The First Video Game in History

A tennis game that consisted of a simple cathode ray tube display with two lines

Looking closely at the oscilloscope, you what function the picture has for a lab. But it doesn’t have a function for utility — it had a function for pleasure.

It was called Tennis For Two, the first video game in history. If you look closely, you’ll see the gold and green in the oscillograph that resembles a tennis court. The game was created in 1958 and was extremely simple, as you’d expect from the first video game in human history. It was a tennis game similar to the 1970s video game, Pong, and became a hit at the Brookhaven National Laboratory open house.

The game was created in October 1958 by physicist William Higinbotham, who created the game because he thought the exhibits at the lab were pretty dull. He wanted to capture visitors’ interests by creating an interactive demonstration, later telling reporters that:

“It might liven up the place to have a game that people could play, and which would convey the message that our scientific endeavors have relevance for society.”