Footage from 1973 shows advertisement for first ever video game console
Remember the good old days when technology was just beginning to change our living rooms?
Even though not everyone can think back to the 1970s, a lot of us can appreciate how far technology has come since.
A recent video that popped up on r/damnthatsinteresting takes nostalgic viewers back to 1973, showing the first ever video game console.
The video starts with a couple watching TV on their couch when the man talks to the camera about how 'Christmas has become very much a television occasion.'
Advert
He advertises the video game console as a 'brand new idea from the United States' that is set to change the television set into 'a game that two can play.'
Video game fans recognised the game console as The Magnavox Odyssey which was released in 1972.
A keen Reddit user identified the man in the video as Raymond Baxter, the host of Tomorrow's World - a popular BBC show from the 70s and 80s - showcasing the latest developments in science and technology.
Baxter walks viewers through the process of setting up the console, from turning off the TV, unplugging the aerial, plugging in the game console, and switching the TV back on.
It's a far cry from today's instant plug-and-play systems.
He announces he's going to play tennis, but also mentions a selection of other available games like hockey, baseball, skiing, roulette, and American football.
After choosing your game, you simply place the programming card into the 'master control unit' - which Baxter described as a 'battery-powered transmitter' and grab the two controllers.
Once set up, the screen displays two squares representing the players, to which Baxter wittily remarks, 'Right, Wimbledon, here we come.'
The control buttons are explained from 'moving the man' vertically and horizontally to 'giving a crafty bit of a spin to the ball.'
As Baxter plays the tennis game with his on-screen wife, Jen, who seems a lot less enthused ends up losing without scoring a single point.
Then, Baxter loads up a rifle shooting game, bringing out a pretty realistic-looking rifle prop. Also connected to the central control unit, the rifle has a photo-electric cell down its barrel which is exposed when the trigger is pulled.
He demonstrates aiming at the moving dot of light on the screen, explaining that hitting the target will make it disappear. Otherwise, it will continue to move across the screen.
The reaction to this clip has been overwhelmingly positive, with many viewers enjoying the trip down memory lane.
One comment read: 'That was really cool. Thanks for posting this' and another said: 'This is the beginning of history.'
Another reflected: 'The Magnavox Odyssey was fancy. We just had a Pong.'
One gaming fan even mentioned that the rifle gun resembled an early version of the Nintendo gun - with similar mechanics to how the game Duck Hunt works.
Speaking on the evolution of the video game industry to this day, one Redditor responded: 'And now we have games like baldur’s gate three and Read dead redemption two with whole worlds inside of the virtual world. What a crazy jump.'