Ralph Baer, Inventor of the Home Video Game Console, Dies at 92

Ralph Bear, the inventor of the home video game console died on Saturday at the age of 92. Born in Germany on March 8, 1922, he and his family immigrated with to the US on the eve of World War II and settled in New York in 1938. At first Baer found a job in a factory making leather goods, but after seeing an advertisement for a correspondence course in radio electronics he became a radio service technician in 1940.

Bear served for the military intelligence in London during WWII and used the GI Bill to get a Bachelor of Science in television engineering from the American Television Institute of Technology in 1949. Baer went to work at Sander in 1956, remaining with the defense contractor until his retirement in 1987. Baer held 50 US patents and about 100 worldwide and has designed a number of early video games, including Ping-Pong, Handball and Soccer, as well as the memory skill game, Simon.

Baer began exploring the possibility of playing video games on a TV screen while working as an engineer at a defense contractor in 1966. The result was the “Brown Box” prototype for what would become the Magnavox Odyssey: The first home gaming console. His invention helped transform computer gaming and created the foundation for what we have and all love today.

May he RIP.

Thanks to Cnet for providing us with this information

Image courtesy of Nerdcore