front entrance of the local grocery store. I would scrape together all the change I could find just on the off chance my parents would let me hit the arcade at the mall, just to take a whack at Tempest or Spy Hunter.
:D
Space Invaders, Lunar Lander, Omega Race... Rush N' Attack, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, P.O.W.... Ladybug, Tapper, Mappy... yeah, I know my roots.
And thanks to the joys of emulators, I can go back to my roots any time I want!
Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
And if you're in Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry has a great exhibit for a couple more weeks, "Game On". It's a hands-on exhibit and historical/cultural look at video games. From the Museum's website...
"Forty years ago, video games didn't exist. The Nintendo Company made playing cards, Sony made black and white televisions and Sega imported instant photo booths. Families played games by rolling dice or dealing cards."
Cool Exhibit!
Quomodo cogis comas tuas sic videri?
I brought Steve Russell's Spacewar to Sanders in the early 1970s, and installed it on the PDP-1 in the basement. When Nintendo was contesting the Magnavox patents they couldn't find any evidence that Baer had seen or played Spacewar, but the possibility does exist, since they were in the same building at the same time. Does he say in his book whether or not he ever encountered Spacewar>
John Sauter (J_Sauter@Empire.Net)
...is J. C. Herz's Joystick Nation. It was published in 1997 so is pretty dated by now but it's still a fun read about the history of video and arcade games.
Want to improve your life? This guy will show you how!
Spacewar not a "real" game? What a crock! Here is Spacewar running on a PDP-11 emulator in a Java applet: :-)
http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/sp acewar/
I can see why he thinks the t-shirt is ironic - the shirt doesn't depict the earliest known example of video gaming, but I don't agree with his judgement.
If "roots" had to be the first known moment that a human did something (even if it was before your time), imagine the confusion. You couldn't say that your roots included MSDOS because the first computers did not run MSDOS. Would you have to say that the root was Babbage's mechanical computer, or would that be disqualified because it was never built?
It's a nonsense. If the person first played on the NES then the t-shirt is perfectly sincere.
As a senior project manager I am surrounded by 20-somethings who think that the world revolves around Halo and/or MechAssult...
Every once in a while I like to fire up either MAME or Stella (Atari 2600 emulator) to show them "the old days". I usually bring out Galaxian or Pac Man or Night Driver or Pitfall...
Oddly enough, some of these peeps have learned a bit and are enjoying using the emulators during break time.
The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
I'm 25 (Born in 1980) The first game system I had was NES, in 1987. That is, I can't remember much before '86, and my parents didn't buy me Atari. So the NES really is the roots of my video gaming life. A teenager is probably beyond the original NES as far as roots go.
I've spent the last 8 years moving back and forth from college and various apartments... and 2 weeks ago, I dug my original NES out of the box, hooked it up, and played Metroid. It really was a blast from the past. It's been 15 years since I played it.
And if you really want a tribute to good ol' fashioned gossip and fan networks, think how fast the Justin Bailey code spread without the existene of the internet or BBS.
Those are roots.
"No fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
How many other geeks out there find that the romanticized universes of games, books, and movies have affected their view of life and/or actions. For movies, this is to a lesser extent nowadays, as they are generally more sap and sex than anything.
Various women have mentioned that I tend to have an old-fashioned flair for opening doors or genteel conversion. Most of these mannerisms I've probably picked up from books, some perhaps from games. Does anyone else find this to be the case?
I too have actually WORKED in this industry, not just spouting off or waxing nostalgic. It is sad, the current state is not what it should be. I applaud your move and wish you the best of luck. I have a feeling a major change is going to come in gaming with this next generation of consoles.
All of the people who claim I'm wrong or that there is such a bright future ahead will soon see how badly they are off the mark. With the Insane costs of developing for the 360 or the PS3 there will be little to no variety of games coming out and the amount of releases are going to be ultra-low. The costs of production coupled with the length of development and programming will badly stunt the number of games to be released over the consoles lifespan.
The truth will become quite apparent in due time.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
I still remember playing Trade Wars on local BBSs and Red Dragon as well. The fact that you could do things which impacted other player's games was amazing and I always remember dreading that I would log on and find that I was destroyed overnight.
When I found MUDs (Medievia was my main one), I was in heaven. I was simply amazed at what we could do and how you could interact with other players in real time. It didn't matter that there weren't any graphics, it was just simply amazing.
And damn straight about growing up during the era of arcades. It's damn near impossible to explain to the younger video game crowd the sheer wonder we felt as these now technologically antiquated games came out back when they were brand new.
Happy people make bad consumers.
