Baer had to wait more than a decade before revisiting the idea, this time as chief engineer at defense contractor Saunders Associates. With the company's support and the help of his fellow engineers, William H. Harrison and William T. Rush, Baer completed his first video game system in 1967. [source: The Lemelson Center].
Unlike its predecessor, Baer's system was compatible with regular televisions. One prototype led to the next, with each new design capable of playing more complex games. By the time his seventh and final prototype, known internally as Brown's Box, was completed in 1968, Baer's team had also developed several games for the system. In addition to his games of chase, in which players chase each other's squares around the screen, and the “ball and paddle” game that would later inspire his Atari's creation of Pong, Baer's team played checkers, several sports Developed his game and even his shooting game. It uses peripheral equipment for a rifle.
After putting the finishing touches on the Brown Box, Baer began looking for a company to make the video game system available to the public. In 1971, Magnavox became the first licensee of his Baer's “TV Game” and developed the Odyssey home video console based on its technology. Like Baer's brown box, the Odyssey came with his two paddle controllers and an optional light-sensing rifle peripheral. The system also came with a colorful plastic screen overlay that allowed players to play “color” video games, as well as poker chips and other board game accessories. The system was a huge success, and over the next three years the company sold more than 700,000 units of his Magnavox televisions, despite a widespread misconception that the console would only work with his Magnavox televisions. [source: The Lemelson Center].
For some, earning the title “Father of Video Games” would be enough, but Baer continued to develop electronic toys and games in the years that followed. For example, in 1978 Baer created the hit Simon His Game for Milton Bradley, and in the process made him part of pop culture. Today, Baer continues to draw new designs and revive old ones, most recently recreating the putting peripheral originally designed for his Magnavox Odyssey.
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