Ralph H. Baer
Encyclopedia
Ralph H. Baer is a German-born American video game pioneer, inventor
, engineer
, known as "The Father of Video Games", who is noted for his many contributions to game
s and the video game industry. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for inventing the home console for video games
and spawning the video game industry.
ancestry and had to go to an all-Jewish school. His father worked in a shoe factory in Pirmasens
at the time. Two months before Kristallnacht
, his family escaped from Germany with him. In America, he was self-taught and worked in a factory for a weekly wage of twelve dollars. He graduated from the National Radio Institute
as a radio service technician in 1940. In 1943 he was drafted to fight in World War II, assigned to Military intelligence
at the US Army headquarters in London
.
Baer graduated with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Television Engineering (unique at the time) from the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago
in 1949.
In 1949, Baer went to work as chief engineer for a small electro medical equipment firm, Wappler, Inc where he designed and built surgical cutting machines, epilators, and low frequency pulse generating muscle-toning equipment. In 1951, Baer went to work as a senior engineer for Loral Electronics
in the Bronx, New York, where he designed power line carrier signaling equipment for IBM
. From 1952 to 1956, he worked at Transitron, Inc., in New York City as a chief engineer and later as vice president. He started his own company before joining Sanders Associates
in 1956, where he stayed until retiring in 1987.
Baer is best known for leading the development of the Brown Box
and Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console
and his pioneering patented work in establishing video games. He is now partnered with Bob Pelovitz of Acsiom, LLC, and they have been inventing and marketing toy and game ideas since 1983. In 2006, Baer donated all his hardware prototypes and documents to the Smithsonian.
Baer is a Life Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
.
(now part of BAE Systems
). In 1971, it was licensed to Magnavox, and after being renamed Magnavox Odyssey
, the console was released to the public in 1972. For a time it was Sanders' most profitable line, though many in the company looked down on game development.
Baer created the first light gun
and game for home television use, sold grouped with a game expansion pack for the Odyssey, and collectively known as the Shooting Gallery. The light gun itself was the first peripheral for a video game console.
Another invention is Simon
, an electronic pattern-matching game that was immensely popular in the late 1970s and 1980s.
's video game award show G-Phoria
, Baer received a Legend Award for his work in the development of video games.
On February 13, 2006, Baer was given a National Medal of Technology by Former President George W. Bush, in honor of his "groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games".
In 2008, Baer received the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award
. He received the Pioneer award at GDC on Wednesday, February 20, 2006.
On February 27, 2008, Baer received the 2008 Developers Choice Awards "Pioneer" award. The award recognizes individuals who have contributed the advancement of the videogame industry through technology, concept, or gameplay design.
On April 1, 2010, Baer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
at a ceremony at the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, known as "The Father of Video Games", who is noted for his many contributions to game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
s and the video game industry. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for inventing the home console for video games
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
and spawning the video game industry.
Life
When Baer was eleven, he was expelled from school in Germany because of his JewishJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ancestry and had to go to an all-Jewish school. His father worked in a shoe factory in Pirmasens
Pirmasens
Pirmasens is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It is famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed Südwestpfalz....
at the time. Two months before Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, his family escaped from Germany with him. In America, he was self-taught and worked in a factory for a weekly wage of twelve dollars. He graduated from the National Radio Institute
National Radio Institute
The National Radio Institute-McGraw Hill Continuing Education Center was a private post-secondary correspondence school based in Washington, D.C..- History :...
as a radio service technician in 1940. In 1943 he was drafted to fight in World War II, assigned to Military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
at the US Army headquarters in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Baer graduated with a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in Television Engineering (unique at the time) from the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1949.
