Obituary: The Father Of Video Games, Ralph Baer

The Father Of Video Games, Ralph Baer
March 8, 1922 – Dec 6, 2014 
A true pioneer never to be forgotten 

When Ralph Baer made a tiny piece of light fly across the screen in a controlled manner he didn’t just create the idea of a video game, he created the something we often forget…the wonderment of video games. 

The fun they evoke, the surprise and the sheer joy that this entertainment medium has given us all.

As much an electronics wizard as a visionary, Ralph Baer had a vision in 1966 to create the very first games console – this is known as ‘the brown box’ which actually sits in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington. The prototype was completed in 1968 way before Atari even conceived itself as a company, let alone created Pong. 

Mr Baer didn’t have ‘video games’ inventor as part of his job description, during his career as an employee of BAE working on televisions he sought to investigate the ‘idea’ of playing a game on a screen. It had no previous concept, no customer-base – he simply loved the ‘idea’ of it and sought out to make it work. Finally after many years of developing this prototype he managed to find an interested party – Magnavox, in releasing it to the World.

So in essence one man created the Video Game commercially – this 1st generation console released in August 1972 was to be known as the Magnavox Odyssey. With no sound behind the gameplay this was a simple experience – but back in the early 70s ‘an experience’ none the less for those 1st generation gamers. Those gamers that could be your moms or dads – or even grandparents! 

So from the original Magnavox came other incarnations many of which Ralph Baer was involved in – his invention of the first light gun is an amazing achievement. Forget your Playstation Move, Wii Controller or even Kinect – his idea of use a separate device to interact with a TV screen was a true revolution.

In his lifetime he not only had over 150 electronics patents to his name he created much loved games such as Simon, Electronic Perfection and Laser Command amongst many others.

And that was Ralph Baer – a revolutionary inventor. Someone to respect, admire and aspire to. Someone who created the one thing we love.

We thank you Mr Ralph Baer – not for only inventing the first video game console. But for creating the one huge, massive thing we love in life…video games.

ET - is it really the worst game?

Worst Game Ever? 
ET The Extra Terrestrial - 1983

If reports are to be believed the worst game ever is ET for the Atari 2600 and it holds the unwanted accolade of potentially causing the collapse of the video game industry in the early eighties. 

Rumours rumbled around for years that thousands of copies of this game were buried in a New Mexico desert with many thinking that was just an urban myth until earlier this year when the site was found and the games excavated....but one of those games found its way to Sussex!!!! 

Your favourite GYL guest reviewers Hedger & Preece have decided to take one for the GYL team and set about the task of seeing just how bad this game really is.

A flick of the power switch takes us straight to the loading, title and intro screen (all cunningly disguised as the same screen with a rendition of the ET theme tune playing sweetly in the background or is that bleeping sweetly? 

In terms of the gameplay I think this game can be best summed up by the word 'toilet' (one that doesn't appear to flush). You have about 5 different screens that appear one after the other, in an unending cycle, as you (playing as the eponymous ET) are chased by an FBI agent, a scientist and Elliott. I think the idea is to collect parts of a spaceship whilst trying to avoid some holes in the ground (yes... I remember that bit in the movie too). I say 'I think', as what appeared to happen, at length, was I'd get picked up by one of these other characters and get taken to a screen that looked like a cross between the Acropolis and a small housing estate. 

Needless to say this game drew a semi-permanent, confused frown from within me as I tried to work out what the hell was going on. Even now, reflecting upon it with the clarity that a cup of tea and a Jaffa Cake bring, I still am at a loss. Still at least I can now say that I have experienced a part of gaming folklore – just quite possibly the worst part of it...






For me the rating for the game are : 

Sound 2 – Only the fact that the title screen had a tune that resembled the ET theme saved this from a 1 

Graphics 2 – ET's head movement is about the only impressive thing 

Playability 1 – You really won't want to play this a second time – even if you know what to do.
Overall 2 – But if I were you I'd score yourself a 1 for a) actually reading a review of the Worst Game Ever™ and b) reading it to the end! 

Reviewed by Dean Hedger and Jon Preece

A 1980s childhood brought to life - A book review

GamesYouLoved synopsis: 
Diary of an 80s Computer Geek
By Steven J Howlett 
As a child growing up in the 80s you would have seen dramatic changes occuring in technology along with music, movies, toys and fashion.  

In the Diary of an 80s Computer geek, Steven J Howlett brings this to life through the eyes of a child and the world around him changing before him. 

The wonderment of change and a life dedicated to computers started early for our protagonist. From the longing for the simple ZX81 in 80s Britain, where the individual had a chance make something from new if they really wanted. To the idea that this could even be a job or career.  Could this 'hobby' of computers and gaming become something more?

From the playground where cassettes could be bought and sold on the black market, to programming line after line of code to create simple games Stephen was on a journey that no other generation had encountered. 

This diary takes you through the 1980s with how Steven dabbles in ventures which from a simple hobby using the ZX81 becomes more to him as the years go by. 

