“If you have to read instructions than it’s a bad game.” -Al Alcorn, GDC 2008
As one of the biggest retro videogame fans on the planet, that quote from a rainy Wednesday afternoon session with literal creator of the videogame Ralph Baer and inventor of Pong Al Alcorn meant the world to me. And kind of changed my life a little bit.
Sitting in a room with two of the biggest names in gaming history was a huge honor, to say the least. Not to be dramatic, but without these two gentlemen, none of you would be reading this blog since this Web site about an industry that may have never been established wouldn’t exist. Yeah, these guys are really that important.
Hit the jump to hear all about how their nostalgia-filled GDC seminar — entitled “Creating an Industry” — went.
[I apologize for the quality of the above pic; I am no Ansel Adams]
At 85, Ralph Baer is in fine shape. He took the podium first as Al Alcorn stood by and helped control his PowerPoint presentation, speaking in a surprisingly humble tone given the fact that he has been credited with creating the very first videogame … ever.
Without turning this post into a Wikipedia entry, let me try to give you a little background on Mr. Baer: Born in Germany, Ralph Baer moved to America at a young age and literally taught himself how to construct all forms of radios.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science, Ralph put these self-taught electronic skills to good use by creating a little something called the Brown Box in the early ’70s. The Brown Box (later and more popularly called the Magnavox Odyssey) played ping-pong, handball, volleyball, chase games (?), and light-gun games by displaying two lights on a television screen while a player attached a different kind of decal to the screen to portray a theme. Playing a light-gun game? Attach the sticker with the bulls-eye on it. Although completely primitive, this console is considered to be the first videogame of all time and was created 100% by Baer.
The stories Baer told were marvelous to hear, from his memories of building his first radio to his recollections of early patents and ridiculous technical snafus. Accompanying all these stories were fantastic old photographs and film reels, some even of Baer himself testing out some of his first games with huge, boxy controllers adorned with giant metal knobs. Wow, have times have changed.
The man was well-spoken, fascinating — a living legend. I can’t really put into words how incredible it was to hear him speak.
Next up was Al Alcorn.
Even though Alcorn is younger and has less overall experience, he still deserves the same level of respect being that he created quite possibly the most recognizable game in the history of videogames, Pong.
Just like Baer before him, Alcorn entertained the crowd with great stories about his past leading up to creating one of the most influential games of all time.
Besides the quote used at the beginning of the post, Alcorn provided some more memorable passages:
“If it is broken, call it a feature.”
When Al Alcorn was talking about Pong, he mentioned that the controllers had a glitch and wouldn’t allow the on-screen paddles to go all the way up. Because of this, the ball could sneak past a small area without the player even having a chance of reflecting it. Since it made players lose more (leading to more quarters being spent), Alcorn called this error a “feature.”
“I thoroughly enjoy the Wii.”
This goes without explanation, but just hearing the iconic designer say he was a huge fan of Nintendo’s hit console was very interesting. It is worth mentioning that this quote was preceded by Alcorn and Baer both saying they don’t play videogames anymore because they are too complicated (depressing). Love it or hate it, I guess the Wii is doing something right.
After a great hour of stories, two amazing moments closed out the incredible seminar:
First, Baer and Alcorn actually pulled out an old Magnavox Odyssey and played a game of Pong. Alcorn won (natch), but the match was exciting and slightly surreal.
Lastly, right before everything wrapped up, seminar moderator Tommy Tallarico took the podium and told Ralph Baer he had a surprise for him. From the audience, a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records took the stage and presented Mr. Baer with the award for “Inventor of the World’s First Home Videogame Console.” Ralph was completely taken aback and had no idea the honor was coming. It was priceless. I guess it is official now: Ralph Baer is the reason we all are doing what we do.
Although no announcements were made or new games demoed, the Ralph Baer and Al Alcorn seminar will easily be what I remember the most at this year’s GDC. For this retro nerd, it was the experience of a lifetime.
