The First Ever Computer Game

[Mark Sheeky]

I've found a link to the first game, compiled from the original source.

http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/

For 1961 it's surprisingly good, you can have up to 4 shots in the air each.

Mark

[Ricardo C]

I can only imagine how utterly mind-blowing this must have seemed in 1961 :)

[Mark Sheeky]

In 1961 it required a $4 million computer to run it!

After checking it seems the actual first game was a pong variant made using an oscilloscope in 1958... but this was the second and the first to use a 'modern' display.

Mark

[Black Hydra]

Mark Sheeky is right. The very first game was called 'Tennis for Two'. Similar to Pong.

[Ricardo C]

I think the proto-Pong was made by William Higinbotham, who didn't think of patenting it, since he figured the idea was so simple, anyone could reasonably come up with it, right?

EDIT: An official account of Higinbotham's creation, including a video of it in action. (http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/videogame.html)

So cool :)

EDIT #2: Ralph Baer, the creator of the game Nolan Bushnell ripped off to create Pong, downplays Higinbotham and Russell's role in videogame history. (http://www.pong-story.com/inventor.htm)

...And goes down a few places in my admiration scale.

[GBGames]

I had just finished reading Stephen Levy's Hackers, which discusses the game, when I installed my first Linux distro. A clone of the game was included, and I recognized it immediately. It is a fun game.

[Diodor Bitan]

Original post by Mark Sheeky
For 1961 it's surprisingly good, you can have up to 4 shots in the air each.

I loved how your thrusters are actually less powerfull than the gravity pull of the black hole. You need to thrust sideways at first to enter an orbit, and afterwards you can push yourself away from the hole from that orbit.