Ralph Baer documented and patented his idea to use a television as a game display device in 1966. Over the next two years, several early versions of these devices were built by him (as well as Bill Harrison and Bill Rusch under his direction) at Sanders Associates in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
The final prototype was dubbed the "Brown Box" and played 12 different games chosen through switches and colored overlays for the screen. This was licensed to Magnavox and built into the first commercial home video game product called
"Odyssey" in May 1972.
This photo is of the replicas used in various patent infringement cases.
