Pong

Widely believed to be the first video game,? Pong is the classic two dimensional table tennis sports game that is an easily recognizble video game icon.

Gameplay
''Pong? ''is a table tennis simulator with fairly simple controls by today's satndards. The player vertically moves the in-game paddle on the left side of the screen. Either another player can take control of the paddle on the rightside of the screen or the computer can take control. The players use the paddle to hit a ball back an forth. When the ball makes contact with one of the paddles, it bounces back to the other side. The goal is to earn more points than the opponent, which are aquiredwhen the opponent fails to bounce the ball back.

Development
After the production of? Computer Space, Nolan Bushnell formed Atari, Inc. in order to produce more games by licensing ideas to other companies. Shortly after founding the company, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn for his experience in electrical engineering and computer science, despite him not having any prior experience in video games. In order to prepare him for the video game business, Bushnell sent Alcorn to create a simple game with two paddles, one moving spot, and two digits that kept score. Unbeknownst to Alcorn, this project was a warm-up excercize.

After completing the game, Alcorn felt it was lacking. To make the game more interseting, he divided each paddle into eight segments that dictated the angle of the ball's return. For example, the middle segment sent the ball at a 90 ° angle and the outer segments sent the ball at smaller angles. Alcorn also implemeted the acceleration of the ball as it kept getting hit. Upon a player failing to hit the ball, the acceleration was reset back to the original acceleration. Another added feature was that the paddles could not reach the top of the screen. Originally due to a circuit defect, Alcorn decided to keep the bug because it made the game more challenging. This would also limit the time of the game, as two skilled players could theorectically play indefinitley.

Upon showing the game to Bushnell, Bushnell stated he wanted the game to feature realsitic sound effects. Another employee wanted the game to boo and hiss when a player lost a round. Alcorn disocvered that he could generate different tones with a sync generator in order to create realistic sound effects. Alcorn finally finished the game after connecting the circuits to a basic black and white television and placing the unit into a wodden cabinet.

Highly impressed by Alcorn's work, Bushnell deicded that it was potentionally profitable and decided to test its marketability. In September 1972, Busnell and Alcorn installed the prototype at a local bar called andy Capp's Tavern. Recieving high and increasing popularity over the following weeks, Bushnell demonstrated the game to Midway Manufacturing and Bally. He also used the game to fullfill his contract with Bally rather than a driving game. After a few days, the exhibited prototyp began to malfunction. Upon inspection, it was disocvered the issue was due to an overflow of quarters.

Due to its sucess, Bushnell decided he wanted to manufacture the game rather thsn licsence it. He proceeded to delcine the offers of Midway and Bally and attempted to find financial backing. Unfortunatley, many viewed? Pong as a variant of pinball which was then associated with the Mafia. Eventually they recieved backing from Wells Fargo and the release of? Pong was released on November 29, 1972.? Pong was immedialtey successful and in 1973, shipment to foreign countries began.