History of Computers - Noughts and Crosses

In 1952 A.S.Douglas invented the very first graphical computer game. Although this program was made unique for the EDSAC computer at Cambridge University and never became wide spread, it pre-dates other games such as Pong and space war by almost a decade.

Noughts and Crosses

Overview

A.S.Douglas was enrolled at Cambridge University working on his PhD in 1952 when he wrote the program for Noughts and Crosses. He was in the process of writing his dissertation about the future of human and computer interaction. Along with it came his program, the very first graphical computer game. The game is played against a user and the EDSAC computer. The user gets to pick who goes first, then they take turns inputing where they want to move by using a mechanical telephone dialer. The game never left Cambridge University because it was programmed specifically for the EDSAC computer which was unique to the school at the time. ^[1]

Significance

Although Noughts and Crosses was not created for commercial value, it was the very first stepping stone towards the multi billion dollar gaming industry of our time. However, not only did it pave the way for video games, but it also set up the future of human and computer interactions. With an ever changing and complex society, computer interactions have become a very important part of many of our daily lives. Partial thanks can be attributed to Noughts and Crosses which earns it a place in the history of computers.