Tennis for Two

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Tennis for Two
Developer(s)	William Higinbotham
Publisher(s)	William Higinbotham
Designer(s)	William Higinbotham
Platform(s)	Analog computer/Oscilloscope
Release date(s)	October 18, 1958[1]
Genre(s)	Tennis/Ping pong

Tennis for Two was a game developed in 1958 on an analog computer, which simulates a game of tennis or ping pong on an oscilloscope. Created by American physicist William Higinbotham, it is important in the history of video games as one of the first electronic games to use a graphical display.

[edit] Development

Higinbotham created Tennis for Two to cure the boredom of visitors to Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he worked.^[2] He learned that one of Brookhaven's computers could calculate ballistic missile trajectories and he used this ability to form the game's foundation.^[3] The game uses an oscilloscope as the graphical display to display the path of a simulated ball on a tennis court. The designed circuit displayed the path of the ball and reversed its path when it hit the ground. The circuit also sensed if the ball hit the net and simulated velocity with drag.^[4] Users could interact with the ball using an analog aluminum controller^[5] to click a button to hit the ball and use a knob to control the angle. Hitting the ball also emitted a sound.^[6] The device was designed in about two hours and was assembled within three weeks with the help of Robery V. Dvorak.^[7] Excluding the oscilloscope and controller, the game's circuitry approximately took up the space of a microwave oven.^[5]

Though there was no direct kinship between the two games, Tennis for Two was a predecessor of Pong—one of the most widely recognized video games as well as one of the first. Tennis for Two was brought out only twice, on "Visitor's Day" at the Laboratory. It remained virtually unheard of until the late 1970s and early 1980s when Higinbotham was called on to testify in court cases for defendants against Magnavox and Ralph Baer.^[4] Unlike Pong and similar early games, Tennis for Two shows a simplified tennis court from the side instead of a top-down perspective, with no representation of the player on the screen. The perspective shows more of the ball's trajectory than Pong's view.^[8] The ball is affected by gravity and must be played over the net. The game was controlled by an analog computer and "consisted mostly of resistors, capacitors and relays, but where fast switching was needed—when the ball was in play—transistor switches were used."^[9][10]

[edit] Reception

Visitors at the Brookhaven National Laboratory play Tennis for Two projected on a large screen during the 50th Anniversay celebration.

The game is regarded as a hit during its initial showing on October 18, 1958. Hundreds of visitors lined up to play the new game during its initial debut.^[5] Due to the game's popularity, an upgraded version was shown the following year, with enhancements including a larger screen and different levels of simulated gravity.^[6] In 2008, a team at Brookhaven recreated the game for the 50th Anniversary. The feat took about 3 months partially because the parts were not readily available.^[11][5]

[edit] First video game?

Tennis for Two has been referred to as the first video game. Other games contending for this title are the 1952 tic-tac-toe game OXO and an unnamed missile-like game patented in 1948 that used overlaid pictures to represent targets to be hit by controlled beams of light.^{[12][4][13][14]} However, Tennis for Two stands out from these games by displaying motion and having the graphics contained within the system. As such, the earlier games have been referred to as amusement or electronics games, but not necessarily video games.^[6] Higinbotham never patented the design, partly because the patent would have been given to the federal government, which financed Brookhaven. Additionally, Highinbotham did not see the game as any major difference from the computer's existing capability.^[11][6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tennis for Two video on YouTube.
• Streaming video of the original Tennis for Two.
• Brookhaven History - The First Video Game. Includes a video of the game.
• Tennis For Two simulator available for download.
• The Dot Eaters entry on Tennis for Two and creator William Higinbotham
• Who Really Invented The Video Game?