Known as “the father of video games”, Ralph Baer passed away in his New Hampshire home on the evening of December 6 at the age of 92.
The German-born inventor and his family immigrated to the United States in 1938. Full of ambition, Baer earned a degree in television engineering from the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Baer went on to develop the Magnavox Odyssey which released in 1972 as the first ever home video game console. The Odyssey set the foundation for future home consoles such as the Atari and NES, all the way up through the Wii U.
Home console gaming isn’t all Baer brought us. He also developed Simon, the popular handheld electronic memory game that’s still being sold in stores today.
Mr. Baer is regarded as a pioneer in gaming. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush. It’s because of Baer that we have the opportunity to play so many wonderful games. Without his engineering talent and vision for entertainment, we may have never had a Hyrule for our favorite green-clad hero to save.
