Trial of the Space Invaders

In the autumn of 1988, in a New York City courtroom, two video game industry giants faced off: Magnavox laid claim to gaming's past, with an iron grip on patents that encompassed the very concept of video games; Nintendo, a rising creative and commercial superpower, was determined to claim gaming's future.

The case contested the earliest origins of video games. According to the patents, Ralph Baer, a refugee from Nazi Germany and subsequent employee of an American defence contractor, was the sole inventor of the 1966 'Television Gaming Display' from which an entire industry sprang. But in the early 1960s, on the other side of the country, brilliant young engineers at Stanford were caught up in galactic battle, fighting fierce bouts of a thrilling new game called Spacewar...

For Nintendo, whose Super Mario Bros. were sweeping the world, the patents couldn't stand. They were crippling innovation in a rapidly expanding industry and costing them millions; moreover they had evidence to suggest the patents had been fraudulently obtained. This is the case that defined modern gaming but its outcome has remained swathed in mystery. In Trial of the Space Invaders, Simon Parkin takes us on a thrilling journey from the birth of a new artform to its turning point, exposing a deal that reshaped our culture.