HomeStation Magazine Issue #9: Online Now!
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
–Picasso
Why do we write about virtual reality? Why do we write about Home? What is it about games and worlds of imagination that so fascinates us?
I recently had the chance to spend a lot of time interacting with a child. It was a fascinating experience; as adults, we grudgingly learn to accept that the world simply is the way it is, and we spend our lives adapting to it. Think back to when you were a child, though; the world was a fantastically interesting place where the rules seemed fluid. I found myself, as an adult, trying to teach a child basic lessons about How Things Work by framing even the most monotonous activities as a game.
Humans love to play. We never quite forget the memory of how wondrously alive the world seemed when we were kids. Watch the “making of” featurette on Finding Nemo; the Pixar animators were given the opportunity to play like children again, and you can see the gleeful childlike reversion in their faces.
I’m bringing this up because video games are a staggeringly massive industry today. Most forms of entertainment are fairly passive experiences; watch a movie, read a book, see a play, and so forth. Video games, on the other hand, require interactivity. They require you to, on some level, actively identify with what you’re seeing onscreen — and, in some cases, choose how you want to alter it.
Virtual reality takes it one step further. Games at least give you objectives to fulfill and parameters you have to stay within; worlds like Home, on the other hand, largely give back to you what you put into them. It is a chance for adults to play.
This is why we decided, with the release of the Hub, to go all the way back to the beginning. Our cover story is an interview with the father of video games himself: Ralph Baer.
Yeah. Ralph Baer.
Mr. Baer’s story is a fascinating one. Forget video games; this man was born before video itself existed. If you look at what he’s survived, and what he’s gone on to pioneer, here’s someone who has seen the real world in far greater detail than most of us reading this will ever experience.
Do you actually understand how your computer works? Or your television? We live in a society filled with such complex machines that most of us understand little more than the most basic functions of those devices. Ralph Baer, on the other hand, figured out the rather byzantine process of how to make electrical signals interact on a screen.
Make no mistake: every single video game out there — every single piece of the video game industry, hardware and software alike — fundamentally owe their existence to Ralph Baer. We are as children staring at the sky compared to this man’s intellect.
This is why we’ve dropped hints that this issue was going to feature a story like nothing you’d ever seen before in the pages of HSM. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of his book, Videogames: In the Beginning. Having the opportunity to interview a legitimate genius who is synonymous with the industry he created is an exceedingly rare gift. It would be like having the opportunity to interview Turing about the computer, or Marconi about the radio.
And here’s the best part: his work in pioneering the video game is just the tip of the iceberg for this remarkable man. As you read our interview with him, and you study his biography, you realize just how astonishing his body of work is. By the time he was my age, he was already designing power-line carrier signal equipment for IBM. I’m lucky I can find my toothbrush.
We’re proud to bring this story to you, the community that lives entirely in digital signals and screens. And we’re enormously grateful to Mr. Baer for taking the time to talk to HomeStation Magazine. In an issue packed with content, this story isn’t just the cherry on the top; it’s a Death Star-sized cherry with a superlaser.
From all of us at HomeStation Magazine, thank you for coming along with us on this ride.
November 11th, 2011 by NorseGamer | 9 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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:O Wow. Just wow! Can’t wait to read this…and, um…good luck with that toothbrush!
O snap! I just read this prelude to the issue and now I’m excited to read that interview with Ralph Baer. WOOT!
Whew I am glad the cat’s out of the bag finally. It is hard to keep a secret in Home for over 2 months, lol.
I had a wonderful time talking to Mr. Baer, he is a true gentleman and a very intelligent and busy man. I was floored when he said yes to my inquiry about doing this interview, and amazed and humbled by the man in general. I can only hope I am this on top of things when I reach 89 years old.
The Wonderful thing about Burbie is that in talking to her on Skype on the subject of this interview, (we have both kept this secret from the general public at large) was that she was completely oblivious to how big a deal this was. Im barely able to sip on my cola, my exact words to her was this..
“Do you not even know how BIG this is?.. this is like talking to GOD”
Wonderful! [;
Great job HSM!
WOW HSM has done it again! Awesome issue yall!
That is so cool that you got to talk to Mr. Baer Burbie. Great interview!
I was completely surprised when I turned the page after reading the that interview to find out what was next. I am truly honored to be a part of this.
TY HSM! MMMMUUUAH!
The first time I ever saw a video game, I was on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean with my young son -- it was 1974 -- and in the lounge was a table with what looked like a glass top. Under the glass was a light that bounced back and forth -- and it was a game! You could control the ball of light. We were transfixed. I knew this was the beginning. It was Pong! Now, my son is 40 years old with a young son of his own -- teaching him to play video games. Thank you, Mr. Baer. The family that plays together, stays together.
Excellent work Burbie. This is a wonderful interview! I think you were the perfect person to handle something of this weight. To get such a influential member of history between out pages is humbling. Just think.. someday HSM might be included in a works cited list! LOL
What a fun article. We got one of the first Pong home games back in the early 70’s. Even though I was in the middle of it shortly after, I had never heard these stories. What a great find and a wonderful interview. I will be getting his book.