This week has seen the passing of two influential members of the video game industry. Thursday saw the passing of celebrated video game commentator John "TotalBiscuit" Bains after a long battle with cancer, while on Saturday reports emerged stating that Ted Dabney, one the of video game industry’s greatest pioneers, had also passed away.
Dabney, one of the co-founders of Atari and co-creator of the first-ever arcade video game has died at the age of 81. Dabney’s death was announced on Saturday by video game historian Leonard Herman via a social media post. It has been stated by Eurogamer that the iconic video game figure had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2017 but had chosen not to undergo treatment.
Dabney’s contribution to the history of video games is undeniable. In 1971, Dabney together with fellow Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell released Computer Space – not only the first-ever arcade title but also the first-ever commercially available video game. The title proved to be relatively successful despite being derided as too complex for the average player and did encourage the duo to form Atari the next year to create less demanding titles. The first of such games was Pong, which proved to be incredibly successful and the title which many attribute to having ignited initial consumer interest in the concept of video games. However, in 1973, despite the incredible success of Pong, Dabney left Atari, selling his entire stake in the company to Bushnell for reasons that have varied over the years.
Bushnell credits Dabney as being the driving technical force behind these early video game titles. It had also been Dabney’s idea to focus on using the digital elements of a standard television to attempt to program a video game title due to its cheaper price – making the endeavor of mass producing arcade games a much more viable business venture.
Without Dabney’s contributions, it is hard to think of what the video game industry would look like today. Social media tributes to the video game legend as people and organizations around the world continue to thank him for his monumental work in the industry.