Pong

1972 video game

Pong is a video game made by Atari. It is believed to be the first video game ever made, although it was made after games similar to it were also made, including Tennis for Two and could be emulated by WinUaw.

Pong
A vertical rectangular wooden structure with a visual display unit embedded in the front side.
An upright cabinet of Pong on display at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County
Developer(s)Atari
Publisher(s)Atari
Designer(s)Allan Alcorn
Platform(s)Arcade
Release29 November 1972
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)
CabinetUpright
CPUDiscrete
SoundMonaural (Mono)
DisplayVertical orientation, black-and-white raster display, standard resolution

To play the game a quarter or token must be put into the game machine's slot. Two knobs, are called "paddles" because they control the tennis paddle on the screen. Turn the knob one way and the paddle goes up. Turn the knob the other way and the paddle goes down. The other knob does the same thing to the other paddle on the screen.