Pong (video game): Difference between revisions
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==Versions== | ==Versions== | ||
Atari made many clones of ''Pong'', but only released faithful adaptations of the original game a few times. A home console version was released by Sears called Tele-Games Pong for Christmas [[1975]], and Atari re-released the unit under their own brand in [[1976]]. | Atari made many clones of ''Pong'', but only released faithful adaptations of the original game a few times. A home console version was released by Sears called '''Tele-Games Pong''' for Christmas [[1975]], and Atari re-released the unit under their own brand as '''Home Pong''' in [[1976]]. | ||
A port for the [[Atari 2600]] was released for the [[Atari Flashback|Atari Flashback 2]] dedicated console in [[2005]] and the [[Atari Flashback|Atari Flashback 2+]] in [[2010]]. | A port for the [[Atari 2600]] was released for the [[Atari Flashback|Atari Flashback 2]] dedicated console in [[2005]] and the [[Atari Flashback|Atari Flashback 2+]] in [[2010]]. | ||
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[[Category: Arcade games published by Atari]] | [[Category: Arcade games published by Atari]] | ||
[[Category: Arcade games released in 1972]] | [[Category: Arcade games released in 1972]] | ||
[[Category: Digital items owned by WEC Museum]] | [[Category: Digital items owned by WEC Museum]] | ||
[[Category: Items included in digital compilations owned by WEC Museum]] | [[Category: Items included in digital compilations owned by WEC Museum]] | ||
[[Category: Pong variants]] | |||
[[Category: Sports video games]] | |||
[[Category: Table tennis]] | [[Category: Table tennis]] | ||
[[Category: Video games]] | [[Category: Video games]] | ||
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[[Category: Video games included in Atari Vault]] | [[Category: Video games included in Atari Vault]] | ||
[[Category: Video games published by Atari]] | [[Category: Video games published by Atari]] | ||
[[Category: Video games published by Atari, | [[Category: Video games published by Atari, SA]] | ||
[[Category: Video games published by AtGames]] | [[Category: Video games published by AtGames]] | ||
[[Category: Video games published by Blaze Entertainment]] | [[Category: Video games published by Blaze Entertainment]] | ||
Latest revision as of 12:04, 13 December 2025
| |
| Pong | |
| Developer | Atari |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Atari Sears (Tele-Games Pong console) AtGames (Flashback) Blaze Entertainment (Evercade) |
| Distributor | |
| Platforms | Arcade, Atari Flashback 2/2+, (Atari 2600), dedicated console, Evercade, Windows |
| Released | Arcade North America: November 29, 1972 Home console North America (Sears): 1975 North America (Atari): 1976 Flashback 2 North America: November 1, 2005 Flashback 2+ North America: 2010 Windows North America (Taco Bell): March 2, 2010 Worldwide (Atari Vault): March 24, 2016 Linux (Atari Vault) Worldwide: May 26, 2016 macOS (Atari Vault) Worldwide: March 16, 2017 Evercade (Atari Arcade 1) Europe: November 3, 2021 |
| Added to Museum |
Windows (Taco Bell): March 12, 2018 Flashback 2+: May 10, 2019 Linux, Mac, Win (Vault): December 4, 2019 Flashback 8 Activision: May 30, 2022 |
Pong, known as Arcade Pong on Atari Flashback 2 and 2+ is a ball-and-paddle video game released by Atari for the arcade market in 1972.
Gameplay
Pong is a video game version of two-player table tennis, with elements of air hockey.
Development
In May 1972. a video game version of Table Tennis created by Ralph Baer was demonstrated by Magnavox.
That demonstration of the ITL2000, a video game console better known as the Magnavox Odyssey, was attended by Nolan Bushnell, the co-founder of Atari. Bushnell took the general idea with him and tasked Allan Alcorn with developing a game based on what he witnessed.
Pong kept the basics of the demonstration such as the square representing the ball, the middle line representing the net, and the score counter. However, Pong changed from Baer's Table Tennis in two ways.
Whereas in Table Tennis, the ball would be out when it went past the vertical gamespace, as in real-life Table Tennis, Pong would bounce the ball back, more akin to air hockey. In addition, Baer's game had the option to give the ball some English, which is slang for giving hitting the ball to give it a bit of a curve. Alcorn's Pong simply had the game bounce directly off the paddle.
Legacy
Pong was a very influential game, spawning an entire genre of video games and countless clones, including many clones by Atari themselves.
Versions
Atari made many clones of Pong, but only released faithful adaptations of the original game a few times. A home console version was released by Sears called Tele-Games Pong for Christmas 1975, and Atari re-released the unit under their own brand as Home Pong in 1976.
A port for the Atari 2600 was released for the Atari Flashback 2 dedicated console in 2005 and the Atari Flashback 2+ in 2010.
Legacy Engineering developed a faithful port for Windows for Atari, S.A. that was distributed by Taco Bell in 2010.
- Arcade games
- Arcade games developed by Atari
- Arcade games published by Atari
- Arcade games released in 1972
- Digital items owned by WEC Museum
- Items included in digital compilations owned by WEC Museum
- Pong variants
- Sports video games
- Table tennis
- Video games
- Video games developed by Atari
- Video games developed by Legacy Engineering
- Video games developed in the United States of America
- Video games included in Atari Arcade 1 for Evercade
- Video games included in Atari Vault
- Video games published by Atari
- Video games published by Atari, SA
- Video games published by AtGames
- Video games published by Blaze Entertainment
- Video games released in 1972
- Video games released in 1976
- Video games released in 2010
- Video games released in 2016
- Video games released in 2017
- Video games released in 2021
- Video games released on Atari 2600 in the United States of America
- Video games released on Evercade
- Video games released on Linux worldwide
- Video games released on macOS worldwide
- Video games released on Windows worldwide