Pong, the Video Game by Atari, Inc. [Sunnyvale, CA, USA]

Type of the machine : Video Game
Pong © 1972 Atari.

PONG is a basic simulation of the racket sport of table tennis. A small square representing a ping pong ball travels across the screen in a linear trajectory. If the square strikes the perimeter of the playing field, or one of the simulated paddles, the square ricochets based on the angle of the impact.

Game play consists of players moving their respective paddles vertically to defend their scoring zones. Players score one point by maneuvering the square past their opponent's paddle.

PONG can be played either by a single player pitted against a computerized opponent, or by two players each controlling a paddle.

The hardware was made up of 40 diodes and 40 transistors.

The 27 of June 1972, Mr. Nolan K. Bushnell and Mr. Ted Dabney start their own game company, named 'Syzygy' (means 'the sun, moon and earth in total eclipse'). But at this time, 'Syzygy' was already used by a roof-tiling company and finally, the name was changed to 'Atari' (a word equivalent to the term 'check' used in the Japanese strategy board game 'Go', Bushnell was an avid Go player) and give it the 'FUJI'-symbol (from the Japan's largest mountain 'Fujijama') as its logo.

Pong is the first Atari game. In September 1972, a prototype was tested on top of a barrel as the first commercial coin-operated machine in a tavern in Sunnyvale, CA called "Andy Capp's'. Within two weeks, Mr. Bill Gattis, the tavern manager, called Atari's Mr. Al Alcorn and reported that the machine was in need of repair. When examined, Alcorn discovered that the coin mechanism had been literally stuffed with quarters. Pong became an instant success and it created the arcade video game industry. The video game revolution had begun...

A Pong unit appears in the 1974 movie 'The Parallax View' and in the 1975 movie 'Rancho Deluxe'.

Scoring went up to 21 pts.

The only instruction for a game this primative : avoid missing ball for high score.

1. Pong (1972)
2. Pong Doubles (1973)
3. Quadra Pong (1974)
4. Super Pong (1974)
5. Pong - The Next Level (1999, PC CD-ROM, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Game Boy Color)

Designed & engineered by : Alan Alcorn, Nolan Bushnell

Consoles :

Atari 2600 (1977, "Video Olympics") : contains multiple variations of the game.
Sega Mega Drive1996, "Arcade Classics")
Sony PlayStation (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux")
Sega Dreamcast (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition")
Sony PlayStation 2 (2004, "Atari Anthology")
Microsoft XBOX (2004, "Atari Anthology")
Nintendo DS (2005, "Retro Atari Classics")
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2005, "Pong / Asteroids / Yar's Revenge")

Computers :

Tandy Color Computer 3 (1987, "Ponk") : this port is for 2 players only.
PC [CD-ROM] (1999, "Atari Arcade hits 1")
PC [CD-ROM] (2001, "Atari Anniversary Edition")
PC [CD-ROM] (2003, "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One!")

Others :

