nimrod computing nimrod redirects here for other uses see nimrod disambiguation nimrodnimrod museum exhibit at the computerspielemuseum berlindesignersjohn makepeace bennettraymond stuartwilliamsplatformscomputer gamerelease5 may 1951genresnimmodessingleplayer the nimrod built in the united kingdom by ferranti for the 1951 festival of britain was an early computer custombuilt to play a computer game one of the first games developed in the early history of video games the twelvebyninebyfivefoot 37by27by15metre computer designed by john makepeace bennett and built by engineer raymond stuartwilliams allowed exhibition attendees to play a game of nim against an artificial intelligence the player pressed buttons on a raised panel corresponding with lights on the machine to select their moves and the nimrod moved afterward with its calculations represented by more lights the speed of the nimrods calculations could be slowed down to allow the presenter to demonstrate exactly what the computer was doing with more lights showing the state of the calculations the nimrod was intended to demonstrate ferrantis computer design and programming skills rather than to entertain though festival attendees were more interested in playing the game than the logic behind it after its initial exhibition in may the nimrod was shown for three weeks in october 1951 at the berlin industrial show before being dismantled the game of nim running on the nimrod is a candidate for one of the first video games as it was one of the first computer games to have any sort of visual display of the game it appeared only four years after the 1947 invention of the cathoderay tube amusement device the earliest known interactive electronic game to use an electronic display and one year after bertie the brain a computer similar to the nimrod which played tictactoe at the 1950 canadian national exhibition the nimrods use of light bulbs rather than a screen with realtime visual graphics however much less moving graphics does not meet some definitions of a video game development in the summer of 1951 the united kingdom held the festival of britain a national exhibition held throughout the uk to promote the british contribution to science technology industrial design architecture and the arts and to commemorate the centenary of the 1851 great exhibition it may appear that in trying to make machines play games we are wasting our time this is not true as the theory of games is extremely complex and a machine that can play a complex game can also be programmed to carry out very complex practical problems pamphlet accompanying the nimrod sold to festival of britain attendees ferranti began work on building the computer on 1 december 1950 with engineer raymond stuartwilliams adapting the design by bennett into a working machine development was completed by 12 april 1951 resulting in a device twelve feet wide nine feet deep and five feet tall the majority of the volume was taken up by vacuum tubes and the light bulbs that displayed the state of the game with the actual computer taking up no more than two percent of the total volume of the machine the player would sit at the stand and press the buttons to make their moves while one panel of lights showed the state of the game and another showed the computers calculations during its move presentation diagram of the machine on 5 may 1951 the nimrod computer was presented at the festival as the nimrod digital computer advertised as faster than thought and an electronic brain although it was intended as a technology demonstration most of the onlookers at the festival of britain were more interested in playing the game than in the programming and engineering logic behind it bennett claimed that most of the public were quite happy to gawk at the flashing lights and be impressed bbc radio journalist paul jennings claimed that all of the festival attendees came to a standstill upon reaching the frightful tremendous gray refrigerator after the festival the nimrod was showcased for three weeks in october at the berlin industrial show where it also drew crowds including the west germany economics minister ludwig erhard afterwards however as it had served its purpose the nimrod was dismantled the nimrod was created only four years after the 1947 invention of the cathoderay tube amusement device the earliest known interactive electronic game and one year after a similar purpose built gameplaying machine bertie the brain the first computerbased game to feature a visual display of any sort the nimrod computer vteearly history of video gamesanalog and lightbulb games 19471951 cathoderay tube amusement device bertie the brain nimrod interactive visual games 19521959 oxo tennis for two digital computer games 19601971 early mainframe games spacewar marienbad hamurabi space travel first arcade games 19701971 computer space galaxy game 