Tech rewind: Interesting facts about the hit arcade video game Pong

American video game company Atari released Pong a tabletennis sports game on the arcade platform on this day November 29 in 1972Pong is generally considered to be the first commercially successful arcade video game machine which helped to establish the video game industryOn the occasion of the games 43rd anniversary heres a look at some interesting trivia that you may or may not knowA screenshot of Ataris Pong Pic courtesyYouTube1 Before founding Atari cofounders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney created Computer Space in 1971 The game is generally accepted as the worlds first commercially sold coinoperated video game mdash and indeed the first commercially sold video game of any kind2 Nolan Bushnell based the idea for Pong after viewing an electronic pingpong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey the worlds first commercial home video game console created by rival company Magnavox3 Before coming up with Pong Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell had received the companys first contract from Bally Manufacturing Corporation for the creation of a driving game4 Pong creator Allan Alcorn who is experienced in electrical engineering and computer science had previously worked with Atari cofounders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney at electronics company Ampex notable for its various innovations in video recording technology5 Since Pong creator Allan Alcorn had no experience in video game development Nolan Bushnell assigned him a project secretly meant to be a warm up exercise to acclimate Alcorn to creating games 6 The cabinet for the Pong prototype was constructed using Hitachi blackandwhite television set placed into a 4foot 12 m wooden cabinet The wires were soldered into boards to create the necessary circuitry The coin mechanism from a laundromat was used on the side which featured a milk carton inside to catch coins7 Atari secretly spawned a competitor in 1973 called Kee Games which was actually headed by Nolan Bushnells next door neighbour Joe Keenan This was done to circumvent pinball distributors insistence on exclusive distribution deals as both Atari and Kee could market virtually the same game to different distributors with each getting an exclusive deal Though Kees relationship to Atari was discovered in 1974 Joe Keenan did such a good job managing the subsidiary that he was promoted to president of Atari that same year8 In order to feature realistic sound effects as requested by the Atari owners Pong creator Allan Alcorn used a sync generator after discovering that it could generate different tones and used those for the games sound effects9 Nolan Bushnell has credited the inspiration for Pong to previous versions of electronic tennis most notably a version on a PDP1 computer in 1964 while attending college Allan Alcorn however dismisses this claiming that the it was in direct response to Nolans viewing of the Magnavox Odysseys Tennis game10 Atari engineer Allan Alcorn originally designed and built Pong as a training exercise The companys cofounders Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney decided to manufacture it after being impressed by Alcorns work11 Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and Pong creator Allan Alcorn installed a prototype of the game at a local bar Andy Capps Tavern in August 1972 It was so well received by the bars patrons that people came there to solely play the game12 A few days after its installation the Pong prototype began exhibiting technical issues Upon inspecting the machine creator Allan Alcorn discovered that the problem was the coin mechanism was overflowing with quarters13 Intially Nolan Bushnell had difficulty finding financial backing for Pong Banks viewed the game as a variant of pinball which at the time the general public associated with the Mafia or the criminal underworld Atari eventually obtained a line of credit from multinational banking firm Wells Fargo that it used to expand its facilities to house an assembly line14 The first arcade cabinets of Pong were assembled very slowly about ten machines a day many of which failed quality testing Atari eventually streamlined the process and began producing the game in greater quantities15 Atari released Home Pong a home version of Pong essentially one of the first video game consoles that could be connected to a television similar to rival firm Magnavoxs Magnavox Odyssey in Christmas 1975 through retail giant Sears 16 During Pongs development Allan Alcorn discovered that the ingame paddles were unable to reach the top of screen which was caused by a simple circuit that had an inherent defect He decided it gave the game more difficulty and helped limit the time the game could be played instead of fixing the issue17 The development of Home Pong initially began under the codename Darlene named after an attractive female employee at Atari18 The popularity and commercial success of Ataris Pong and Home Pong led to numerous copies by rival companies19 Atari faced legal action against Ralph Baer the inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey