1952: OXO (EDSAC)

July 30, 2008 at 10:31 am (1952, computer) (, , , , )

Category: Mainframe

The Electronical Delay Storage Automatic Calculator of the University of Cambridge was actually finished in 1949. However, for the history of computer and video games it became significant in 1952, thanks to one man: Alexander S. Douglas. That year, for his thesis on human-computer interaction, he wrote the first game for a general-purpose computer: OXO, or Noughts and Crosses.

EDSAC is described in Wikipedia as “the first practical stored-program electronic computer.” It was a unique device in the strictest sense of the word, as the only one ever built was located at the University of Cambridge. There is your answer on why it took some time for the public to find out about this early game.

The EDSAC was equipped with a CRT that could display the contents of one of its memory delay lines in a 35×16 grid. In A.S. Douglas’ game, one of those lines would be manipulated so that displaying its contents on the CRT would yield the representation of a standard tic-tac-toe playfield. The program also allowed the player to choose whether (s)he or the EDSAC would take the first turn, and provided an artificially intelligent opponent that would always win if possible.

Play it

On the following page, you can find an EDSAC simulator for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It includes some programs, among them the original OXO. The dial is used for input, while the text box at the top right represents the output on the teletype (hence the speed and sounds.) Note the clock, which represents how long the calculations would have taken on the real EDSAC (you can even activate a real-time option if you want to.)

Get the EDSAC Simulator

Watch it

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