Spacewar! — The First Influential Computer Game

Spacewar! (1962) was created by Steve Russell at MIT.

Significance

• First widely distributed, influential computer game.
• Interactive 2-player spaceship combat.
• Vector graphics on PDP-1 CRT display.
• Spread to universities, inspiring early game dev.

Earlier experiments existed (OXO, Tennis for Two), but Spacewar! catalyzed the video game industry.