A Look Back at the Creator of the First Video Game
Higinbotham was born in 1910 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and played a crucial role in the development of technology during World War II at the Los Alamos Laboratory. His work helped create electronics for the atomic bombs that were later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
After the war, he helped establish the Federation of American Scientists, a group focused on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. He then continued his career at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), where he made a groundbreaking contribution to the world of entertainment.
At BNL, Higinbotham invented “Tennis for Two,” a game that is recognized as one of the first video games like the ones we enjoy today. It was created for an exhibition at the lab, which mostly showcased static displays. Higinbotham wanted to engage the audience and thought a game would be a fun addition. He believed that such games could show how scientific work is relevant to society.
Using an analog computer from the lab, Higinbotham developed the game in just three weeks. The setup included an oscilloscope that displayed a side view of a tennis court. Players used custom controllers to hit the ball back and forth, controlling the angle of their shots with a dial.
“Tennis for Two” made its debut on October 18, 1958, and quickly became a hit among exhibition visitors. However, the game was taken apart in 1959 to reuse its parts for other lab projects. For many years, it was nearly forgotten until it gained attention again during a court case in the late 1970s.
Before Higinbotham’s invention, most early games were created primarily for research or to demonstrate analog computers. “Pong,” released by Atari more than a decade later, is often wrongly thought of as the first popular video game. In fact, it was the first game to really capture public interest.
Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, launched “Pong” as an arcade game in 1972, followed by a home version in 1975. This paved the way for legendary games like Pac-Man and Mario. Notably, in 1976, Bushnell turned down an offer from Steve Jobs to purchase a third of Apple for $50,000—a decision that would have been worth nearly $1 trillion today.
Higinbotham, who passed away in 1994, hoped to be remembered for his work on radar displays and nuclear nonproliferation. However, his creation of “Tennis for Two” marks a significant moment in video game history, proving that games could be developed not just for scientific purposes but also for pure enjoyment.