and his employer Sanders Associates over its similarities with a game included in Magnavoxs console Magnavox offered Atari an agreement to become a licensee for US07 million in 1976 To avoid Magnavox obtaining rights to its products Atari decided to delay the release of its products for a year and withheld information from Magnavoxs attorneys during visits to Atari facilities20 Ataris Pong arcade games were a huge success and earned USD 35ndash40 per day according to Nolan Bushnell21 By 1973 a year after Pong was introduced Atari had filled 2500 orders and at the end of 1974 sold more than 8000 units22 The Home Pong prototype consisted of a device attached to a wooden pedestal containing over a hundred wires which would eventually be replaced with a single chip which was finished in the latter half of 1974 and was at the time the highest performing chip used in a consumer product The chip was designed and tested by Allan Alcorn and Harold Lee23 Popular Japanese digital entertainment firm Konami known to be one of the major developers of video games today decided to break into the video game market after viewing the success of Pong Their first title Maze was moderately successful and drove the company to develop more games24 Japanese gaming giant Nintendo entered the video game market with clones Home Pong25 In an effort to compete more effectively against competitors Atari produced numerous Pong sequels in the years following the originals release Four sequels namely Pong Doubles Super Pong Quadrapong and PinPong were released They featured similar graphics but had new gameplay elements Pong Doubles allows four players to compete in pairs while Quadrapong has them compete against each other in a four way field26 Pongs arcade cabinets have since become collectors items with the cocktailtable version being the rarest27 A freetoplay version of Pong was conceptualized Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell to entertain children in a doctors office Initially titled Snoopy Pong after the popular Peanuts character Snoopy he also designed an arcade cabinet similar to Snoopys doghouse but opted to retitle it Puppy Pong to avoid legal action28 Nolan Bushnell also owned popular family restaurant chain Chuck E Cheeses and made pong as a staple in many of its branches29 Pong has also been included in several Atari compilations on video game platforms including the Sega Mega Drive PlayStation Portable Nintendo DS and personal computer30 A slot machine version of Pong also exists due to an agreement between Atari and Bally Gaming and Systems31 In an effort to remake Pong on numerous gaming platforms Atari featured the game in Video Olympics one of the original release titles for their 1977 video game console Atari 260032 The 2002 game TD Overdrive The Brotherhood of Speed which was released on the PC Playstation 2 and Xbox featured Pong as an extra game to be played during the loading screen The game was developed by Atari33 The classic version of Ataris Pong underwent a major overhaul in 1999 when it was remade using 3D computer graphics and powerups for home computers and the Playstation video game console 34 A single player variation of Pong titled Breakout was released by Atari in 1976 Like its predecessor Breakout also featured numerous clones that copied its gameplay notably Arkanoid Alleyway Break Em All to name a few The object of Breakout is to remove bricks from a wall by hitting them with a ball35 Pong has been a prominent feature in popular American TV shows like That 70s Show King of the Hill Saturday Night Live and many others36 A popular 2006 commercial by financial firm American Express depicted retired Tennis ace Andy Roddick in a tennis match against the white ingame paddle from Pong37 Pong has been referenced or parodied in other prominent video games Notable examples include Neuromancer for the Commodore 64 and BanjoKazooie Nuts and Bolts for the Xbox 36038 A Pongthemed clock was created by Dutch design studio Buro Vormkrijgers Initially a fun project within their offices the studio faced legal action against Atari after they decided to manufacture it for retail in February 2006 Eventually both companies reached an agreement in which Buro Vormkrijgers could produce a limited number of clocks under license39 The audio from Pong has been performed as part of a special Classic Arcade Medley at Video Games Live a musical concert series consisting of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects40 Noted artists have also paid tribute to Pong in their works French artist Pierre Huyghes 1999 installation entitled Atari Light displayed at the Venice Biennale in 2001 and the Museo de Arte Contemporaacuteneo de Castilla y Leoacuten in 2007 showed two people use handheld gaming devices to play Pong on an illuminated ceiling41 Pong was included at the 2002 Game On exhibition held at the Barbican Art Gallery in London The event showcased various aspects of video game history development and culture42 American singer Frank Black wrote a song titled Whatever Happened to Pong on his 1994 album Teenager of the Year The song heavily references the games elements