The Pioneering Video Game That Preceded Pong and Space Invaders

Higinbotham was a computer game developed by the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1978. It was designed to run on the Brookhaven Electronic Message System (BEMS), which was an early electronic mail system used by researchers at the laboratory. The game was created by physicist John Higinbotham as a way to test the capabilities of the BEMS and to demonstrate its potential for use in more than just email communication.

Higinbotham is considered one of the first video games, predating popular arcade games like Pong and Space Invaders. It is a simple game that involves players controlling a dot that moves around the screen and tries to avoid colliding with other dots. The game was played using a keyboard and a monitor, and it was distributed to other researchers at Brookhaven and beyond.

Despite its simplicity, Higinbotham has been recognized as an important milestone in the history of video games. It demonstrates some of the key elements that would become standard features of later games, such as graphics, sound effects, and user input. Additionally, it highlights the role that government-funded research played in the development of early computer technology and the internet.