Ralph Baer at the Skellig
It was Tuesday Ralph Baer, inventor of Simon and the original video game console the brown box, was going to give a lecture at the Skellig in Waltham for Boston Post Mortem's monthly meeting. I had just wrapped up my finals on Monday, so I had the ever illusive day off. I took advantage of my free time grabbed a book and headed down there about 2 hours early. I used the guise of saving seats for my boyfriend and his coworkers, but lets face it I wanted good seats for this event, yes I'm a nerd.
I was first to arrive actually. Grabbed my guiness, opened my copy of Serpent and the Rainbow, and sat at a nice table that was respectably close with out taking the very best seats in the house. It wasn't too long before more folks started shuffling in. the event was sponsored by Harmonix. There were beer coupons and free food to anyone who attended. They also gave out t-shirts, pins, and had a live demo of Rockband 2! All I have to say is "White Wedding for the win"! (My copy is already on pre-order).
Anyway the Harmonix folks arrive and set up shop, soon after Ralph arrives, with Darius (he runs the event) I'm certain it's Ralph, he looks exactly like his bio pictures only older. I look up and smile, he sits at the table across from mine. A young man walks over to him from the bar introducing himself and enthusiastically explaining he wrote a paper about Ralph in college.
When the talk finally starts the room is packed, I don't think I've ever seen this many people at the event (Admittedly I've only been going for a few months).
Hearing the father of video games speak was impressive. He talked about how when the first tv's came out he begged them to put rca inputs on the tv, so it could be made interactive. He explained how they selected the four tones for Simon from the bugle, which has four primary tones.
He shared videos of some of his first inventions. Some resembled video games today, like the wii. One device was a golf ball on a joystick which the user would hit with a putter, to simulate golfing.
Seeing the original open source gamer was inspiring. This is a man who made his life creating fun technology. He had the tools at his disposal to create countless hours of fun for people of all ages. It's fascinating to think how many people he has touched with his creativity. I mean who hasn't played Simon?
It was Tuesday Ralph Baer, inventor of Simon and the original video game console the brown box, was going to give a lecture at the Skellig in Waltham for Boston Post Mortem's monthly meeting. I had just wrapped up my finals on Monday, so I had the ever illusive day off. I took advantage of my free time grabbed a book and headed down there about 2 hours early. I used the guise of saving seats for my boyfriend and his coworkers, but lets face it I wanted good seats for this event, yes I'm a nerd.
I was first to arrive actually. Grabbed my guiness, opened my copy of Serpent and the Rainbow, and sat at a nice table that was respectably close with out taking the very best seats in the house. It wasn't too long before more folks started shuffling in. the event was sponsored by Harmonix. There were beer coupons and free food to anyone who attended. They also gave out t-shirts, pins, and had a live demo of Rockband 2! All I have to say is "White Wedding for the win"! (My copy is already on pre-order).
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Anyway the Harmonix folks arrive and set up shop, soon after Ralph arrives, with Darius (he runs the event) I'm certain it's Ralph, he looks exactly like his bio pictures only older. I look up and smile, he sits at the table across from mine. A young man walks over to him from the bar introducing himself and enthusiastically explaining he wrote a paper about Ralph in college.
When the talk finally starts the room is packed, I don't think I've ever seen this many people at the event (Admittedly I've only been going for a few months).
Hearing the father of video games speak was impressive. He talked about how when the first tv's came out he begged them to put rca inputs on the tv, so it could be made interactive. He explained how they selected the four tones for Simon from the bugle, which has four primary tones.
He shared videos of some of his first inventions. Some resembled video games today, like the wii. One device was a golf ball on a joystick which the user would hit with a putter, to simulate golfing.
Seeing the original open source gamer was inspiring. This is a man who made his life creating fun technology. He had the tools at his disposal to create countless hours of fun for people of all ages. It's fascinating to think how many people he has touched with his creativity. I mean who hasn't played Simon?
