8-bit Ninja

Gamasutra has posted a nice, if short, interview with Ralph Baer—contender for the title of “Father of Videogames“. It’s not a long piece—and surprisingly has a few typos—but it’s a good read. An interesting passage:

 . . . Baer predicted that individual electronic devices that only had one use were “on the way out”, and instead there would be a single device that would attach to televisions to allow people to do a variety of things, such as view pay television, buy items, even play games. If anything, since the title of father of home video games might be hard to wrangle from a certain other party, perhaps a more fitting moniker might be the Nostradamus of gaming.

Nostradamus of gaming, huh? It’ll have to do I guess. The article briefly summarizes Baer’s achievements. He actually predicted quite a few of today’s gaming technologies. The article even mentions that Baer is currently working on a new kind of wireless dance pad for current systems. Considering his most well-known idea was stolen by Nolan Bushnell, he is understandably quiet about the technology involved.

Baer’s feelings on today’s games: Too complicated for him, but not for the kids.

Image credit: The Dot Eaters