Baer’s creation inspired gaming pioneer Nolan Bushnell of Atari to create his own version: the much more popular and world-renowned Pong, programmed by Al Alcorn.
The Odyssey was manufactured by Magnavox and released in North America in September of 1972. It’s considered the very first home video game console. Ralph Baer, a German-American engineer, created a ping-pong style game. Baer’s creation inspired gaming pioneer Nolan Bushnell of Atari to create his own version: the much more popular and world-renowned Pong, programmed by Al Alcorn.