Gaming Pioneer Ralph Baer Passes Away

Ralph Baer, creator of the first home console video game system, passed away over the weekend, according to various media reports. He was 92-years-old.

Baer was responsible for the precursor to Pong and Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, originally dubbed the "Brown Box."

In 2006, Baer received the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush.

Thank you so much for being an awesome inventor and pioneer Ralph Baer. You took risks and it paid off.

RIP.

Proof that creating games will lead to a very long life.

Rest in peace, you fantastic man.

Such an incredible individual! RIP

Also, if I'm being honest I was expecting something a little more substantial to be written up about him. Could have at least embedded this video here that was posted in the other thread.

EDIT: Gamespot also has an obituary up that I'd say is more befitting.

:(

Rest in peace.

Sad to say I didn't know much about Ralph Baer before today. His wiki page is well written though, so thanks to whoever wrote that.

Sounded like he did huge amounts for the industry, thank you indeed.

Thank you for bringing a world of joy and fun into the lives of so many. Although there will be many who will never know your name, they will experience the effects of your life and be the better for it. Sir, you will be missed.

I'm glad he made it out of Nazi Germany before everything went to crap. Truly a great innovator and inventor.

@bollard: Yeah, same here. From what I've read thus far, he seems like a supreme individual. Rest in peace.

I kind of wish there was something more to this post, too, but that link more than made up for it. I'd never seen that video, thanks for posting it. It's wonderful.

A ripe old age. Thank you for everything Mr. Baer.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. Rest in peace Mr. Baer.

Salute

*salute*

weird often see him marked as the inventor of video games i always thought alan turning or some other people technically invented video games and ralph invented usage of tv connected video games

google search inventor of video games and its always ralph seems incorrect

but still doesnt take away from fact that had massive impact on how video games are today

rip in peace mister bear

RIP. I wonder what it feels like to create a new form of media and see it come to fruition.

We can see so much further because we stand on the shoulders of giants.

Thank you Ralph Baer for the many wonders I have seen.

@yummylee:

Agreed. I had seen that video a while ago and I really enjoyed it. I've been playing games regularly my whole life but I don't know much about the industry's foundations but he seemed seemed like a genuinely good guy who just loved what he did and wanted to share it with everyone else. We need more people like Ralph Baer.

Rest in peace. He lived a long life. Thank you Ralph Baer, truly one of the most important people to have been involved in Video games.

An absolute genius. He was a marvelous inventor. I can't imagine what it was like when he first told someone of his idea. In the late 60's, the idea of playing a game on a TV with a strange remote control like device must have been ludicrous.

He has a clear claim to "the father of home video games," but any claim more grandiose than that gets kind of hazy. What we think of as arcade video games are the result of several different lineages: electro-mechanical games that had populated arcades in the '40s-'60s, early computer games (most notably "Spacewar," which predates Baer's breakthrough by a few years), and Baer's Odyssey.

If I live to 92 having accomplished just a fraction of what this man did, I'd say I lived a pretty awesome life.

Rest in peace, Mr. Baer.

A lot of people who had access to computers back in the day would find ways to have fun with them, so barring a very strict definition of what is and isn't a video game, we'll probably never pin it down to a single person.

Baer definitely deserves to be remembered as one of the founding fathers of video games, along with guys like Nolan Bushnel, and the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club.

This site gives a pretty good overview of the history, for anyone who's interested.

http://thedoteaters.com/?page_id=6

A fucking legend. We all should be extremely thankful for what he has done. I could not imagine a world without video games anymore.

@the_ruckus said:

He was the precursor of using interchangeable cartridges to change the programming of whatever it played, and machines that worked by reading those cartridges. In other words, he is the direct "father" of home consoles and modern arcade machines technology.

He was also the creator of the light gun, so, there is that too, I guess...

Men like Turing were incredibly influential in information technology, and their work is the foundation behind most of what we consider IT today, but they never thought of applying their research to home entertainment systems (or even personal computers), so to consider them as fathers of video games might be a bit of a stretch; like thinking the inventors of http to be the inventors of video streaming as well.

It's a shame how even some people in my class (2.5 years into a Bachelors of Science in Video Game Design) didn't even know who he was. He was directly responsible for starting our industry. It's quite possible that every single one of us (the kind of people who'd visit this site I mean) wouldn't be where we are in our life without him.

RIP sir.

Agreed. That Gamespot article is a beautifully-written tribute, and makes this little blurb seem almost shameful by comparison.

In any case, I am glad Patrick has put a news item up about this. R.I.P. Mr. Baer. His invention of the home console set the stage for the huge proliferation of interactive games in our everyday life that we get to enjoy today.

You won't be forgotten.

Thank you Mr. Baer.

Thanks Patrick, for letting us know. I didn't know much about him, to be honest.

The "who invented video games" thing never seems to be fully resolved, but no doubt that this dude was a major factor in it, regardkess of how you look at it.

@yummylee: Thank you for posting that video. Wonderful little portrait of a very influential man.

@siphillis is the user that deserves thanks, as he's the one who found it.

@hermes: alan turning point is that he programme a chess game which i would consider a video game as it had some basic interaction most people would agree that interaction is one of main factors of what video game is. but it is murky subject that i think needs allot more research to confirm anything.

but also i don't believe alan tunring was first or his intention to invent games it was just to test the limits of his concepts of computing. but there are others who invented other concept games either before alan or around same time but none of them with the intention of entertainment that is why ralph was so important as he changed it into product that we could all use rather then experiment.

If video games were really to take form in some inevitable method of form, I am thankful it was in the shape of Baer's toy-inspired invention. Video games, in original intentions, as children's hobbies has always made me comfortable in thinking that it is a dimension worth caring toward. As an inventor, one is always searching for their creative dynamo, often recounting a child's endless wondering of the complex world and its mechanical bandwork of countless threads. Ralph Baer proved that video games makers and their players are in the search of creativity and invention.

I always wished he had wrote a book on his path to games and his afterward projects. Hopefully games today have met his standards for what they should be.

Salute to you sir. Thank you for trail blazing such an incredible path.

What is pong anyways? Just two lines that hate each other and throws shit back and forth.

Hyperbole much? The guys are probably hard at work with all the GOTY-stuff, and some of 'em are only there for a brief period. No need to 'shame' Patrick for a quick heads up.

I hope paving the way for the future of entertainment brought you lots of joy. Rest in peace.

@jodokus_k: You've tactically omitted the part where I said "In any case, I am glad Patrick has put a news item up about this." Read my comment again. It was worded a bit strongly but I thought the intent is clear: when put side by side with the Gamespot article, the difference is striking and it makes Patrick's blurb seem thin - but I was glad that Patrick made the article, regardless. My intent was not and still is not to shame anyone. The point is to pay some small tribute to a man who's passed away. If you want to discuss further, PM me. This place should be reserved for talk about Mr. Baer.

Thank you, Mr. Baer.

(Proof! Videogames lead to a longer life expectancy)

Rest in peace Mr Baer, and thank you.

A long life, a longer legacy.

In many ways, one of the men responsible for joining us all here on this website.

Thank you for helping in making video games the great form of entertainment it is today. You like the other pioneers are legends and deserve nothing but respect.