The inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey, and arguable grandfather to the modern home video game industry, Ralph Baer was recently inducted into the Inventor’s Hall of Fame. His work on the first video game console has garnered him a lifetime of praise, including the National Medal of Technology back in 2004. Baer had a background in the military in 1960s before having his hardware ideas licensed to the Magnavox company by his defense contractor employer, Sanders Associates.
“Engineer Ralph Baer, a pioneer in the field of interactive video, invented what became known as the Magnavox Odyssey Home Video Game System, introduced in 1972. He also developed the well-known game Simon, a single-chip, microprocessor controlled memory game, introduced in 1978. In 2004, the video game industry accounted for more than $8 billion in sales, with sales of $15 billion projected for 2010,” representatives noted.