"VIDEO GAME FIRSTS" by Michael Rubin (Appeared in the February 1984 issue of "Computer Games" Magazine) The First Home Video Game Odyssey 100, made by Magnavox. Invented by Ralph Baer and introduced in 1972, the Odyssey 100 could play several varieties of tennis and hocky, as well as some maze games. The First Game With A Trak-Ball Controller NFL Football, by Atari. The First Couple To Be Married In An Arcade On May 30, 1982, Kyle Riley and Jo Linda Richardson were married where they met -- next to Pac-Man at the Fun Factory, an arcade in West Des Moines, Iowa. Atop their wedding cake, Mr. and Ms. Pac-Man stood over a field of their game, and the couple's bridal suite came furnished with a Pac-Man game and a roll of quarters. The First Game With A Hyperspace Button Space Wars, made by Cinematronics in 1978, had the first arcade hyperspace button, but it was actually invented by J.M. Graetz at MIT for Spacewars back in 1962. The First Record Album About Video Games Buckner and Garcia recorded an album in 1981 called Pac-Man Fever, which includes such classics as Do the Donkey Kong, Hyperspace, Froggy's Lament and, of course, Pac-Man Fever. The First Video Game Made Into A Television Show Or Movie Tron (not Pac-Man cartoons, and not Star Trek), by Bally/Midway. The First Move Or Television Show Made Into A Video Game Here's a surprise -- it's not Tron, and it's not Star Trek, Star Wars or even Porky's II. Did you guess Deathrace? It's taken from the movie Deathrace 2000, in which they drove around trying to kill people. Deathrace (by Exidy) was also the first game to be taken off the market because of its violent nature. The First Cocktail-Style (Sit-Down) Video Game Space Invaders, by Taito. When Space Invaders "thumpa-thumpa-ed" its way into the hearts and pockets of the world, it was introduced with both the standard arcade upright version and an interesting sit-down, cocktain version. The style caught-on. The First Game Designed By A Woman Centipede, by Atari. By the way, it was this programmer's preference for pastels that gives Centipede its characeristic colors: pinks, greens, violets. The programmer, Donna Bailey, wanted the game to be, as she says, "visually interesting." The First Game To Have "Official" Spin-Offs After the great success of Pong, Atari produced Super Pong, Pong Doubles, Quadrapong, Breakout and Super Breakout. An official spin- off is a new game designed by the same company and having some relationship to its predecessor -- in name, style or game characters. The most recent spin-off clan is the (Namco/Midway) Pac family: Pac- Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Baby Pac-Man and Pac-Man Plus. The First Game To Have Recorded A Nine-Digit High Score Robotron: 2084 was scored out to nine digits (that's a hundred million points, to you and me). The score, which, by the way, has been topped, was 100,525,700. This, indeed, is a lot. The First The First Book About Video Games It had to happen. With the popularity of video games, there had to be guides to playing them better. How to Master the Video Games, by Tom Hirschfeld, ws the first how-to-win book. The first "complete" guide to video gaming (manners, maladies, dress, etc.) was Defending the Galaxy, of course. The First Gamers To Play While Partially Submerged in Jell-O Greg Pincus and Scott Johnson, on May 30, 1983 in Providence, RI, played a 28-minute game of Dig-Dug while standing in wading pool filled with lime-flavored Jello brand gelatin. No comment was given as to a purpose for this stunt, although they did hope they were the first to do it. The First Person To Die Playing A Video Game Galactic warrior Peter Bukowski had a heart attack on April 3, 1982, in Calumet City, Illinois -- at the Friar Tuck game room, River Oaks Shopping Center. The game he was playing was Berzerk. The First Video Game Made Into A Cartoon Pac-Man, by Bally/Midway The First Cartoon Made Into A Video Game Popeye, by Nintendo The First Game With A High Score Mode Space Invaders. It remembered the highest score, but it didn't care who made it. The First Game With An Initial High Score Mode Asteroids. Part of Asteroids' amazing success was its ability to accept and display the initials of its high scores. Soon after, most videos followed. The First Video Game Made Into A Pinball Game Pac-Man, by Bally/Midway The First Pinball Machine Made Into A Video Game Video Pinball, by Atari Typed by Keita Iida