Ralph H. Baer: Difference between revisions
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</ref> 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 and Innovation|National Medal of Technology]] for inventing the [[Video game console|home console for video games]] and spawning the video game industry. |
</ref> 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 and Innovation|National Medal of Technology]] for inventing the [[Video game console|home console for video games]] and spawning the video game industry. |
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==Life== |
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When Baer was eleven, he was expelled from school in Germany because he is [[Jews|Jewish]] 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]]. |
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Baer graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in Television Engineering (unique at the time) from the [[American Television Institute of Technology]]<ref>Cf. Wolverton, Mark, "The Father of Video Games", American Heritage Invention and Technology magazine, Fall 2009 issue.</ref><ref>[http://www.earlytelevision.org/ati.html American Television Institute] - article from the ''Early Television Museum''.</ref> in [[Chicago]] in 1949. |
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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 Corporation|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.<ref>Smithsonian Institution, [http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/fa_baer_index.aspx "Administrative/biographical history"], Ralph H. Baer Papers, The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation</ref> |
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Baer is best known for leading the development of the [[Magnavox Odyssey|Brown Box]] and Magnavox Odyssey, the first home [[video game console]] and his pioneering patented work in establishing video games.<ref>{{cite book | title = Digital Play: The Interaction of Technology, Culture, and Marketing | url = http://books.google.com/?id=fzZ0thNz7SIC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA92&dq=ralph+baer+%22brown+box%22 | author = Stephen Kline, Nick Dyer-Witheford, Greig De Peuter | publisher = McGill–Queen's University Press| year = 2003 | isbn = 0773525912}}</ref> He is now partnered with Bob Pelovitz of Acsiom, LLC,<ref name="acsiom">[www.acsiom.com Asciom Technology]</ref> and they have been inventing and marketing toy and game ideas since 1983.<ref name="ralphbaer.com">[http://www.ralphbaer.com] - Ralph Baer's personal website.</ref> In 2006, Baer donated all his hardware prototypes and documents to the Smithsonian.<ref name="smithsonian">[http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/fa_baer_index.aspx] - Ralph Baer related materials housed at the Smithsonian Lemelson Center</ref> |
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Baer is a Life Senior Member of [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r10/kerala/april_june_2006.htm | title = NEWSLETTER: A House Journal of IEEE Kerala Section | date = April–June 2006 | accessdate = 2007-04-17}}</ref> |
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==Inventions== |
==Inventions== |
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Revision as of 18:49, 28 September 2010
Ralph H. Baer | |
|---|---|
 Ralph Baer (left) receives the National Medal of Technology from president George W. Bush (right) | |
| Born | March 8, 1922 |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Spouse | Dena Whinston (1952-2006) |
| Children | James, Mark, Nancy |
Ralph H. Baer (born March 8, 1922) is an American video game pioneer, inventor, engineer, widely known as "The Father of Video Games",[1] who is noted for his many contributions to games 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.
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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 Hampshire (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.[2] 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.[3]
Awards
In 2005, at G4's video game award show G-Phoria, Baer received a Legend Award for his work in the development of video games.[4]
On February 13, 2006, Baer was given a National Medal of Technology by President George W. Bush, in honor of his "groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games".[5]
In 2008, Baer received the IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award.[6] 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.[1]
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.[7]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Hatfield, Daemon (12/20). "GDC 2008: Ralph Baer Receiving Pioneer Award - The "father of videogames" is getting props". Retrieved 8/7/09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=,|date=, and|year=/|date=mismatch (help) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
ralphbaer.comwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Tim Walsh (2005). Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0740755714.
- ^ "Wrap-Up: G4's G-Phoria Video Game Awards". Gamasutra. July 28, 2005. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help) - ^ President George W. Bush Presents....
- ^ "IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award Recipients". IEEE. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ [1]
References
- Wolverton, Mark, "The Father of Video Games: From a few notes scribbled on a notepad, Ralph Baer invented a new industry", American Heritage Invention and Technology magazine, Fall 2009.
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