By Reece Merryweather-Brown
The 7th of December, 2014 was an incredibly sad, sad day for gamers everywhere. Ralph Baer, widely regarded as the father of video games, sadly passed away at the ripe old age of 92. An inventor by nature, Baer owned over 150 patents but perhaps his most famous work was his key input into the design of the Magnavox Odyssey, the world’s first home entertainment console. It’s widely seen to be the predecessor of, well pretty much everything, from the early NES’ and Commodore 64s, to the new-fangled pieces of tech like the PS4 or Steam Machine.
The 7th of December, 2014 was an incredibly sad, sad day for gamers everywhere. Ralph Baer, widely regarded as the father of video games, sadly passed away at the ripe old age of 92. An inventor by nature, Baer owned over 150 patents but perhaps his most famous work was his key input into the design of the Magnavox Odyssey, the world’s first home entertainment console. It’s widely seen to be the predecessor of, well pretty much everything, from the early NES’ and Commodore 64s, to the new-fangled pieces of tech like the PS4 or Steam Machine.
You name a modern day console and you can trace its origins all the back to the Odyssey, indeed all the way back to 1969 when it was tested, and the incredible man who created it. Not only was he a world renowned inventor, but also a survivor of one of the harshest, cruelest and most trying times the world has known; the Holocaust.
Baer was born in Germany in 1922, and so was only a young man when Adolf Hitler began his disgusting regime of mass genocide. Life wasn’t easy. Baer was expelled from school aged eleven due to his Jewish heritage and was relocated to another school, and one exclusively for Jewish students; a far less superior school thanks to Hitler’s fascist views. Only two months before the infamous Kristallnacht attacks, Baer and his family finally fled Germany. The Kristallnacht attacks, for those who, like me, may not be immediately familiar with their name, were the horrifying series of attacks upon Jewish stores and homes. Baer and his family relocated to New York City where he helped the American war effort. In 1940 he graduated from the National Radio Institution as a radio service technician, before being drafted into the war effort in 1943. In the military he was assigned to the military intelligence at the United States Army HQ in London. In 1949 Baer graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. In the 60s he began work on his revolutionary technologies which would allow the masses to enjoy interactive entertainment on their televisions, in the comfort of their own home. Baer married in 1952, his spouse, Dena Whinston, who herself passed away in 2006. Together they had three children; Mark, James and Nancy.
Along with his impressive title as “The father of video games,” Baer also earned a number of awards in his life. In 2005 he was awarded the G-Phoria Legend Award (the name of which I strongly agree with.) The IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award was given to him in 2008 as well as the Game Developers Conference Developers Choice “Pioneer” award. On April 1, 2010, Baer was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Most recently, in 2014 he was given the IEEE Edison Medal. But perhaps the most prestigious of these awards was the National Medal of Technology.
Not only does it sound impressive, but President George W. Bush himself was there to give this astounding man the medal for “his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games." According to close friends and family, Mr. Ralph Baer died peacefully in his Manchester home in New Hampshire.
Baer was born in Germany in 1922, and so was only a young man when Adolf Hitler began his disgusting regime of mass genocide. Life wasn’t easy. Baer was expelled from school aged eleven due to his Jewish heritage and was relocated to another school, and one exclusively for Jewish students; a far less superior school thanks to Hitler’s fascist views. Only two months before the infamous Kristallnacht attacks, Baer and his family finally fled Germany. The Kristallnacht attacks, for those who, like me, may not be immediately familiar with their name, were the horrifying series of attacks upon Jewish stores and homes. Baer and his family relocated to New York City where he helped the American war effort. In 1940 he graduated from the National Radio Institution as a radio service technician, before being drafted into the war effort in 1943. In the military he was assigned to the military intelligence at the United States Army HQ in London. In 1949 Baer graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. In the 60s he began work on his revolutionary technologies which would allow the masses to enjoy interactive entertainment on their televisions, in the comfort of their own home. Baer married in 1952, his spouse, Dena Whinston, who herself passed away in 2006. Together they had three children; Mark, James and Nancy.
Along with his impressive title as “The father of video games,” Baer also earned a number of awards in his life. In 2005 he was awarded the G-Phoria Legend Award (the name of which I strongly agree with.) The IEEE Masaru Ibuka Consumer Electronics Award was given to him in 2008 as well as the Game Developers Conference Developers Choice “Pioneer” award. On April 1, 2010, Baer was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. Most recently, in 2014 he was given the IEEE Edison Medal. But perhaps the most prestigious of these awards was the National Medal of Technology.
Not only does it sound impressive, but President George W. Bush himself was there to give this astounding man the medal for “his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games." According to close friends and family, Mr. Ralph Baer died peacefully in his Manchester home in New Hampshire.
Rest in peace, sir.
After living through such hardship in his life, Ralph overcome the obstacles and helped cement the foundation for what would ultimately become one of the world's most popular mediums of entertainment. We salute you, Mr Baer.
The IWG Games Team
The IWG Games Team
RSS Feed
