Ralph H Baer, the father of video games and the inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey – the first ever video game console – has passed away, aged 92. Although he did not invent video games himself, the Magnavox Odyssey, which was released in 1972 – and, to an extent, its prototype, the Brown Box – brought video games into the home, and had an immeasurable impact on the video games industry.
Many of the current hand held and console systems can be traced all the way back to the Magnavox Odyssey and Brown Box, which is why when many think of Ralph H Baer, they automatically think ‘father of video games’. Baer is also credited as having invented the very first interactive memory game, and held about 15 patents by the time of his death.
Ralph H Baer also created the first ever light gun game – called Shooting Gallery – which ended up being a technology that was used by video games well up to the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox era. Aside from this, he also created the Simon light and music toy, was on the board of directors for The Videogame History Museum, and also received the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush in 2006.
Ralph H Baer was also active in the field of gaming up to 2012, and was the subject of a video series by filmmaker David Friedman. Born in Germany in 1922, Ralph H Baer and his family fled to Holland only two months before the infamous Kristallnacht attacks on Jewish homes. After that, he moved to America where his works in gaming and electronics would eventually lead him to be given the National Medal of Technology in 2006 by George W Bush, specifically for his work in advancing the gaming industry.