Magnavox Odyssey (1972) [USA] : contains 12 games.
Videomaster Home TV Game (1974) [UK] : contains 3 games.
Executive Games Television Tennis (1975) [USA] : contains 2 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 100 (1975) [USA] : contains 2 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 200 (1975) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Sears PONG (1975) [USA]
Universal Research Video Action (1975) {USA] : contains 3 games.
Videomaster Olympic (1975) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Videomaster Rally (1975) [EU] : contains 2 games.
Allied's Name Of The Game (1976) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Canadian Tire Video Sports (1976) [CA] : conrains 4 games.
Coleco Telstar (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Coleco Telstar Classic (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Atari PONG (1976) [USA]
Atari Super PONG (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Binatone TV Gaming Unit (1976) [UK] : contains 2 games.
CIT Alcatel Visiomatic 101 (1976) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Entex Tele-Pong (1976) [USA]
First Dimension Tele Sports (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
GHP Wonder Wizard (1976) [USA] : contains 3 or 6 games.
Granada ColorSport VIII (197?) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Granada Video Sports (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Lloyds TV-Sports 801 (1976) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 300 (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 400 (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 500 (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
MECCA TV Game (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Mestron Fernseh Spiel (1976) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Montgomery-Ward Telstar Video World of Sports (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
National Semiconductor Adversary (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Occitane (SOE) OC4 (orange) (1976) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Occitane (SOE) Occitel (1976) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Packel Instrument TV Sport (1976) [AU] : contains 4 games.
Prinztronic Tournament (1976) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Radio Shack TV Scoreboard (1976) [USA] : contains 4 or 6 games.
Ricochet Electronic Color TV Game (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Ridgewood GAMATIC 7600 (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Roberts Paddle IV (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Sears Hockey-PONG (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Sears Hockey-Tennis (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Sears PONG IV (1976) [USA]
Superlectron TV Challenger (1976) [EUR] : contains 3 games.
Tele-Match Concert Hall IV (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Tele-Match 4 (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Television Gaming Unit (1976) [NL] : conrains 2 games.
Unisonic Sportsman - Tournament 101 (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Unisonic Tournament 100 (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Unisonic Tournament 150 (1976) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Unisonic Tournament 200 (1976) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Universal Research Video Action 3 (1976) [USA] : contains 2 games.
Universal Research Indy 500 - Video Action 4 (1976) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Universum TV Multi-Spiel (1976) [GER] : contains 6 or 4 games.
Venture Electronics Video Sports (1976) [USA] : contains 4, 5, or 8 games.
Videomaster Superscore (1976) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Windsor TV Game (1976) (USA] : contains 4 games.
Academy Video Game (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
APF Match (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
APF TV FUN (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
APF Sportsarama (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Asaflex Video Sports (1977) [FR] : contains 4 or 6 games.
Atari Super PONG TEN (1977) [USA] : contains 10 games.
Atari Ultra PONG (1977) [USA] : contains 16 or 32 games.
Atari Video Pinball (1977) [USA] : contains 7 games.
Audiosonic Home's TV Set (1977) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
Binatone Colour TV Game (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Binatone TV-Master MK 6 (1977) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Binatone TV Master MK IV (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Binatone TV-TRON (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Bingo TVG 203 (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Bingo Video Game (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Blaupunkt TV-Action (1977) [GE] : contains 4 games.
Boots Audio (1977) [UK] : conrains 4 games.
Coleco Telstar Alpha (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Coleco Telstar Alpha Europa (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Coleco Telstar Colormatic (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Coleco Telstar Ranger (1977) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Coleco Telstar Regent (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Commodore T.V. Game (1977) [EUR] : contains 8 games.
Concept 2000 Spectrum 6 (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Concept 2000 TV +4 (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Conic Video Game (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Continental Edison (1977) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Creatronic Bi.Bip 4 (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Creatronic Bi.Bip 8 (1977) [FR] : contains 8 games.
Dayya Marume 2000 (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
DDR TV-Spiele (1977) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Decca Sports TV Game (1977) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Derby Master (1977) [UK] : contains 3 games.
Digitek TV Game (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
E&P 4 Electronic TV Sport Games (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Electrophonic Pro-Sports (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Enterprex Color Home Video Game (1977) [USA] : contains 4 or 8 games.
Grandstand Match of the Day 2000 (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Grandstand Adman (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Gulliver Triple Challenge (1977) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Hanimex Jeu-Tele Electronique (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Hanimex TV Scoreboard (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Hit-Go (1977) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Hometronics Telecourt (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Honeybell Video Sports color (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Intel Super-Telesport (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Intel TV Sport (1977) [GER] : contains 4 or 6 games.
Interton Club Exclusiv 2000 (1977) [DE] : contains 6 games.
Interton Video 2400 (1977) [EUR] : contains 5 games.
Interton Video 2501 (1977) [EUR] : contains 3 games.
Interton Video 2800 (1977) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
Interton Video 3000 (1977) [EUR] : contains 6 games.
Interton Video 3001 (1977) [EUR] : contains 6 games.
