Tennis for two
One of the first electronic games in the world was created by chance, on a whim, in the form of scientific and technical fun. It appeared in Bukhaven National Laboratory, which was founded in 1947 in Upton, New York, and was engaged in research conducted within the framework of a nuclear program.
Residents of Upton and neighboring cities were very concerned about the activities of scientists. Still, the whole world learned about the destructive power of nuclear weapons after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Therefore, in order to get rid of the unreasonable fears of ordinary people, the laboratory management periodically held open doors. Everyone could come and be convinced of safety of works of scientists, get acquainted with the scientific equipment and photos of researches.
Nuclear physicist William Higginbotham was in charge of the instrumentation development department. It was he who had the idea to entertain visitors with a device imitating the game of two people in tennis. A specialist who had previously worked on the creation of radar systems and control systems for nuclear bombs was not at all difficult to develop an analog circuit of the prototype of the world's first video game. The main sketches of the system were made in just a couple of hours, and it took three weeks to assemble the device during off-hours. In addition to resistors, capacitors and relays, Higginbotham used the last word of the electronics of that time - transistors.
The military before, counting the ballistic trajectories of the shells, displayed their graphical image on the oscillograph screens. It was this idea that the scientist decided to use. But this time it was supposed to be the trajectory of the ball. A side view of the playing tennis field was projected onto a five-inch screen of the oscilloscope's green kinescope, and a pair of controllers were made for the players. In the game, you could even change the force of air resistance and gravity. Immediately visible scientific approach.
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On October 18, 1958, the game “Tennis for two” was shown to the guests of Buckhaven laboratory. Visitors were asked to turn the knob of the controller to adjust the angle of hitting the ball, while throwing it over the net on the opponent's field. The success of the game was overwhelming. Electronic fun was perceived by people as a technological miracle. To the machine lined up the queues.
A year later, the success was repeated. Nevertheless, Higginbotem himself didn’t take his invention, which we would call innovative today, quite seriously. Perhaps, if the spirit of an entrepreneur, and not a scientist and an engineer, lived in it, then everything would be different. But William did not even begin to issue a patent for the game, not to mention commercial use. So "Tennis for two" was soon disassembled for parts.
As such, “Tennis for two” practically played no role in the history of video games. Nevertheless, it is William Higbotham who can be considered the author of one of the first electronic games.
PS Watch a small film dedicated to the game "Tennis for two" here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6mu5B-YZU8&feature
Residents of Upton and neighboring cities were very concerned about the activities of scientists. Still, the whole world learned about the destructive power of nuclear weapons after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Therefore, in order to get rid of the unreasonable fears of ordinary people, the laboratory management periodically held open doors. Everyone could come and be convinced of safety of works of scientists, get acquainted with the scientific equipment and photos of researches.
Nuclear physicist William Higginbotham was in charge of the instrumentation development department. It was he who had the idea to entertain visitors with a device imitating the game of two people in tennis. A specialist who had previously worked on the creation of radar systems and control systems for nuclear bombs was not at all difficult to develop an analog circuit of the prototype of the world's first video game. The main sketches of the system were made in just a couple of hours, and it took three weeks to assemble the device during off-hours. In addition to resistors, capacitors and relays, Higginbotham used the last word of the electronics of that time - transistors.
The military before, counting the ballistic trajectories of the shells, displayed their graphical image on the oscillograph screens. It was this idea that the scientist decided to use. But this time it was supposed to be the trajectory of the ball. A side view of the playing tennis field was projected onto a five-inch screen of the oscilloscope's green kinescope, and a pair of controllers were made for the players. In the game, you could even change the force of air resistance and gravity. Immediately visible scientific approach.
')
On October 18, 1958, the game “Tennis for two” was shown to the guests of Buckhaven laboratory. Visitors were asked to turn the knob of the controller to adjust the angle of hitting the ball, while throwing it over the net on the opponent's field. The success of the game was overwhelming. Electronic fun was perceived by people as a technological miracle. To the machine lined up the queues.
A year later, the success was repeated. Nevertheless, Higginbotem himself didn’t take his invention, which we would call innovative today, quite seriously. Perhaps, if the spirit of an entrepreneur, and not a scientist and an engineer, lived in it, then everything would be different. But William did not even begin to issue a patent for the game, not to mention commercial use. So "Tennis for two" was soon disassembled for parts.
As such, “Tennis for two” practically played no role in the history of video games. Nevertheless, it is William Higbotham who can be considered the author of one of the first electronic games.
PS Watch a small film dedicated to the game "Tennis for two" here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6mu5B-YZU8&feature
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/112560/
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