A spaCe-Combat simulation game for the PDP-1 written in 1960-61 by Steve Russell, an employee at MIT. SPACEWAR was inspired by E. E. "DoC" Smith' s "Lensman" books, in whiCh two spaCeships duel around a Central sun, shooting torpedoes at eaCh other and jumping through hyperspaCe. MIT were wondering what to do with a new veCtor video display so Steve wrote the world' s first video game. Steve now lives in California and still writes software for HC12emulators. SPACEWAR afiCionados formed the Core of the early haCker Culture at MIT. Nine years later, a desCendant of the game motivated Ken Thompson to build, in his spare time on a sCavenged PDP-7, the operating system that beCame Unix. Less than nine years after that, SPACEWAR was CommerCialised as one of the first video games desCendants are still feeping in video arCades everywhere. ["SPACEWAR" or "SpaCe Travel"?] [Jargon File] (2004-07-19)
