At the time of this death, Baer had amassed about 150 patents
for products including talking books, talking greeting cards and
door mats. He had created many famous board games such
as SIMON for Milton Bradley, and Laser Command.
He had invented interfaces for turning audio tapes and video
cassettes into games, creating toys such as '90s favourite TV
Teddy’. He even produced technology used in surgical cutting
equipment and submarine-tracking systems.
It was not until the early 2000s that Baer staked his claim to
inventing home gaming, an industry he left only years
after producing the machine that prompted it. This turned out to
be a good move given the industry would soon crash on the back
of unchecked quality control.
He received a G-Phoria Legend award in 2005, the GDC Pioneer
Award in 2008 and the IEEE Edison Medal for his contributions.
In 2006 he was awarded the National Medal of Technology by
President George W. Bush, and in a review of his autobiography,
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said "I can never thank Ralph
enough for what he gave to me and everyone else".
Some of Baer’s
inventions:
Magnavox game
console, the light
gun and game
cartridges
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