Tennis For Two: The first video game in history

He was the scientist William Higinbotham who changed the course of family entertainment. On October 18, 1958, he gave a demonstration with a product designed to entertain visitors. In this way He created the first video game in history., whom he called Tennis For Two.h

How did Tennis For Two work?

From an analog computer connected to an oscilloscope, which simulated a monitor, the game was represented by a horizontal line at the bottom of the screen and another small vertical line as if it were a net.

The players had a prototype controller that was a small box with a knob and a button. The knob controlled the angle of the hit, and the button controlled the timing. They could hit the ball at any time if it was on their side of the net.

On the other hand, he video game It allowed you to define the height of the net and the view of the game was lateral. like that of a tennis court. Furthermore, it had the unique feature of taking into account gravity, rebound, and wind speed. For example, if the ball was hit into the net, it would bounce less than if it were hit from another point. Although rudimentary, it would fulfill its function, which is to entertain.

William then built a circuit where the computer's operational amplifiers generated the trajectory and detected when the ball hit the ground. When this happened, a relay was triggered, reversing the polarity of another amplifier and reflecting its movement.

In addition, other amplifiers and relays were used to verify whether or not the ball had hit the net. This gave the game an unprecedented level of realism for that time.

When It was presented at the Brookhaven National Laboratory., The students were delighted with such an invention. In other words, It was a great success on visiting days at the laboratory during its two years of existence, before it was dismantled.

Despite the fact that the video game attracted a lot of attention, Higinbotham did not consider patenting it. If he had done it, he would have earned a great deal of money.

Controversy as a first video game?

Although There is controversy depending on the interpretation that the word video game is given. Because in 1952 OXO, an electronic version of tic-tac-toe or "the old one" as it's called in other regions, was developed. But it didn't have an animated video.

Also, We must mention the Cathode Ray Tube Entertainment Device (Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device) patented in 1948, which displayed superimposed images as targets to be hit by a beam of light.

The difference of Tennis For Two, it was that It featured graphics and movement of one of the objects. Obviously, because of all this, there is controversy about which was the first video game.

And who was William Higinbotham?

He was born in Bridgeport, in USA, October 25, 1910. It was ua renowned physicist and university professor, who also created the video game He participated in the Manhattan Project, for the development of the atomic bomb.

Job much of his life in the aforementioned Brookhaven National Laboratory, specifically from 1947 to 1984. He subsequently retired, passing away on November 10, 1994 at the age of 84.

He was a scientist involved in tremendous technological advancements. On the one hand, the first video game, and on the other, the weapon of war that many consider disastrous.Tell us, had you heard of this video game? What do you think of the way it was developed?

Image: Wikipedia