Game Eye (Japan) (May 1986)

Irrevocable blindness caused by exposure to the intensely bright images video games project onto your television screen has been a major problem ever since the first time a pair of unsuspecting gamers lost their eyesight by playing Pong a few minutes longer than their retinas could stand.

For years afterwards, gamers would have to play their games wearing dark sunglasses, or else by using one of those pinhole viewing boxes used to view solar eclipses.  To do otherwise was inviting certain blindness.

Then came the Game Eye.  This ingenious device asked the question, "why be forced to wear uncomfortable sunglasses  to play games?  Why not make your TV wear sunglasses, instead?"

A dark-tinted sheet of clear plastic which could be slid in front of your TV screen answered the prayers of millions - finally allowing them to leave their sunglasses at the beach, while still being able to play video games without their eyeballs being melted from their sockets.

Gamers of today using modern TVs developed using technology specifically designed NOT to cause blindness no doubt may have difficulty grasping just how important an innovation the Game Eye was.  But it may just be the second most vital invention in the history of gaming, right after the plastic-housed game controllers which allowed gamers to finally stop having to input their move/jump/fire commands by touching live wires to complete electrical circuits, a practice responsible for the electrocution deaths of over 16 million gamers.