Nearly 200 people attended last week's anniversary celebration, and many of the visitors enjoyed playing a recreated version of Tennis for Two, rebuilt by the Instrumentation Division's Peter Takacs, Gene Von Achen and Paul O'Connor, with Scott Coburn, Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department. Two BNLers play Tennis for Two on the 5-inch oscilloscope onlookers can watch the game on a larger television. ![]() While its recognition as the first video game has been contested, it was the first to be created just to be used for fun. No one guessed at the time that Tennis for Two would be an important piece of history - the forerunner to a multi-billion dollar industry that is still thriving today. Never patented, the game was dismantled about a year after its public display and, later, its original parts were discarded. ![]() At the time of its invention, the game was considered unimportant compared to the more serious work in the Instrumentation Division. On October 24, BNL's Instrumentation Division and Media & Communications Office held a celebration to honor the fiftieth anniversary of Tennis for Two. Two players would compete to hit the "ball," a bouncing dot, over the "net," a horizontal line, which they viewed on an oscilloscope with a five-inch screen. Invented by BNL nuclear physicist William Higinbotham to "liven up the place" and "convey the message that our scientific endeavors have relevance in society," the game was a big hit with visitors, who stood on a long line to play it. ![]() "Tennis for Two," one of the world's first video games, was introduced to the public on Octoat a BNL annual visitors' day. From left, Scott Coburn, Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department, and Peter Takacs and Gene Von Achen, both of the Instrumentation Division, watch as visitors play Tennis for Two projected on a large screen.
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