Tennis for Two
Encyclopedia
Tennis for Two was a game developed in 1958 on an analog computer
, which simulates a game of tennis
or ping pong on an oscilloscope
. Created by American
physicist William Higinbotham
, it is important in the history of video games
as one of the first electronic game
s to use a graphical display.
, where he worked. He learned that one of Brookhaven's computers could calculate ballistic missile trajectories and he used this ability to form the game's foundation. The game uses an oscilloscope as the graphical display to display the path of a simulated ball on a tennis court. The designed circuit displayed the path of the ball and reversed its path when it hit the ground. The circuit also sensed if the ball hit the net and simulated velocity with drag
. Users could interact with the ball using an analog aluminum controller to click a button to hit the ball and use a knob to control the angle. Hitting the ball also emitted a sound. The device was designed in about two hours and was assembled within three weeks with the help of Robert V. Dvorak. Excluding the oscilloscope and controller, the game's circuitry approximately took up the space of a microwave oven.
Though there was no direct kinship between the two games, Tennis for Two was a predecessor of Pong
—one of the most widely recognized video games as well as one of the first. Tennis for Two was brought out only twice, on "Visitor's Day" at the Laboratory. It remained virtually unheard of until the late 1970s and early 1980s when Higinbotham was called on to testify in court cases for defendants against Magnavox
and Ralph Baer. Unlike Pong
and similar early games, Tennis for Two shows a simplified tennis court
from the side instead of a top-down perspective, with no representation of the player on the screen. The perspective shows more of the ball's trajectory than Pong's view. The ball is affected by gravity and must be played over the net. The game was controlled by an analog computer and "consisted mostly of resistors, capacitors and relays, but where fast switching was needed—when the ball was in play—transistor switches were used."
The game is regarded as a hit during its initial showing on October 18, 1958. Hundreds of visitors lined up to play the new game during its initial debut. Due to the game's popularity, an upgraded version was shown the following year, with enhancements including a larger screen and different levels of simulated gravity. In 2008, a team at Brookhaven recreated the game for the 50th Anniversary. The feat took about 3 months partially because the parts were not readily available.
. Other early electronics games with visual displays also considered are OXO
and an unnamed missile-like game patented in 1948 that used overlaid pictures to represent targets to be hit by a controlled beam of light. Unlike the latter two, Tennis for Two displayed motion and had the graphics contained within the system. Higinbotham never patented the design, partly because the design patent would have been given to the federal government, which financed Brookhaven. Additionally, Higinbotham did not see the game as a big difference from the computer's existing capability.
Controversy exists, however, because Tennis for Two uses an oscilloscope
rather than a conventional CRT monitor or television set as its video display. This was largely in part because Higinbotham was simply putting together a makeshift technology demonstration to entertain visitors rather than to produce a marketable commercial product. Because Tennis for Two outputs to a vector oscilloscope
, thus having no raster video
signal as used by standard TV
and computer displays (however, the game does produce a vector
video signal as used by some later video games, such as Asteroids, and in fighter aircraft
HUDs), and contains no directly player-controlled objects—players did, however, control invisible "racquets" that would alter the trajectory of the "ball"—it was summarily thrown out during several court cases where it was brought forth as a previous example
of video game technology.
Analog computer
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved...
, which simulates a game of tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
or ping pong on an oscilloscope
Oscilloscope
An oscilloscope is a type of electronic test instrument that allows observation of constantly varying signal voltages, usually as a two-dimensional graph of one or more electrical potential differences using the vertical or 'Y' axis, plotted as a function of time,...
. Created by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist William Higinbotham
William Higinbotham
William A. Higginbotham , an American physicist, is credited with creating one of the first computer games, Tennis for Two. Like Pong, it is a portrait of a game of tennis or ping-pong, but featured very different game mechanics that have no resemblance to the later game...
, it is important in the history of video games
History of video games
The history of video games goes as far back as the 1940s, when in 1947 Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Mann filed a United States patent request for an invention they described as a "cathode ray tube amusement device." Video gaming would not reach mainstream popularity until the 1970s and...
as one of the first electronic game
Electronic game
An electronic game is a game that employs electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. The most common form of electronic game today is the video game, and for this reason the terms are often mistakenly used synonymously. Other common forms of electronic game include...
s to use a graphical display.
