Ralph Baer's "Brown Box" prototype

The 1960s ushered in a new age of technology with millions of Americans purchasing their first television sets. In 1966, Ralph Baer (1922–2014), widely acknowledged as the "Father of Home Video Games," began researching how American consumers could use their television screens for something other than watching network programming.

Baer and colleagues produced the first home video game system prototype in 1968 known as the "Brown Box" that allowed people to play action, sports, and other games on a television set. By 1972, Magnavox transformed the multi-player, multi-program prototype into the Magnavox Odyssey, the first commercial home video game console.