tennis for two tennis for twotennis for two on a dumont lab oscilloscope type 304adeveloperswilliam higinbothamplatformsanalog computerreleasena october 18 1958genressportsmodesmultiplayer tennis for two also known as computer tennis is a sports video game which simulates a game of tennis and was one of the first games developed in the early history of video games american physicist william higinbotham designed the game in 1958 for display at the brookhaven national laboratorys annual public exhibition after learning that the government research institutions donner model 30 analog computer could simulate trajectories with wind resistance he designed the game displayed on an oscilloscope and played with two custom aluminum controllers in a few hours after which he and technician robert v dvorak built it over three weeks the games visuals show a representation of a tennis court viewed from the side and players adjust the angle of their shots with a knob on their controller and try to hit the ball over the net by pressing a button the game was very popular during the threeday exhibition with players lining up to see the game especially high school students it was shown again the following year with a larger oscilloscope screen and a more complicated design that could simulate different gravity levels it was then dismantled and largely forgotten until the late 1970s when higinbotham testified in court about the game during lawsuits between magnavox and ralph h baer over video game patents since then it has been celebrated as one of the earliest video games and brookhaven has made recreations of the original device under some definitions tennis for two is considered the first video game as while it did not include any technological innovations over prior games it was the first computer game to be created purely as an entertainment product rather than for academic research or commercial technology promotion development in 1958 american physicist william higinbotham worked in the brookhaven national laboratory in upton new york as the head of the instrumentation division higinbotham had a bachelors degree in physics from williams college and had previously worked as a technician in the physics department at cornell university while unsuccessfully pursuing a phd there he served as the head of the electronics division of the manhattan project from 1943 to 1945 and began working at brookhaven in 1947 which focused on researching peaceful uses of atomic power modern recreation of the controller higinbotham designed a game that used an oscilloscope to display the path of a simulated ball on a tennis court viewed from the side the attached computer calculated the path of the ball and reversed its path when it hit the ground the game also simulated the ball hitting the net if it did not achieve a high enough arc as well as changes in velocity due to drag from air resistance presentation the setup for tennis for two as exhibited in 1959 tennis for two was first shown on october 18 1958 legacy after being dismantled tennis for two was largely forgotten it remained virtually unknown until the late 1970s and early 1980s when higinbotham was called on to testify in court cases for defendants sued by magnavox over the video game patents of ralph h baer 1997 recreation of the original tennis for two setup in 1997 a team at brookhaven recreated the game for brookhavens 50th anniversary the reconstruction took about three months partially because the parts were not readily available this recreation was also displayed at the 2008 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the original game tennis for two is considered under some definitions to be the first video game notes wikimedia commons has media related to tennis for two video of tennis for two tennis for two simulation 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 