But by the end of the 1970s “Pong was overtaken” as new games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders offered “more up-to-date” features and graphics, said MacNeill.īut it had already made its mark as the video game that “changed the world”. “Striking while the silicon was sizzling”, Atari released “a slew of sequels”, said MacNeill in The Guardian, such as Pong Doubles and Quadrapong. Steve Heighway, left, the former Liverpool footballer, tries out Pong in 1977 “According to Pong lore, people lined up for their turn to stuff quarters into the machine”, said IEEE Spectrum, until “the manager called Alcorn because the coin box was jammed to overflowing”. If anything “it was too popular”, said MacNeill. The “new form of playable, payable game… quickly struck gold”. Keen to test Pong’s potential, Bushnell installed Alcorn’s creation at “local drinking hole” Andy Capp’s Tavern, said Kyle MacNeill at The Guardian. Pong was “low-budget to the point of being a one-man operation”, said the New York Post, and Alcorn told the newspaper it took him two months to create it. A pixelated black and white screen depicts an electronic table tennis table, with a dotted line through the middle marking the net, a small square ball and two rectangular bats on either side.ĭuring the game’s development, Alcorn said he “basically had free reign”. Pong “couldn’t be more simple by today’s standards”, said Smith. In an oral history taken by the Computer History Museum in 2008, Alcorn recalled that he was asked to create Pong – “which we now know was just an exercise” – believing that Atari had been contracted by General Electric to deliver a basic video game. Pong has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows and video games, and has been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions.Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty ImagesĪlcorn was assigned “a kind of warm-up exercise” by Bushnell, said Kotaku’s Smith. The game has been remade on numerous home and portable platforms following its release. It was also a commercial success and led to numerous copies. During the 1975 Christmas season, Atari released a home version of Pong exclusively through Sears retail stores. Several sequels were released that built upon the original's gameplay by adding new features. As a result, Atari encouraged its staff to produce more innovative games. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied Pong's gameplay, and eventually released new types of games. Pong quickly became a success and is the first commercially successful video game, which led to the start of the video game industry. Surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work, Atari decided to manufacture the game. Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, which later resulted in a lawsuit against Atari. Pong was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. The game was originally manufactured by Atari, who released it in 1972. The aim is to defeat an opponent – either computer-controlled or a second player – by earning a higher score. Pong (marketed as PONG) is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics.
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