Development
Higinbotham created Tennis for Two to cure the boredom of visitors to Brookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
, where he worked. He learned that one of Brookhaven's computers could calculate ballistic missile trajectories and he used this ability to form the game's foundation. The game uses an oscilloscope as the graphical display to display the path of a simulated ball on a tennis court. The designed circuit displayed the path of the ball and reversed its path when it hit the ground. The circuit also sensed if the ball hit the net and simulated velocity with drag
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
. Users could interact with the ball using an analog aluminum controller to click a button to hit the ball and use a knob to control the angle. Hitting the ball also emitted a sound. The device was designed in about two hours and was assembled within three weeks with the help of Robert V. Dvorak. Excluding the oscilloscope and controller, the game's circuitry approximately took up the space of a microwave oven.
Though there was no direct kinship between the two games, Tennis for Two was a predecessor of Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
—one of the most widely recognized video games as well as one of the first. Tennis for Two was brought out only twice, on "Visitor's Day" at the Laboratory. It remained virtually unheard of until the late 1970s and early 1980s when Higinbotham was called on to testify in court cases for defendants against Magnavox
Magnavox
Magnavox is a US electronics company founded by Edwin Pridham and Peter L. Jensen, who invented the moving-coil loudspeaker in 1915 at their lab in Napa, California. They formed Magnavox in 1917 in order to market their inventions....
and Ralph Baer. Unlike Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
and similar early games, Tennis for Two shows a simplified tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
from the side instead of a top-down perspective, with no representation of the player on the screen. The perspective shows more of the ball's trajectory than Pong's view. The ball is affected by gravity and must be played over the net. The game was controlled by an analog computer and "consisted mostly of resistors, capacitors and relays, but where fast switching was needed—when the ball was in play—transistor switches were used."
Reception
First video game controversy
Depending on interpretation of the term "video game", Tennis for Two has been called the first video gameFirst video game
There are numerous debates over who created the first video game, with the answer depending largely on how video games are defined. The evolution of video games represents a tangled web of several different industries, including scientific, computer, arcade, and consumer electronics.The "video" in...
. Other early electronics games with visual displays also considered are OXO
OXO
OXO was a computer game written for the EDSAC computer in 1952, an implementation of the game known as Noughts and Crosses in the UK, or tic-tac-toe in the United States. It was written by Alexander S. Douglas as an illustration for his Ph.D. thesis on human-computer interaction for the University...
and an unnamed missile-like game patented in 1948 that used overlaid pictures to represent targets to be hit by a controlled beam of light. Unlike the latter two, Tennis for Two displayed motion and had the graphics contained within the system. Higinbotham never patented the design, partly because the design patent would have been given to the federal government, which financed Brookhaven. Additionally, Higinbotham did not see the game as a big difference from the computer's existing capability.
Controversy exists, however, because Tennis for Two uses an oscilloscope
Oscilloscope
An oscilloscope is a type of electronic test instrument that allows observation of constantly varying signal voltages, usually as a two-dimensional graph of one or more electrical potential differences using the vertical or 'Y' axis, plotted as a function of time,...
rather than a conventional CRT monitor or television set as its video display. This was largely in part because Higinbotham was simply putting together a makeshift technology demonstration to entertain visitors rather than to produce a marketable commercial product. Because Tennis for Two outputs to a vector oscilloscope
Vector monitor
A vector monitor or vector display is a display device used for early computers. It is a type of CRT, similar to the oscilloscope, but typically uses magnetic, rather than electrostatic, deflection...
, thus having no raster video
Raster scan
A raster scan, or raster scanning, is the rectangular pattern of image capture and reconstruction in television. By analogy, the term is used for raster graphics, the pattern of image storage and transmission used in most computer bitmap image systems...
signal as used by standard TV
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
and computer displays (however, the game does produce a vector
Vector graphics
Vector graphics is the use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and shapes or polygon, which are all based on mathematical expressions, to represent images in computer graphics...
video signal as used by some later video games, such as Asteroids, and in fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
HUDs), and contains no directly player-controlled objects—players did, however, control invisible "racquets" that would alter the trajectory of the "ball"—it was summarily thrown out during several court cases where it was brought forth as a previous example
Prior art
Prior art , in most systems of patent law, constitutes all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent's claims of originality...
of video game technology.
External links
- Tennis for Two video on YouTube.
- Streaming video of the original Tennis for Two.
- Brookhaven History - The First Video Game. Includes a video of the game.
- Tennis For Two simulator available for download.
- The Dot Eaters entry on Tennis for Two and creator William Higinbotham
- Who Really Invented The Video Game?