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What Was the First Video Game Ever? (Depends on Definition)

No single consensus — depends on criteria ("video" = raster display? "game" = interactive? "computer" = programmable?). Leading contenders:

Title	Year	Platform	Significance
OXO (Noughts and Crosses)	1952	EDSAC (Cambridge)	First graphical computer game (CRT display), tic-tac-toe vs AI.
Tennis for Two	1958	Analog computer + Oscilloscope (Brookhaven)	First interactive electronic game with real-time physics (gravity, bounce). Not programmable.
Spacewar!	1962	DEC PDP-1 (MIT)	First digital computer game widely distributed (source code shared), two-player spaceship duel, gravity star. Inspired arcade industry.
Computer Space	1971	Dedicated arcade cabinet (Nutting Associates)	First commercial arcade video game (Spacewar clone).
Pong	1972	Arcade (Atari)	First massively successful commercial video game.
Magnavox Odyssey	1972	Home console	First home video game system (analog circuits, overlays).

Common Answer

Academic: Spacewar! (1962) — first programmable, influential, digital.
Popular: Pong (1972) — first hit.
Technical: Tennis for Two (1958) — first interactive electronic visual game.

Bottom line: Spacewar! is the most cited "first video game" in computing history.

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