View Full Version : Happy Birthday Ralph Baer!!!!
rolenta
03-08-2007, 08:15 AM
March 8th is Ralph Baer's 85th birthday. Happy Birthday Ralph!
Happy birthday Ralph! We all owe you so much. You're the one who invented Simon and something else right? Ha ha ha.
ubikuberalles
03-08-2007, 12:12 PM
Hey, that's the same day as my nephew's birthday! :)
Happy birthday Ralph!
(BTW: Ralph is 85 today)
Phosphor Dot Fossils
03-08-2007, 12:43 PM
Happy birthday, Mr. Baer, with many more to come. Thanks for coming up with these fun little inventions that completely changed the course of my whole life!
theshizzle3000
03-08-2007, 02:50 PM
Happy B-Day to this dude Simon rocks!
Sotenga
03-08-2007, 04:41 PM
Mr. Baer, for inventing something for everyone to do out in a quiet little suburb out in the middle of nowhere... I thank you. :)
Carey85
03-08-2007, 05:56 PM
Mr. Baer, the world thanks you for letting us play with your brown box... Also, I feel really dirty having said that.
Tron 2.0
03-08-2007, 08:37 PM
Happy B-day to the pioneer of console gaming.
mezrabad
03-08-2007, 08:43 PM
Happy Birthday to Ralph Baer, the inventor of the videogame!
Ed Oscuro
03-08-2007, 10:33 PM
Rock On, Rock On!
MrRoboto19XX
03-08-2007, 11:29 PM
Happy Birthday Ralph! Thanks for the O2!
Technosis
03-08-2007, 11:53 PM
U da man Ralph!
Haoie
03-08-2007, 11:57 PM
Happy birthday.
It'll forever be argued whether Ralph Baer or Nolan Bushnell is the true father of video gaming, I think.
rbudrick
03-09-2007, 11:07 AM
Ralph who? KIDDING! I have his book autographed. Looks like he turned 85 two days after I turned 29.
BTW, you are required to read his book and should not return to the forums until you have. It's INCREDIBLE.
-Rob
slapdash
03-10-2007, 10:49 PM
Hey yeah, happy (belated) birthday!
Hey yeah, happy (belated) birthday!
ditto
RegSNES
03-11-2007, 11:01 PM
Didn't know his birthday was this month. Happy 85th, Ralph! There wouldn't be a gaming industry if not for this man and my fav hobby wouldn't exist.
Lady Jaye
03-11-2007, 11:05 PM
duh, missed that thread!
Well, happy belated birthday to Mr. Baer, and to many, many more!
scooterb23
03-11-2007, 11:11 PM
Smarter than the average Baer!
And happy birthday too
RetroYoungen
03-12-2007, 01:11 AM
I can't believe I've missed this until today!
Happy birthday, Mr. Baer! And hopefully you can make it to CGE this year; I'd love to have a chance to shake your hand and say "thank you" personally! :-)
mezrabad
03-16-2007, 01:59 AM
Happy birthday.
It'll forever be argued whether Ralph Baer or Nolan Bushnell is the true father of video gaming, I think.
Ralph Baer invented videogames when he invented a way for anyone with a TV to hook up a console to that TV which would allow them to play videogames. He first did this in 1966. What's to argue?
slapdash
03-18-2007, 05:28 PM
Ralph Baer invented videogames when he invented a way for anyone with a TV to hook up a console to that TV which would allow them to play videogames. He first did this in 1966. What's to argue?
I think there's little debate left over who invented the videogame (I'm aware of the Higginbothan and EDSAC Tic-Tac-Toe proponents though), but there's reasonable debate over who created the videogame industry, and regarding that, you can definitely make a case for Bushnell.
mezrabad
03-21-2007, 06:36 PM
I think there's little debate left over who invented the videogame (I'm aware of the Higginbothan and EDSAC Tic-Tac-Toe proponents though), but there's reasonable debate over who created the videogame industry, and regarding that, you can definitely make a case for Bushnell.
I absolutely agree with that. After the barely break-even failure of Computer Space, the arcade industry wouldn't have gotten off the ground if Bushnell hadn't had Al Alcorn make what was, essentially, an enhanced clone of Baer's Table Tennis. However, I don't think the Odyssey, by itself, would've launched the industry any more successfully than Computer Space did. Basically, Ralph Baer came up with the gadget and the killer app that Nolan Bushnell successfully imitated, improved and brought to the public.
The Higginbothan (many 'Bothans died to bring us this informaiton), EDSAC and SpaceWar! proponents have a case for the invention of electronic entertainment, but the whole, "let's make something to let anyone play a game on an ordinary TV", is an essential distinguising characteristic of Baer's contribution which those proponents tend to overlook, and wasn't thought of or demonstrated by any of those parties (not that you said they did, I'm actually having an argument with the voices in my head from threads-of-old) ;) .
rolenta
03-21-2007, 09:25 PM
I think there's little debate left over who invented the videogame (I'm aware of the Higginbothan and EDSAC Tic-Tac-Toe proponents though), but there's reasonable debate over who created the videogame industry, and regarding that, you can definitely make a case for Bushnell.
Russ,
There's no debate about who created the industry. And ever since my 2000 EGM article, Baer has been called The Father of Videogames while I gave Bushnell the title The Father of The Videogame Industry. Baer will be the first to tell you that Bushnell kick-started the industry. But Bushnell wants credit for everything.
stargate
03-21-2007, 09:48 PM
Happy B-Day Ralph !!!