Inventor of the First Video Game Console Ralph Baer Passes Away

Ralph Baer, the creator of the first home video game console, has passed away, Gamasutra reports.

Baer developed the Brown Box in 1966, which he later licensed to Magnavox, where it became the Magnavox Odyssey released in 1972. Baer is also responsible for the first video game peripheral, the light gun, and the electronic memory game Simon.

Baer received the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush in 2006, the 2008 Game Developers Choice Pioneer Award, and many other honors.

"Had I listened to all those people 40 years ago who were telling me to stop the nonsense or made remarks like 'are you still screwing around with this stuff?" And hadn't proceeded, we might all not be here today," Baer said when he received his Pioneer Award. "Certainly things might have been different."

Baer was 92.

Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer. You can follow him on Twitter @emanuelmaiberg.

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Filed under: Video Games

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