Video game pioneer Ralph Baer, leader of the team that developed the first home video game console and who created both the precursor to "Pong" and the electronic memory game "Simon" has died. He was 92.
Baer was a longtime resident of Manchester, New Hampshire. The Associated Press reported the Goodwin Funeral Home in Manchester as confirming that he died at his home Saturday.
Born in Germany, Baer escaped the Holocaust with his family.
As chief engineer for Sanders Associates, now BAE Systems, he started working on what he called "television games" in the 1960s. That led to "The Brown Box," which was licensed by Magnavox and came out with The Odyssey in the 1970s.
Baer received the National Medal of Technology from President George W. Bush in 2006.
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