Ralph Baer, The Father of the Video Game - Portrait of an Inventor - His Book: Videogames: In the Beginning

Video Games in the Beginning

By
Ralph H. Baer
The Inventor of Home Videogames

Published April 2005
3000 copies 
280 pages 
Full color
Perfect binding 
Trim Size: 8.5 x 11
Retail Price: $29.99 At Amazon:

Video Games in the Beginning
by Ralph Baer

___________________

THE REAL STORY BEHIND VIDEOGAMES

Long before there was a Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii, there was the Magnavox Odyssey, the world’s first home videogame console. But the story of videogames predates the Odyssey by six years. It begins in 1966 when a television engineer named Ralph H. Baer sat down at a New York bus station and entered history.

Videogames: In The Beginning is Ralph H. Baer’s account of how today’s $11-billion per year videogame industry began. A meticulous note keeper, Baer presents in his own words the real story of what led to the Odyssey… and beyond.

But he doesn’t end there. In this book Baer also examines other products that he has worked on such as Simon, the most popular electronic toy ever created. He also discusses his pioneering work into early forms of CD-ROMs and digital imagery.

Whether you are a student of videogame design, a game player, or a fan of inventions and history, you are sure to find Baer’s history fascinating and informative.

Included in this book are:
• The actual four-page treatise that Baer presented to his
   employers
• Original schematics and photos of the first videogame
   prototypes
• Original top secret internal notes and memos
• Original United States patents

 

Ralph Baer, The Father of the Video Game - Portrait of an Inventor - His Book: Videogames: In the Beginning

 

"Ralph Baer’s story — and the ubiquitous catalogue of games, toys and other projects which he pioneered — are captured here with youthful enthusiasm and without the personal agendas all too common in the autobiographies of great men; Ralph’s phlegmatic tone keeps even the most potentially vitriolic issues in perspective. Videogames: In the Beginning should be a tentpole in the library of any student of electronic games."
Bill Kunkel – Videogame Journalist

"This work could be the definitive history of the engineering of the videogame. But more than that, it offers a glimpse into the challenges faced by the earliest innovators."
David Crane - co-founder Activision and creator of Pitfall! one of the most successful videogames of all time.

"It’s great that there’s finally a book that reveals why we game developers (from all over the world) owe our careers to Ralph Baer. I feel very fortunate that our industry is not too old to give us a chance to learn about his experiences first hand, and also it gives us a chance to appreciate his first steps, that have now generated billions of hours of fun entertainment for people."
David Perry - President - Shiny Entertainment, Inc.

"Videogame pioneer and Odyssey inventor Ralph Baer tells all in amazing detail, staking his claim as the inventor of consumer videogames. A fascinating read for the extreme videophile."
Eugene Jarvis -Videogame Designer: Defender, Cruisin USA

Ralph Baer has done an amazing job of explaining both the bolts and particularly the nuts of the origins of videogames. He blows away the popular myths and finally exposes the truth of where it really came from. No one has cut a wider swath through videogame history."
Howard Scott Warshaw - Creator of Yar’s Revenge and E.T for the Atari 2600

"I can never thank Ralph enough for what he gave to me and everyone else."
Steve Wozniak – co-founder Apple Computers

"Videogames: In the Beginning, like everything else from the engineer/inventor who wrote it, is tight, intelligent, and meticulously documented. Baer is brilliant, knowledgeable, and, perhaps, a little angry. Can you blame him?"
Steven L. Kent – author: The Ultimate History of Video Games

 

 

 

 

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