Predecessors
In 1958 physicist William Higinbotham built Tennis for Two on an oscilloscope to entertain lab visitors. Spacewar! was created at MIT in 1962. The first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey designed by Ralph Baer, also came out in 1972.
A cabinet in a bar
Nolan Bushnell founded Atari and gave young engineer Allan Alcorn a “practice” task: make a tennis game. The first cabinet went into Andy Capp's Tavern in California. Legend has it that after a few days it stopped working because it was completely jammed with coins.
Why it matters
- It proved that people would pay to play on a screen.
- Atari became the first big games company.
- The home version Home Pong (1975) paved the way for consoles such as the Atari 2600.