States

States is the first educational video game in history — and shows how visionary Baer's idea was. The overlay showed a United States map. Quiz cards asked questions about capitals, rivers, mountains and state populations. The on-screen square served as a 'pointer' to indicate answers on the map. Score was kept manually. States was included because Magnavox wanted to convince parents the console had educational value — it wasn't just a toy. This strategy — justifying console purchase with educational value — would be used by every hardware manufacturer for the next fifty years, from Math Blaster to Brain Training.