MANCHESTER, N.H. – A video game pioneer who created both the precursor to Pong and the electronic memory game Simon has died. Ralph Baer also was leader of the team that developed the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console.
Baer was a longtime resident of Manchester, New Hampshire. The Goodwin Funeral Home confirmed Monday that he died at his home Saturday. He was 92.
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Born in Germany, Baer escaped the Holocaust with his family.
As chief engineer for Sanders Associates, now BAE Systems, he started working on what he called “television games” in the 1960s. That led to “The Brown Box,” which was licensed by Magnavox and came out with The Odyssey in the 1970s.
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Baer received the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush in 2006.
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