given the nature of the forefathers
including, of course, Alan Turing. Turing
and his colleague David Champernowne
designed Turochamp, the first complete
computer program that could play a
game of chess, in 1948. That no computer
capable of running the program existed
was a minor mishap. Despite attempts to
implement the code on the Pilot ACE and
Ferranti Mark 1, the only way Turochamp
was ever ‘run’ was by Champernowne
playing his wife, manually going through
the code step-by-step. The algorithm
won. Sadly, the original code is lost but a
new version, based on Champernowne’s
notes, was recreated in 2012 and played
Garry Kasparov, losing in 16 moves to the
Grand Master.
BERTIE AND NIMROD
Two candidates for the first video game
appear in 1950 and 1951. In what
appears to be a complete coincidence,
both were created for the same purpose,
to explain computers to the masses at
major exhibitions. In 1950, the Rogers
Majestic company displayed ‘Bertie the
Brain’ at the Canadian National Exhibition
in Toronto. Designed by Dr. Josef Kates,
it was designed to show off their latest
technology, especially Additron tubes.
Bertie could play tic-tac-toe (noughts
and crosses) using true computation to
decide the next move. It was good, too,
with operators often having to dial-down
the ‘intelligence’ so younger players stood
a chance. Sadly, the advent of solid state
transistors a few years later meant the
Additron tube never amounted to much.
Just one year later in 1951, Ferranti
premièred ‘Nimrod’ at the Festival of
Britain. This imposing giant grey slab of
a machine could play Nim, a seemingly
simple game that quickly spirals into
billions of different mathematical
combinations. People flocked to see this
modern marvel and try to beat it. Most
were no match for the blisteringly fast and
clever responses.
In both cases, gaming was, and not
for the last time, being used as a bridge
between the public and the seemingly
impenetrable mathematical world of
computer science. Rogers wanted to sell
Additron tubes and Ferranti their range
of computers. People visiting Nimrod
could purchase a book explaining how
the computer worked, which included the
following passage:
“It may appear that, in trying to make
machines play games, we are wasting
our time. This is not true as the theory
of games is extremely complex and a
machine that can play a complex game
can also be programmed to carry out very
complex practical problems.”
Neither featured full displays as we
know them; in both cases, output came in
the form of light bulbs. Regardless, we can
definitely consider these computer games.
Sadly, in an all-too-common footnote of
computer history, both companies were
swept up by the speed of progress and
spiralling costs, blinded from the legacy
of what had been created. Both machines
were dismantled and are lost to history.
Later in 1951 came a more complex
game. Yes, it’s chess again, but this time“Gaming was being used as a
bridge between the public and
the seemingly impenetrable
world of computer science”
THE RETURN
OF EDSAC
When it comes to preservation,
computing history is littered
with disappointment. Bletchley
Park’s Colossus machines
were scrapped for parts and
to maintain secrecy. Likewise,
expensive components
necessitated the destruction
of EDSAC; many parts were
auctioned to recover costs
and fund EDSAC 2. Luckily,
you’ll soon be able to play OXO,
complete with rotary phone
input, at The National Museum
of Computing, Bletchley Park,
where volunteers are now in
the final stages of building a
replica EDSAC. Actor Danny Kaye beats Bertie the
Brain. The operators had secretly
set Bertie to the easiest possible
skill level to avoid embarrassment.In The Beginning: exploring the earliest video gamesInterface
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