1947: Cathode ray tube amusement device
Category: Laboratory
Patented by a Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and an Estle Ray Mann in January 1947, this first idea of an electronic game device was probably heavily influenced by the fact that most electronic technology has been developed for war purposes. The aim of the game was to direct a missile to targets on the CRT. The game consists entirely of analogue components. Players would influence the trajectory and speed of the missile with knobs. As it was not yet possible to display targets on the CRT, they were actually overlays that one put on the screen manually. The device itself used 8 vacuum tubes.
Apart from the patent itself, information on this contraption is pretty scarce on the Internet. There are no moving images or simulators of the game that I know of.
