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At the Wednesday, February 17 meeting...
PIONEERS IN THE VIDEO INDUSTRY
First in a Series
Presenting Ralph H. Baer, Inventor, Technology Developer, Consultant with special thanks to SMPTE member David P. Allen, the contributing Editor, Emeritus of Videography Magazine, The New England Section of SMPTE is pleased to present a special evening of retrospective and reflection with Ralph H. Baer, a distinguished Video Technologist, Inventor and Consultant.
About this Month's Speaker Ralph H. Baer, born March 8, 1922 is a German-born Jewish American video game pioneer, inventor, engineer, widely known as "The Father of Video Games" who is noted for his many contributions to games and the video game industry.
In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Bush for inventing the home console (Magnavox Odyssey) for video games and spawning the video game industry as we know it today.
Ralph Baer graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Television Engineering (unique at the time) from the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1949. He worked for a few electronics firms and started his own company before joining Sanders Associates in 1956, where he stayed until retiring in 1987.
Mr. Baer is best known for leading the development of the Brown Box, the first home video game console and his pioneering patented work in establishing video games. He is now partnered with MicroPROS Technology Solutions, and has been inventing and marketing toy and game ideas since 1983.
In 2006, Baer donated all his hardware prototypes and documents to the Smithsonian Institute.
Ralph H. Baer Papers, 1943-1953, 1966-1972, 2006 . Ralph Baer's prototypes and documentation are housedat The Smithsonian Lemelson Center. Mr. Baer is a Life Senior Member of the IEEE.
Inventions
Mr. Baer started development of the "Brown Box" console video game system and several other prototypes in 1966 for the defense-electronics company Sanders Associates in Nashua, New Hampshire (now part of BAE Systems). In 1971, it was licensed to Magnavox, and after being renamed Magnavox Odyssey, the console was released to the public in 1972. For a time it was Sanders' most profitable line, though many in the company looked down on game development. Baer created the first light gun and game for home television use, sold grouped with a game expansion pack for the Odyssey, and collectively known as the Shooting Gallery.
The light gun itself was the first peripheral for a video game console. Another invention is Simon, an electronic pattern-matching game that was immensely popular in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Mr. Baer received the 2008 Developers Choice Awards "Pioneer Award." The award recognizes individuals who have contributed the advancement of the videogame industry through technology, concept, or gameplay design.
"The Right to Baer Games - An Interview with Ralph Baer, the Father of Video Games" (GamaSutra and Game Developer magazine.
After the meeting Mr. Baer will have a limited supply of his Book "Videogames: In the Beginning"
available for purchase with his autograph. Mr. Baer also comments that he has been around long enough in the Electronics Industry to have been offered a job by Lee DeForest ! It should be a GREAT evening for us.
RSVP AN RSVP WILL BE HELPFUL TO THE MEETING PLANNERS FOR THE REFRESHMENT AMOUNTS
Please email smptene@evideoexpress.com by 2/10/10 if you plan on attending.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Refreshments at 6:30pm
Presentation at 7:00pm
Holiday Inn, Dedham-Boston Convention Center
55 Ariadne Road
(Near US Route 1 & Route 128 Intersection)
Dedham, MA
www.ihg.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/BOSDH?&_IATAno=99602591>
Directions:
Please use link above:
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