Ralph H. Baer

Ralph H. Baer
Baer in 2009
Born
Rudolf Heinrich Baer

(1922-03-08)March 8, 1922
Rodalben,[1] Palatinate, Weimar Republic
DiedDecember 6, 2014(2014-12-06) (aged 92)
Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S.
Occupation(s)Inventor, video game designer, engineer
Years active1966–2014
Spouse
Dena Whinston
​
​
(m. 1952; died 2006)​
Children3
Websitewww.ralphbaer.com

Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolf Heinrich Baer; March 8, 1922 – December 6, 2014) was a German-American inventor, game developer, and engineer.

Baer's family fled Germany just before World War II and Baer served the American war effort, gaining an interest in electronics shortly thereafter. Through several jobs in the electronics industry, he was working as an engineer at Sanders Associates (now BAE Systems)[2] in Nashua, New Hampshire, when he conceived the idea of playing games on a television screen around 1966. With support of his employers, he worked through several prototypes until he arrived at a "Brown Box" that would later become the blueprint for the first home video game console, licensed by Magnavox as the Magnavox Odyssey. Baer continued to design several other consoles and computer game units, including contributing to design of the Simon electronic game. Baer continued to work in electronics until his death in 2014, with over 150 patents to his name.

Baer is considered "the Father of Video Games" due to his many contributions to games and helping to spark the video game industry in the latter half of the 20th century.[3] In February 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for "his groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialization of interactive video games, which spawned related uses, applications, and mega-industries in both the entertainment and education realms".[4]

  1. ^ Ginkel, Benjamin (March 5, 2022). "Ralph Baer aus Rodalben: Der Pionier des Gamings". Die Rheinpfalz (in German). Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  2. ^ "Lockheed Martin Agrees to Sell Sanders Unit to BAE Systems" Archived December 9, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Anne Marie Squeo, The Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2000
  3. ^ Hatfield, Daemon (December 20, 2007). "GDC 2008: Ralph Baer Receiving Pioneer Award". ign.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
  4. ^ "The National Medal of Technology and Innovation 2004 Laureates". 2004. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2014.