Pong From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Pong (disambiguation). Pong A vertical rectangular wooden structure with a visual display unit embedded in the front side. An upright cabinet of Pong on display at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County Developer(s) Atari Publisher(s) Atari Designer(s) Allan Alcorn Platform(s) Arcade Release date(s) 29 November 1972 Genre(s) Sports Cabinet Upright CPU Discrete Sound Monaural (Mono) Display Vertical orientation, black-and-white raster display, standard resolution Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games and the very first sports arcade video game. It is a table tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity. The aim is to defeat an opponent in a simulated table-tennis game by earning a higher score. The game was originally manufactured by Atari, which released it in 1972. Allan Alcorn created Pong as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, which later resulted in a lawsuit against Atari. Surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work, Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney decided to manufacture the game. Pong quickly became a success and is the first commercially successful arcade video game machine, which helped to establish the video game industry along with the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied Pong's gameplay, and eventually released new types of games. As a result, Atari encouraged its staff to produce more innovative games. The company released several sequels that built upon the original's gameplay by adding new features. During the 1975 Christmas season, Atari released a home version of Pong exclusively through Sears retail stores. It was also a commercial success and led to numerous copies. The game has been remade on numerous home and portable platforms following its release. 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. Contents [hide] 1 Gameplay 2 Development and history 2.1 Home version 2.2 Lawsuit from Magnavox 3 Impact and legacy 3.1 Sequels and remakes 3.2 In popular culture 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links Gameplay[edit] Horizontal rectangle video game screenshot that is a representation of a game of table tennis. The two paddles return the ball back and forth. The score is kept by the numbers (0 and 1) at the top of the screen. Pong is a two-dimensional sports game that simulates table tennis. The player controls an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left side of the screen, and can compete against either a computer-controlled opponent or another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The aim is for each player to reach eleven points before the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other.[1][2][3] Development and history[edit] See also: Origin of Atari Inc. A close up photo of a bearded man. Atari engineer Allan Alcorn designed and built Pong as a training exercise. Pong was the first game developed by Atari.[4][5] After producing Computer Space, Bushnell decided to form a company to produce more games by licensing ideas to other companies. The first contract was with Bally Manufacturing Corporation for a driving game.[3][6] Soon after the founding, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn because of his experience with electrical engineering and computer science; Bushnell and Dabney also had previously worked with him at Ampex. Prior to working at Atari, Alcorn had no experience with video games.[7] To acclimate Alcorn to creating games, Bushnell gave him a project secretly meant to be a warm-up exercise.[7][8] Bushnell told Alcorn that he had a contract with General Electric for a product, and asked Alcorn to create a simple game with one moving spot, two paddles, and digits for score keeping.[7] In 2011, Bushnell stated that the game was inspired by previous versions of electronic tennis he had played before; Bushnell played a version on a PDP-1 computer in 1964 while attending college.[9] However, Alcorn has claimed it was in direct response to Bushnell's viewing of the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis game.[7] In May 1972, Bushnell had visited the Magnavox Profit Caravan in Burlingame, California where he played the Magnavox Odyssey demonstration, specifically the table tennis game.[10][11] Though he thought the game lacked quality, seeing it prompted Bushnell to assign the project to Alcorn.[9] Alcorn first examined Bushnell's schematics for Computer Space, but found them to be illegible. He went on to create his own designs based
Pong From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Pong (disambiguation). Pong A vertical rectangular wooden structure with a visual display unit embedded in the front side. An upright cabinet of Pong on display at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County Developer(s) Atari Publisher(s) Atari Designer(s) Allan Alcorn Platform(s) Arcade Release date(s) 29 November 1972 Genre(s) Sports Cabinet Upright CPU Discrete Sound Monaural (Mono) Display Vertical orientation, black-and-white raster display, standard resolution Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games and the very first sports arcade video game. It is a table tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity. The aim is to defeat an opponent in a simulated table-tennis game by earning a higher score. The game was originally manufactured by Atari, which released it in 1972. Allan Alcorn created Pong as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, which later resulted in a lawsuit against Atari. Surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work, Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney decided to manufacture the game. Pong quickly became a success and is the first commercially successful arcade video game machine, which helped to establish the video game industry along with the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied Pong's gameplay, and eventually released new types of games. As a result, Atari encouraged its staff to produce more innovative games. The company released several sequels that built upon the original's gameplay by adding new features. During the 1975 Christmas season, Atari released a home version of Pong exclusively through Sears retail stores. It was also a commercial success and led to numerous copies. The game has been remade on numerous home and portable platforms following its release. 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. Contents [hide] 1 Gameplay 2 Development and history 2.1 Home version 2.2 Lawsuit from Magnavox 3 Impact and legacy 3.1 Sequels and remakes 3.2 In popular culture 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links Gameplay[edit] Horizontal rectangle video game screenshot that is a representation of a game of table tennis. The two paddles return the ball back and forth. The score is kept by the numbers (0 and 1) at the top of the screen. Pong is a two-dimensional sports game that simulates table tennis. The player controls an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left side of the screen, and can compete against either a computer-controlled opponent or another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The aim is for each player to reach eleven points before the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other.[1][2][3] Development and history[edit] See also: Origin of Atari Inc. A close up photo of a bearded man. Atari engineer Allan Alcorn designed and built Pong as a training exercise. Pong was the first game developed by Atari.[4][5] After producing Computer Space, Bushnell decided to form a company to produce more games by licensing ideas to other companies. The first contract was with Bally Manufacturing Corporation for a driving game.[3][6] Soon after the founding, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn because of his experience with electrical engineering and computer science; Bushnell and Dabney also had previously worked with him at Ampex. Prior to working at Atari, Alcorn had no experience with video games.[7] To acclimate Alcorn to creating games, Bushnell gave him a project secretly meant to be a warm-up exercise.[7][8] Bushnell told Alcorn that he had a contract with General Electric for a product, and asked Alcorn to create a simple game with one moving spot, two paddles, and digits for score keeping.[7] In 2011, Bushnell stated that the game was inspired by previous versions of electronic tennis he had played before; Bushnell played a version on a PDP-1 computer in 1964 while attending college.[9] However, Alcorn has claimed it was in direct response to Bushnell's viewing of the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis game.[7] In May 1972, Bushnell had visited the Magnavox Profit Caravan in Burlingame, California where he played the Magnavox Odyssey demonstration, specifically the table tennis game.[10][11] Though he thought the game lacked quality, seeing it prompted Bushnell to assign the project to Alcorn.[9] Alcorn first examined Bushnell's schematics for Computer Space, but found them to be illegible. He went on to create his own designs based
