Legendary computer scientist Alan Kotok has died
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Jun 2nd 2006 at 7:30PM }
Alan Kotok, a pioneer that helped create the first video game, SpaceWar! on the PDP-1, and helped the joystick, this site's namesake, become an icon of video gaming passed away peacefully in his sleep over the U.S. Memorial Day weekend. His help in creating Spacewar! was invaluable, although not necessarily conventional. In one memorable incident, Alan forced Steve Russel (the main author of Spacewar!) to get his act together by calling up the maker of the PDP-1 to get some math routines required to write movement code for the game. Once he'd received the code he slammed down the tape on Steve's desk (who was widely known by the nickname "slug") and said "Here you are Russel. Now what's your excuse?" Steve got the point and went on to finish Spacewar!
Had Alan not taken the initiative like he did, the entire history of video games could have turned out differently. A man called Nolan Bushnell was later inspired by Spacewar! to try and make video games accessible to everyone: he eventually went on to found a little company called Atari. There's nothing to say that games wouldn't be as popular as they are today had Alan not given Steve Russel the kick up the arse he needed, but it certainly makes you think.
Another of Kotok's achievements was working with John McCarthy of Stanford to create the first computer program that could credibly play chess. The program, which could look at 1100 positions per second, took part in an international competition with a USSR chess program in 1966. The match took nine months to complete!
Alan is survived by his three children and one grandchild. His wife, Judie, passed away last year. Rest in peace, Alan.
Update: see comments.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Not Impressed (Dmitri) @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:35PM
R.I.P
Not Impressed (Dmitri) @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:38PM
Reading on... It must have been devastating for him to bury his wife. I hope atleast one of his kids are gamers or "into" games so they can have a feel for what he has accomplished.
Imadogg99 @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:38PM
Expectedly, I did not know any of this at all, but after reading this post, I now know how important he was to the gaming world... he helped invent the joystick!
R.I.P. Mr. Kotok.
Obvious @ Jun 2nd 2006 7:42PM
With you on that, #2... If not, the rest of the gamer community definitely does.
Lutraphobic @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:12PM
R.I.P. Mr. Kotok; without you, who knows what we'd all be doing right now. Probably not be browsing Joystiq, for sure.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:28PM
It is indeed a sad day for gamers. If you have any respect for your forebears, or love for the hobby, you'll take a moment to reflect on the life of this great man.
Rest In Peace, Mr. Kotok. If only we could win you an extra life in this game.
NergiZed @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:34PM
May your soul Rest in Peace, and may your accomplishments live on in gmaing history.
Goobye, Mr. Kotok, we thank you for what you have done to change the games of the past and to help form what games have become today.
OyoyoY123 @ Jun 2nd 2006 8:59PM
Too bad, it would be romatic if he lives long enough to integrate his consciouness into a computer.
REST in peace..
Jamaicanbwoydre @ Jun 3rd 2006 1:00AM
Rest in Peace, Gone but not forgotten.
AJay17 @ Jun 3rd 2006 2:32AM
R.I.P.
BklynKid @ Jun 3rd 2006 3:23AM
R.I.P. my friend.
Tariq Walid @ Jun 3rd 2006 6:42AM
R.I.P. unsung hero Alan Kotok.
Vikas Gorur @ Jun 3rd 2006 6:44AM
The story of Spacewar, and Alan Kotok, is well told in Steven Levy's "Hackers".
Fortyseven @ Jun 3rd 2006 10:22AM
Vikas, that's where I learned about him, originally. Great book that everyone in the field should read at least once.
Bye, Alan.
Mike @ Jun 3rd 2006 4:47PM
It's "Russell" and you neglected to point out two other things Alan had done: Designed the PDP-10 computers and was co-chair of the W3C.
See also http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1142978073 which was videotaped less than 2 weeks before his untimely passing.
Alan's daughters @ Jun 4th 2006 12:08AM
We found this site through a google search on our father. Alas, we are not gamers, but did appreciate the significance of his contributions to the computing and gaming world. We were surprised and touched by all of your kind words about our father. It's nice to know that his work will continue to be appreciated.
Switzky @ Jun 4th 2006 4:55AM
*bows head* It's a dark day for our hobby.
Rest in piece Mr Kotok.
Thermo @ Jun 4th 2006 6:22AM
R.I.P. legendary hacker.
Hrw @ Jun 4th 2006 1:45PM
R.I.P.
For those who never read about Spacewar before:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/maury/games/space/spacewar.html
Dawid Gatti @ Jun 4th 2006 1:53PM
R.I.P Thx for all the fun that we have now.
Taylor Alexander @ Jun 5th 2006 3:18PM
R.I.P. Mr. Kotok. Thank you for everything you have done for us.
-Taylor
Martyg @ Jun 6th 2006 10:42AM
While Alan's accomplishments are many, he and his team most certainly did not invent the joystick. That honor belongs to Ralph Benjamin, who developed it to control a graphical British radar system in the mid 1940's. This
gentleman was also the inventor of the trackball, all of which were patented back in 1947.
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Jun 6th 2006 10:48AM
As far as I can tell, Alan was the first person to connect a Joystick to a computer for use as a control device for a computer game (he stuck one on a PDP-1). Anyway, the first real "joystick" goes back over 100 years to the first aircraft that used a stick.
Martyg @ Jun 6th 2006 10:58AM
The claim was that he "helped invent the joystick" however. While Spacewar! is the first use of a joystick to control a computerized game, that hardly qualifies as the invention of the joystick. Likewise its not the first use of the joystick to control a graphical display. And we're not talking about aiprlane flight sticks (which its well known is where joysticks came from), the context is in regards to a controller for a computer based interface. Honestly, this was all covered years ago in court when some video game companies brought up Benjamin's patents (and Spacewar!) to fight Ralph Baer's patents and Magnavox's licensing suits. Spacewar! was not the first use.
Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Jun 6th 2006 11:01AM
Marty, you're nitpicking. I'll update the post to say that Alan was instrumental in helping the joystick become the icon of video gaming that it is today. 'Nuff said.
Martyg @ Jun 6th 2006 11:38AM
Conrad, that's not nitpicking and apparently the courts didn't think so either. Patents are a serious issue. Regardless, the error didn't originate with you it was in the original W3C announcement. Honestly, Alan was a great man with a lot of accomplishments. But in this field you deal with so much missinformation out there that starts with the most innocent of intentions. Next you're dealing with things like Galaxian being the first "color" game, or the Tramiel/Commodore/Atari/Amiga nonsense.