ITMC 6 Jeux (1977) [FR] : contains 6 games.
ITT / Ideal Color Tele-Match Cassette (1977) [GB] : contains 4 games.
Korting Tele-Multi-Play (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
K-Mart S Four Thousand (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
K-Mart S Eight Thousand (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 2000 (1977) [USA] : contains 3 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 3000 (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Magnavox Odyssey 4000 (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Markint 4a (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Markint 6 (1977) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Markint Tele-Sports (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Markint TV Sports (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Match Spectrum 6 (1977) [GER] : contains 3 games.
MBO Tele-Ball V (1977) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Nintendo TV-GAME 6 (1977) : contains 6 games.
Novex Colour Video Sports Game (1977) : contains 3 games.
Occitane (SOE) Match Robot (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
OPL Optim Sport (1977) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
Palladium Tele-Match 4000 (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Philips Odyssey 2001 (1977) [EUR] : contains 3 games.
Philips Tele-Spiel Las Vegas (1977) [EUR] : contains 4, 6 or 8 games.
Pizon-Bross Visiomat 11 (1977) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Poppy Tele-Spiel (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Prinztronic Tournament II Deluxe (1977) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Radofin Electronic TV Game (1977) [WORLD] : contains 4 games.
Radofin Tele-Sports (1977) [WORLD] : contains 4 games.
Radofin Tele-Sports Mini (1977) [WORLD] : contains 4 games.
Radofin SC Eight Thousand (1977) [WORLD] : contains 8 games.
Ricochet Electronic Super Pro (1977) [USA] : contains 5 games.
Roberts Rally IV (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Roberts Rally X (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Roberts Sportrama 8 (1977) [USA] : contains 8 games.
Samdo (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Santron Home T.V. Game (1977) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Sanwa Tele-Spiel (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Sears Hockey-Tennis II (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Sears Hockey-Tennis III (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Sears Motocross (1977) [USA] : contains 20 games.
Sears Pinball Breakaway (1977) [USA] : contains 7 games.
Sears PONG Sports II (1977) [USA] : contains 16 games.
Sears PONG Sports IV (1977) [USA] : contains 32 games.
SEB Telescore (1977) [FR] : contains 4 or 6 games.
Sennheiser TV Game (1977) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Sheen Video Sport (1977) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
Sheen Colour Video Sport (1977) [EUR] : contains 6 games.
Sonesta Hide-Away TV Game (1977) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Sportel (1977) [UK] : contains 3 games.
Sportron (1977) [FR] : contains 4 or 6 games
Starex (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Superlectron Fernsehspiel (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Syrelec Videosport 2 (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Thomson Jeu Video (1977) [FR] : contains 5 games.
Tandy TV Scoreboard (1977) [EUR] : contains 4 or 10 games.
TCR Video Sport (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Tele-Match Television Computer Game (1977) [USA] : contains 5 games.
Teleng Colourstars (1977) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Tempest Video Game (1977) [AU] : contains 6 games.
Unimex Mark V-C (1977) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Unisonic Olympian 2600 (1977) [USA] : contains 10 games.
Unisonic Tournament 1000 (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Unisonic Tournament 2000 (1977) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Unisonic Tournament 2501 (1977) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Universum Color Multi-Spiel (1977) [GER] : contains 4 or 10 games.
Universum Tele-Sports (1977) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Univox (1977) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Video 4000-EX (1977) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
Video Stellar (1977) [FR] : contains 5 games.
Videomaster Colourscore (1977) [EUR] : contains 3 games.
Videomaster Colourshot (1977) [UK] : contains 3 games.
Videomaster Visionscore (1977) [UK] : contains 3 games.
Videomaster Strika 2 (1977) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Windtronics Video Game (1977) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Binatone TV-Master MK 8 (1978) [UK] : contains 8 games.
Binatone TV-Master MK 10 (1978) [UK] : contains 10 games.
Binatone Colour TV Game 4 Plus 2 (1978) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Coleco Telstar Colortron (1978) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Coleco Telstar Marksman (1978) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Grunding Tele-Spiel 1 (1978) [GER]
Harvard Mini Color TV Game (1978) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Intercord TV Games (1978) [GER] : contains 4 games.
ITT / Ideal Color Tele-Match Cassette 2 (1978) [EUR] : contains 8 games.
Klervox Jeu TV (1978) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Match Color (1978) [GER] : contains 10 games.
MBO Tele-Ball VIII (1978) [GER] : contains 8 games.
Olympos Electronic Gamatic 7706 (1978) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Occitane (SOE) OC 5000 (1978) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Philips Odyssey 2100 (1978) [EUR] : contains 23 games.
Polistil Video Games (1978) [ITA] : contains 4 games.
Poppy Tv-Game Fernseh Spiel (1978) [GER] : contains 4 games.
Prinztronic Tournament Mini (1978) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Prinztronic Videosport (1978) [UK] : contains 6 games.
RIL Robot (1978) (FR] : contains 6 games.
Saft-Leclanch� TV 8 Sports (1978) [FR] : contains 8 games.
Sands Color TV Game (1978) [USA] : contains 6 games.
Scomark 4 Sports Tele (1978) [FR] : contains 4 games.
Sinoca T.V. Game (1978) [USA] : contains 4 games.
TV 18 Spannende Videospiele (1978) [GER] : contains 18 games.
Grandstand Sports Centre (1979) [UK] : contains 10 games.
Hanimex Electronic TV Game (1979) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
ITT / Ideal Tele-Match Cassette (1979) [EUR] : contains 10 games.
Videomaster Colourscore 2 (1979) [UK] : contains 6 games.
Radofin Colour TV Game (1981) [WORLD] : contains 10 games.
Univox Tele-Sports 6 (1981) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Audiosonic Color TV Game (1982) [EUR] : contains 4 games.
Poppy Color Video Game (1982) [GER] : contains 6 games.
Rollet Robot (1982) [FR] : contains 6 games.
Bentley Compu-Vision (1983) [UK] : contains 4 games.
DMS Tele-Action (1983) [USA] : contains 4 games.
Ingersoll mini TV Game (1983) [UK] : contains 4 games.
Arcade (1993, hidden game in "Mortal Kombat II")
Mobile phone [Motorola T720] (2003)
Atari 10 in 1 TV Game (2002 - Jakk's Pacific)
Atari Paddle TV Game (2004 - Jakk's Pacific) : "Video Olympics", which features multiple variations of the game, is also included.
Atari Flashback 2 (2005)
Nokia N-Gage (2006, "Atari Masterpieces Volume 2")

Machine's picture.