Video Game Facts: The First Video Game Ever Made Was Designed To Cure Boredom

Anyone for a Spot of Tennis?

September 20th, 2014 By Dean Howard

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With the launch of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last year November. We have seen the evolution of video games heading in a new direction as more developers focus on social features to bring players together - But as we head into the future of video games and next generation consoles, we look back to where it all began with the very first video game ever made.

Tennis For Two was an electronic game created by American Physicist William Higinbotham in 1958 on a Donner Model 30 analog computer for guest who visited the Brookhaven National Laboratory. This ground breaking development is an important part of gaming history as it marked the very first electronic game to ever use a graphical display to simulate a game of  tennis or ping pong via an oscilloscope.

William Higinbotham came up with the idea for Tennis for Two as a cure for boredom to those who visited Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he was working at the time. Higinbotham discovered that one of the computers at the lab could calculate ballistic missile trajectories and he utilized this technology to develop the games foundation.

Tennis for Two's graphical display was able to display a path of a simulated ball on a tennis court, while the designed circuit was able to display the path of the ball and its reversed path when the ball hit the tennis court.

Gamers could play Tennis for two using an analog aluminum controller to press a button to hit the ball while using a knob to navigate the angle.  Tennis for two was built in about two hours and assembled in three weeks by the assistance of Robert V. Dvorak.

Tennis for two made its world debut on October 18, 1958 to hundreds of visitors who lined up to get their hands on the game.  Tennis for two became so popular that an improved version of the game had to be made the following year, with new upgrades including a bigger monitor and different stages of simulated effects and difficulty.

The video game industry is now a multi-billion dollar worth market. It's a great way to occupy your time, make new friends and of course cure boredom.

Socially, developers are finding new innovative ways to get more people playing together with games like Destiny and the upcoming DRIVECLUB on PlayStation 4. So the next time you fire up you console to play one of the many mind blowing titles on todays console, just take a moment to thank Mr William Higinbotham for smashing the ball out the court with his brilliant Tennis for Two, the first electronic video game ever made.