Tennis for Two
Description
Tennis for Two is an early video game which was exhibited at Brookhaven National Laboratory's annual public exhibition and considered by some definitions to be the earliest video game ever made. It was on display for three days when originally displayed and returned the next year with a bigger oscilloscope screen and ability to adjust gravity (moon or Jupiter).
The game simulates a game of tennis on an oscilloscope attached to a Donner Model 30 analog computer. Players used custom made aluminium controllers with knobs to angle their shots, and a button in order to hit a ball back and forth. Unlike other early tennis-like simulations such as Pong, the ball is affected by gravity and uses a side view. The ball can hit the net or go out of bounds.
Promos
Credits (Arcade version)
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| Technician |
Reviews
Players
Average score: 1.8 out of 5 (based on 3 ratings with 1 reviews)
The Good
pretty unique physics for a game released in 1958 i guess, the trails that follow the ball around are also cool i guess
The Bad
very boring in design, not much to latch onto other than pressing the serve button
The Bottom Line
Overrall Decent for the time
Arcade · by Mushy · 2023
Trivia
Patent and legal issues.
The developer, William Higinbotham, didn't seek a patent on his original video game. In retrospect, Higinbotham agreed he should have applied for a patent. But if he had, the patent would have belonged to the federal government, and no riches would have come his way, anyway. According to Higinbotham, the reason he did not apply was that at the time, the game did not seem to be any more novel than the bouncing ball circuit in the instruction book. Years after Higinbotham built Tennis for Two, the game received notoriety in the legal system. In the mid-1970s, Higinbotham's game was "discovered" and brought into legal battle against the first video game patent, held by Magnavox. While Higinbothamās set-up would seem to predict electronic ping-pong games such as those featured on the Odyssey and in Atariās PONG, the courts eventually rule against it as a viable videogame system and every company later hoping to enter the market ends up paying some sort of settlement to Magnavox.
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Related Sites +
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BNL | History: The First Video Game?
Brookhaven National Laboratory's publication about the game with original schematics and the developer's notes. -
Gameplay video
Gameplay demonstration of a historical reenactment of Tennis for Two on video. -
Tennis For Two - Precursors
Publication about the development of one of the first video games, Tennis for Two. -
Wikipedia page
The game's Wikipedia entry.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by vedder.
Additional contributors: bull&war.
Game added May 11th, 2017. Last modified September 21st, 2023.