Russ Frushtick

So there's a little bit of debate, but the general consensus is that the very first video game was called Tennis for Two. It came out in 1958, and if you wanted to run it in your home, you couldn't because it basically needed... nuclear-powered computers to run it.

So there's a little bit of debate, but the general consensus is that the very first video game was called Tennis for Two. It came out in 1958, and if you wanted to run it in your home, you couldn't because it basically needed... nuclear-powered computers to run it.

So there's a little bit of debate, but the general consensus is that the very first video game was called Tennis for Two. It came out in 1958, and if you wanted to run it in your home, you couldn't because it basically needed... nuclear-powered computers to run it.

A guy who created it was named William Higginbottom, and he actually used the computers in his nuclear power plant to engineer and create this piece of software just for fun. They would have an annual event where they would basically invite people from the public to come into the plant and see what they were working on.

A guy who created it was named William Higginbottom, and he actually used the computers in his nuclear power plant to engineer and create this piece of software just for fun. They would have an annual event where they would basically invite people from the public to come into the plant and see what they were working on.

A guy who created it was named William Higginbottom, and he actually used the computers in his nuclear power plant to engineer and create this piece of software just for fun. They would have an annual event where they would basically invite people from the public to come into the plant and see what they were working on.

And just as a demonstration of their computers, he created this game called Tennis for Two.

And just as a demonstration of their computers, he created this game called Tennis for Two.

And just as a demonstration of their computers, he created this game called Tennis for Two.

It's kind of great, surprisingly, for being the very first video game. It's a very complicated physics-based recreation of tennis. You actually see the ball bouncing realistically from left to right. It's much more involved than Pong, which I'm sure everyone is more familiar with. But yeah, it was pretty amazing and is still very playable today if you manage to find a machine that can run it.

It's kind of great, surprisingly, for being the very first video game. It's a very complicated physics-based recreation of tennis. You actually see the ball bouncing realistically from left to right. It's much more involved than Pong, which I'm sure everyone is more familiar with. But yeah, it was pretty amazing and is still very playable today if you manage to find a machine that can run it.

It's kind of great, surprisingly, for being the very first video game. It's a very complicated physics-based recreation of tennis. You actually see the ball bouncing realistically from left to right. It's much more involved than Pong, which I'm sure everyone is more familiar with. But yeah, it was pretty amazing and is still very playable today if you manage to find a machine that can run it.

I believe the last time that I played it was at the Museum of the Moving Image, which is in Queens, New York. They had a version of Tennis for Two that you could actually play.

I believe the last time that I played it was at the Museum of the Moving Image, which is in Queens, New York. They had a version of Tennis for Two that you could actually play.

I believe the last time that I played it was at the Museum of the Moving Image, which is in Queens, New York. They had a version of Tennis for Two that you could actually play.

Well, I mean, the big milestones that people think of are probably the jump from 2D to 3D. So in the mid 90s, you know, you had the original Super Mario Brothers and then Super Mario 64 comes out. And that's the first time you see that game in three dimensions. So that was a pretty big leap.

Well, I mean, the big milestones that people think of are probably the jump from 2D to 3D. So in the mid 90s, you know, you had the original Super Mario Brothers and then Super Mario 64 comes out. And that's the first time you see that game in three dimensions. So that was a pretty big leap.

Well, I mean, the big milestones that people think of are probably the jump from 2D to 3D. So in the mid 90s, you know, you had the original Super Mario Brothers and then Super Mario 64 comes out. And that's the first time you see that game in three dimensions. So that was a pretty big leap.

And then obviously these days, you know, you mentioned the difference between Tennis for Two and Fortnite, for example, is night and day. It's amazing the level of fidelity and realism that you could find in video games today. But you're right. A lot of it is just small incremental improvements year after year after year.

And then obviously these days, you know, you mentioned the difference between Tennis for Two and Fortnite, for example, is night and day. It's amazing the level of fidelity and realism that you could find in video games today. But you're right. A lot of it is just small incremental improvements year after year after year.