First Video Game Ever: Tennis for Two (1958) vs. Spacewar! (1962)

The answer depends on your definition of "video game." Two main contenders:

1. Tennis for Two (1958) — First Interactive Electronic Game

• Creator: William Higinbotham, Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist.
• Hardware: Analog computer + oscilloscope display.
• Gameplay: Two players twist knobs to hit a dot (ball) over a net line. Gravity, wind, and velocity simulated.
• Purpose: Visitor day entertainment, not commercial product.
• Why debated: Analog (not digital), no memory/CPU, one-off exhibit, no lasting industry impact.

2. Spacewar! (1962) — First Digital Computer Game with Industry Influence

• Creators: Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, Wayne Wiitanen, and others at MIT.
• Hardware: DEC PDP-1 minicomputer with vector display.
• Gameplay: Two ships ("Wedge" and "Needle") duel in gravity well of a star. Thrust, rotate, fire torpedoes, hyperspace jump.
• Significance: Copied to other PDP-1s, inspired Nolan Bushnell (Computer Space, Atari), established core mechanics (inertia, orbits, multiplayer competition).
• Public debut: 1962 MIT Science Open House.

Other Early Milestones

• OXO (1952): Tic-tac-toe on EDSAC — first graphical computer game, but static display.
• Computer Space (1971): First commercial arcade game (Spacewar! clone).
• Pong (1972): First mass-market arcade hit.
• Magnavox Odyssey (1972): First home console.

Consensus

Tennis for Two = first interactive electronic entertainment.
Spacewar! = first influential digital computer game that seeded the industry.

Both are preserved and playable in emulators (Spacewar! on PDP-1 simulators; Tennis for Two recreated).