It's obvious why he denied those two games as being videogames. It's because his company, Magnovox, had a patent on game consoles. As long as Magnovox held on to the patent, anybody wanting to make a game console would have to pay royalties.
But of course, it is obvious that Tennis for Two and Space Wars are videogames. In fact, anybody who wants to play the origional Spacewar can do it here
While other console companies existed before Nintendo, they were largely unprofitable. Atari's abysmal failures in Pac-man and E.T. are just one example. In short, the entire console industry was about to be written off as just another fad. Nintendo's entry into the market was largely seen as suicide at best, according to many insiders. However, Nintendo did what Magnavox, Atari, and Colecovision could not: brought gaming into the mainstream and were comercially viable. To this day, some people call console gaming (regardless of platform) "playing Nintendo" just as some people call all sodas "coke".
While gaming would've carried if Nintendo hadn't existed, it would've been mainly on the PC/Mac in my opinion. So while Nintendo was not the first console, it's the landmark console through which all modern consoles trace their roots.
-- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
The arguments in the parent post and the, er.., "grandparent" are not really mutually exclusive. In fact, I'd say there's a lot of truth in both.
On one hand, I think that the older generation of games tend to decry the games of today as being derivative, uncreative titles that focus more on technology and graphics than gameplay. I think that this is a nostalgic view that glosses over a mountain of crap. In fact, I'd argue that the ratio good/bad games has remained relatively constant. You had franchises with too many sequels, and you had legions of copy-cat titles. It's just that people only remember Pac-Man and Galaga -- they dont remember Pac Man Jr., Super Pac Man, Pac-Man Pinball, and the legion of forgettable Galaga clones.
On the other hand, I think that it's true that video games are getting overly complex and overwrought, and that is part of the reason why development costs are spiraling out of control. The added competition in a larger game industry is part of the reason, but In general I think games are just getting too "big".
I think games like Kamitari Damacy are a model for what other games should be. KD is alot of fun, and easy to learn, but it isn't obsessively focused on realism and it was a relatively quick game to play (I finished it in a weekend). So, Konami was able to price it at $20 in the U.S. and it did quite well.
To appreciate a machine you have to live in it, so to speak. It's not just a toy you tinker with once in a while, it's a tool that you use for something. You've poked around in the corners, and you've found the little gems that make it special -- that make you forgive its quirks, whatever they may be. Someone who's just visiting -- a tourist in your tool, so to speak -- will be likely to see just the quirks at first, particularly if they're already using another tool to do the same thing in a different way. This is where holy wars begin. I won't be so foolish at to name names, but this is the truth from which they all emerge.
This also feeds the apathy younger geeks have toward ancient technology. How much time would you spend using a random computer that's older than you are, by your own choice? Long enough to find the cool parts?
And remember that the NES generation has a major obstacle to discovering their gaming prehistory: the flood tide of bad Atari 2600 games that sank the American video game industry. It makes the gems that much harder to find.
I also made an etch-a-sketch type road-racing game on my oscilloscope by tracing a "road" onto a clear piece of cellophane and taping it to the screen. Then, by adjusting the horizontal and vertical offset knobs, I could "drive" the point around the track.
But try telling that to kids these days and they just don't believe you.
John
In the mid-1970s a Houston UHF channel, 26 or 39 I think, had a telephone-based video game called "TV Kid Pow".
Kids sent in their phone numbers and the station would call a few "lucky winners" each day.
The winners would play a video game using their telephone: every time they said "pow" the game fired a bullet at the target. The more hits they got, the higher the score.
I think the weekly high-scorer got a special mention too.
Call it an early tele-computer-game if you will. I call it good marketing.
"Music has been turned artificial, movies have followed suit, I guess games are next. When people will wake up and stop accepting this crap is beyond me. People have no "soul" anymore, they want fluff with no real substance, typical disposable society." ...and modern dentistry keeps us alive at the price of people with artificially white teeth.
Warlords is still a great game. Most of its era sucked. Same thing now. Whether it is the perceived coarsening of the culture, the quality of the video games or the quality of the toast: I'm sick of the whining. Games now, if not better on average (I'd argue they are), cover a wider range of possibilities from simple control greatness (Warning Forever) to insanely deep simulations (X-Plane) to frantic multi-player (UT2004). Random high quality examples only.
Unconnected to my bitching at the poster, I've got the July 1971 Analog which includes a many page article about Spacewar, written by one of the variant creators, Albert Kuhfeld. It's even got a flowchart of the game logic!
Showing the kids the history of games is a great service; it is a hobby and an industry without ties to its history. Just don't become mired in your own nostalgia. A dangerous narcotic, nostalgia.
Feeling so good natured I could drool