We won't spoil the overall plot and detail, but some of the highlights of the story are as follows:

- upgradings of one machine to the next and what this meant at the time!
- computers at school and the games you loved and played
- computer magazines and how we trusted and cared for them
- the evolution of computers from 8-bit to 16-bit, and the high and lows of this

In summary when reading this book - cast your own mind back and think about computers and video games in the 1980s - what kind of memories does it conjure up? 

It might be quite different depending where you are in the world but nevertheless it was a time of great innovation and ground breaking products.  There was also an air of mystery around gaming and computer companies in the very early 80s - with no internet we relied on magazines, newspapers and limited TV channels to serve up information and in some countries (including the UK!) it came much later than 
others such as the USA and Japan. 

Whatever memories you had - the Diary of an 80s Computer Geek is sure to unlock some happy thoughts and will having you looking on ebay or googliing after reading it!

Diary of an 80s Gomputer Geek is available in print format & digital format here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-80s-Computer-Geek-Computers-ebook/dp/B00JYGGCTO
http://www.amazon.com/Diary-80s-Computer-Geek-Computers-ebook/dp/B00JYGGCTO

You can also follow it's author Stephen on Twitter here: @sj_howlett  

Grandmother buys old building in Japan, finds 55 classic arcade cabinets

Grandmother buys old building in Japan, finds 55 classic arcade cabinets

If you wanted to experience arcade games any time over the last forty years then you had to visit the Far East!. The game centers are still there lit up with neon lights all very attractive and Blade Runner like! But you have to go back 20 years to see them at their prime. Now one very lucky arcade fan is experiencing just that right now due to a surprise purchase by his girlfriend’s grandmother.

The grandmother agreed to purchase an old building in Chiba, which is just outside of Tokyo. When they arrived to check out their  building they found out that the first two floors used to be a game center in the 1980's!!. Whoever ran the arcade back then left all the cabs behind when it closed, and it is full of classic and now highly sort after games!

In total there are 55 arcade cabinets, most of which are the upright Aero Cities cabs, but it’s the game boards that they contain that’s the most exciting discovery. The list of game includes the following:

• Columns
• Donkey Kong
• Galaxian
• Magical Tetris Challenge
• Metal Slug X
• Pengo
• Raiden 2
• Super Puzzle Fighters 2 X
• Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition
• Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Zero 2)
• Street Fighter EX 2

There’s sure to be more games discovered as not all of the cabinets are in working order, with monitor damage being the main fault but whatever they find, this lucky gamer has just cashed in his extra credit!!

Atari Flashback 3 in the home – Reviewer Rob Armstrong

Atari Flashback 3 - instructions, controllers and main unit

We gave the Atari Flashback 3 to one of our Team who is getting back into playing retrogames unlike many of us! Here is how he faired playing the Atari Flashback console

"When I was a kid all my friends had the latest Amiga 64 or the Nintendo NES. My parents didn’t want to buy just a games machine and so bought an Acorn Electron, a budget version of the BBC schools computer. Thanks Dad!

So now I have children I was keen to bring joy into our house this Christmas and leave education for the classroom. Which is why I have an Atari Flashback 3 console sitting at the back of the wardrobe but there’s no way I can wait until Christmas to give it go. Once you’ve set up the plug and play system you’re presented with a menu of 60 games to play. I have to be honest some of the games I’ve never played before, however lots of the titles bring back nostalgic feelings. Asteroids, Tic-tac-toe, Centipede, Dodgems and Video Pinball were all games that I spent hours playing at my mates’ houses. 

Many of the games are two player, however they will have to wait until Christmas Day before I can play them properly. There’s a game called ‘Surround’ which is like a 2 player predecessor to Snakes on the old Nokia mobile phones. Its simplicity is infectious but I’ve had to turn the TV volume down because the basic 80’s sound effects become slightly drilling after 20 minutes. I can already see that of the 60 games there are going to be some that see more action in our household than others, plus with so many to choose from, the constant temptation is to constantly try a new one.

If you only played each game for an average of 10 minutes that’s already 10 hours of retro gaming. If you’re interested in getting an Atari Flashback 3, just bear in mind that these are the original games which means the resolution of the image quality isn’t going to be excellent or widescreen, no matter what type of HD TV you play it on. That said if you’re looking for classic retro gaming, with simple yet addictive game play, then this is probably right up your street. There’s not much you could fault about the Atari Flashback 3 however if I could make one recommendation to the manufacturers, I’d point out that the 2 metre controller cable doesn’t quite stretch to the sofa. But theres a new version  the Flashback 4 with wireless controllers to solve this issue!  I’m quite aware that by the evening of Christmas Day my son will probably be better than me at most games. I’d put it down to the amount of time he spends playing on the iPad, which is on a slightly different playing field to my old Acorn Electron. Although for the time being I’ve got a few more weeks of practice."


Thanks to Rob Armstrong for his review of the Atari Flashback 3
To get your hands on a copy click here: http://www.funstock.co.uk/atari-flashback-3-console

To order the wireless Atari Flashback 4 click here http://www.funstock.co.uk/atari-flashback-4-console

With code GYL10 Get 10% off too!