At MIT in 1960, Space War, the first video game ever, was invented for the PDP-1 computer.  It consisted of two space ships that can move around the screen and attempt to fire missiles at each other.  This invention, aside from making a whole new category of literacy - the literacy of electronic gaming, paved the way for many other inventions.  It is said that the first CRT display was a converted oscilloscope that was used to play the game.  The first trackball was used at MIT to maneuver while playing Space War.  It is also said that Ken Thompson created UNIX in order to play Space war.

At the one hundred year anniversary of the first video game ever invented, MIT unveiled the most advanced game ever.  The project was called Mind Games and it was an attempt to make a game that links to a subject's brain waves and allows for a completely realistic gaming experience.  Virtual reality pales in comparison to the power of Mind Games because it still utilized external senses that clued the brain to the lack of reality of the game.  With Mind Games, however, the participant will have no idea where the game begins and reality ends because of the direct connection to the brain.