There's a lot of articles on this going around but I thought it was worth posting this one for discussion.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ralph-baer-inventor-father-video-games-dead-92-article-1.2037216
There's also a neat summary of his inventions here:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/12/in-the-beginning-ralph-h-baer-and-the-birth-of-the-game-console/
Can't say I ever used an Odyssey. However, I've definitely played Simon and Maniac... sad to see him go, but also quite nostalgic to reflect on his inventions (although I'm an 80's baby).
A nice grandpa quote on ars as well...
“ is what appeals to large segments of the game-playing population and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it,” he said. “The fact that there are many areas of that business that I personally find abhorrent is irrelevant.” The root of the problem, says Baer, lies with “contemporary society.”
Bloody contemporary society and their violence!