<P> Spacewar ! is a space combat video game developed in 1962 by Steve Russell , in collaboration with Martin Graetz and Wayne Wiitanen , and programmed by Russell with assistance from others including Bob Saunders and Steve Piner . It was written for the newly installed DEC PDP - 1 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . After its initial creation , Spacewar was expanded further by other students and employees of universities in the area , including Dan Edwards and Peter Samson . It was also spread to many of the few dozen , primarily academic , installations of the PDP - 1 computer , making Spacewar the first known video game to be played at multiple computer installations . </P>
who invented the first computer game in 1962 and what was the name of the game
Spacewar ! Steve Russell