P is for................
PONG
P was always going to be for PONG.
Everyone knows about Pong.
Pong was the awesome kickstart for Atari and one of the earliest arcade games that was ever made.
Al Alcorn’s masterpiece of simplicity but addictiveness was the blueprint for the whole of Atari going forward.
It was fun and compelling to play which really led the way for others to jump on the back of its success and paved the way for the early video games industry.
I’m not going to re tell the story of Pong as that’s been regurgitated a trillion times before.
I’m going to give you 10 DID YOU KNOW facts about Pong that I hope you will find interesting.
Did You Know?
1.
Al Alcorn created Pong as a training exercise assigned to him by Nolan Bushnell
2.
Pong was based on the Magnavox Odyssey Tennis game
3.
The Pong paddle is divided into eight segments giving you the variation of bounce off of the paddle
4.
The ball in game accelerates more the longer it is in play making for frenetic game play
5.
The paddles are unable to reach the top of the screen making a sweet spot for your opponent to aim for
6.
In game sound effects were planned to be boos when you lost a point but space was limited so these never made it into the final game
7.
Andy Capp’s Tavern was the name of the first bar to host a Pong prototype
8.
Famously the machine was seen to be broken but on inspection it wasn’t broken it was just BURSTING with coins!
9.
The home system version of Pong began development under the codename Darlene and was named after an attractive female employee at Atari
10. The Atari logo is based upon Pong with the Paddles either side of the straight net in the middle
So there you have it....
Pong......one of the most recognisable and influential video games of all time.....
What Were YOUR First Pong Memories?
Let Me Know In The Comments Box Below
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