Spacewar: The story of one of the first video games – science – life

During a hard working session in the early sixties, a scientist and programmer Stephen RussellSlug for Friends, you’ve found a new way to entertain yourself. By that time, Russell was working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in programming Mini PC PDP-1which was recently acquired by the Foundation and used perforated paper tape to store the information.

In that machine, famous for being the most prominent computer in creating the hacker culture at MIT, Russell developed One of the first computerized video games in history, which was named Spacewar. It was a space battle with two players, each controlling a ship, facing each other in an environment near a star. Maneuvers allowed to get close to the star to take advantage of the thrust generated by its gravity on the ship, and they had a limited amount of weapons and fuel.

The game did its job and allowed Russell and his cohorts to find the fun they were looking for, but what they never imagined was the impact that would have come years later. It was the beginning of the video game industry, which today reaches exorbitant figures worldwide estimated at about $200 million annually, surpassing Hollywood and other sectors of the entertainment industry.

Before Russell’s invention, there were already timid attempts to use computers for something other than data processing or facilitating research work in various fields. After World War II, many mathematicians worked to decipher puzzle codes (One of the systems that encrypted communications used by Germany and which put the Allies under surveillance) It was reincorporated into universities and research institutes.

in 1952 Alexander Douglas, who at the time was a doctoral student at Cambridge University, designed a game of three in a row, known as triqui in our country. by name OXOIn reference to the word formed by game boxes, the project was part of his thesis on human-computer interaction. This was one of the first ludic implementations to be programmed into a pioneering machine in the history of computers, the ECSAC.

Despite its simplicity, this game can be considered as one of the first hands-on demonstrations of Artificial intelligenceBut his life was short-lived and his author never programmed any game again.

A decade later, Spacewar has managed to open a path that no longer looks back, inspiring a large number of programmers to develop increasingly complex games, along with developments in the field of computing. Many fans of space video games have managed to make significant contributions to the exploration of space outside the screen.

The best known case is currently Elon Musk, the owner of Space X, who for ten years, in his early youth, was a video game programmer. At the age of 13, Musk was programmed and was able to sell the game ExplosionA new space battle in which the player has the task of destroying a spaceship carrying deadly hydrogen bombs.

Santiago Vargas
PhD in Astrophysics Astronomical Observatory of the National University

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