When Games Went Click: The Story of Tennis for Two

Created in 1958 by American physicist William A. Higinbotham for visitors at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)  in Upton, NY, Tennis for Two is pivotal in the history of video games. The documentary “When Games Went Click: The Story of Tennis for Two” chronicles the development of the game and its re-creation, currently underway at BNL.

“When Games Went Click” was made possible by the Brookhaven Science Associates and Stony Brook Collaborative Research Alliance SEED Grant Program for joint initiatives between scientists and Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Concept and grant produced by Raiford Guins, Kristen J. Nyitray and Peter Takacs. Script by Raiford Guins and Laine Nooney. Direction and production by The Vladar Company.

The William A. Higinbotham Game Studies Collection at Stony Brook University invests in and is dedicated to: collecting and preserving the texts, ephemera, and artifacts that document the history and work of early game innovator and Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist William A. Higinbotham, who invented the first interactive analog computer game, Tennis for Two; and documenting the material culture of electronic screen-based game media.

Learn more about this initiative at: http://www.stonybrook.edu/libspecial/videogames/index.html

Read the Stony Brook University feature article: “The World’s First Video Game?” (October 18. 2013)

Kristen Nyitray

Kristen Nyitray

Associate Librarian; Director, Special Collections and University Archives; and University Archivist at Stony Brook University Libraries
Contact her for research assistance with rare books, manuscript collections, historical maps, and SBU history. E-mail: kristen.nyitray@stonybrook.edu.
Kristen Nyitray
Posted in Comparative Studies, Cultural Analysis & Theory, Game Studies, New and Notable, Special Collections & University Archives