Question

Why did William Higinbotham make the first videogame?

Answer 1

Good morning,

Physicist William Higinbotham invented the first video game, Tennis for Two, at Brook haven National Laboratory on Long Island in New York in 1958, though he has rarely been recognized for his achievement. The Daily has a short profile of the man and his invention, which was developed at a nuclear lab, the Brook haven National Laboratory. Ten years into his career, Higinbotham sketched out the concept for Tennis for Two in a few hours, then built it with the assistance of an engineer who also worked at the lab. The Lab began using the game on Visitors' Days as a way to give technology good PR in the face of fears about nuclear energy, and Higinbotham continued to upgrade the game, giving it a larger screen and other options. Higinbotham was recognized as the inventor of the video game following a 1976 lawsuit involving Magnavox. Higinbotham's game was also recently recreated at Brook haven Lab, and it was exhibited there in 2008 on the 50th anniversary of its invention.

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