In 1949, Baer went to work as chief engineer for a small electro medical equipment firm, Wappler, Inc where he designed and built surgical cutting machines, epilators, and low frequency pulse generating muscle-toning equipment. In 1951, Baer went to work as a senior engineer for Loral Electronics
Loral Corporation
Loral Corporation was a defense contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation. The company's name was taken from the first letters of each founder's surname....
in the Bronx, New York, where he designed power line carrier signaling equipment for IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. From 1952 to 1956, he worked at Transitron, Inc., in New York City as a chief engineer and later as vice president. He started his own company before joining Sanders Associates
Sanders Associates
Sanders Associates was a defense contractor in Nashua, New Hampshire, USA, from 1951 until it was sold in 1986. It is now part of BAE Systems Electronics & Integrated Solutions, a subsidiary of BAE Systems. It concentrated on developing and manufacturing electronic systems, notably aircraft...
in 1956, where he stayed until retiring in 1987.
Baer is best known for leading the development of the Brown Box
Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years....
and Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
and his pioneering patented work in establishing video games. He is now partnered with Bob Pelovitz of Acsiom, LLC, and they have been inventing and marketing toy and game ideas since 1983. In 2006, Baer donated all his hardware prototypes and documents to the Smithsonian.
Baer is a Life Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
.
Inventions
Baer started development of the "Brown Box" console video game system and several other prototypes in 1966 for the defense-electronics company Sanders Associates in Nashua, New HampshireNashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...
(now part of BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...
). In 1971, it was licensed to Magnavox, and after being renamed Magnavox Odyssey
Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years....
, the console was released to the public in 1972. For a time it was Sanders' most profitable line, though many in the company looked down on game development.
Baer created the first light gun
Light gun
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games.Modern screen-based light guns work by building a sensor into the gun itself, and the on-screen target emit light rather than the gun...
and game for home television use, sold grouped with a game expansion pack for the Odyssey, and collectively known as the Shooting Gallery. The light gun itself was the first peripheral for a video game console.
Another invention is Simon
Simon (game)
Simon is an electronic game of memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, with the software programming being done by Lenny Cope and manufactured and distributed by Milton Bradley. Simon was launched in 1978 at Studio 54 in New York City and became an immediate success. It...
, an electronic pattern-matching game that was immensely popular in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Awards
In 2005, at G4G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
's video game award show G-Phoria
G-Phoria
G-Phoria is an annual video game awards show started in 2003 and produced by G4. The awards are democratically voted on.Formerly the event was formatted like a regular awards ceremony taped in front of an audience, featuring celebrities such as Hal Sparks, Carmen Electra, Wilmer Valderamma and Anna...
, Baer received a Legend Award for his work in the development of video games.
On February 13, 2006, Baer was given a National Medal of Technology by Former President George W. Bush, in honor of his "groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games".
In 2008, Baer received the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award
IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award
The IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award is a Technical Field Award of the IEEE given for outstanding contributions to consumer electronics technology. It is named in honor of Masaru Ibuka, co-founder and honorary chairman of Sony Corporation. The award is currently given each year to an...
. He received the Pioneer award at GDC on Wednesday, February 20, 2006.
On February 27, 2008, Baer received the 2008 Developers Choice Awards "Pioneer" award. The award recognizes individuals who have contributed the advancement of the videogame industry through technology, concept, or gameplay design.
On April 1, 2010, Baer was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
at a ceremony at the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
External links
- Ralph Baer Consultants
- Ralph Baer's US patents
- Information about Ralph Baer's book Videogames: In The Beginning
- Ralph H. Baer Papers, 1943-1953, 1966-1972, 2006 - Ralph Baer's prototypes and documentation housed at the Smithsonian Lemelson Center.
- The Dot Eaters entry on Baer and the history of the Odyssey console
- A Ralph Baer biography
- Ralph H. Baer profile at The Escapist magazine.
- "The Right to Baer Games - An Interview with Ralph Baer, the Father of Video Games" - From GamaSutra and the March 2007 edition of Game Developer magazine.
- pongmuseum.com - Information about Ralph Baer and his invention "Video Ping-Pong"'
- Podcast Interview Ralph Baer on "We Talk Games." [Timecode, 01:05:58]
- History of Video Games with documents and videos of Baers Inventions