Sunday, January 30, 2011

Spacewar! : The first computer game invented by Steve Russell


Steve Russell creates "SpaceWar!" and releases it in February 1962. This game is considered the first game intended for computers.

If I hadn't done it, someone would've done something equally exciting if not better in the next six months. I just happened to get there first." - Steve Russell nickname "Slug"

It was in 1962 when a young computer programmer from MIT, Steve Russell fueled with inspiration from the writings of E. E. "Doc" Smith*, led the team that created the first computer game. It took the team about 200 man-hours to write the first version of Spacewar!. Steve Russell wrote Spacewar! on a PDP-1, an early DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) interactive mini computer which used a cathode-ray tube type display and keyboard input. The computer was a donation to MIT from DEC, who hoped MIT's think tank would be able to do something remarkable with their product. A computer game called Spacewar! was the last thing DEC expected who later provided the game as a diagnostic program for their customers. Russell never profited from Spacewar!.

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