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The History of Pong

Posted by michael on from the I-prefer-Breakthrough-myself dept.

sn0wdude writes "Who hasn't played PONG? Everything on PONG! Has pictures from all systems it was available on, even systems schematics (to make your own). The 'Make-It-Yourself Systems' (kid adverts), etc..." You see, Pong was the evil twin brother of the little duckling called Ping... oh, wait, wrong story. Seriously, this site has everything you never wanted to know about Pong.

5 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I know it's cool to be retro and all but.. by fmaxwell · · Score: 3
    and I dont understand the facination with them.

    The journey is as important as where we are. It's fascinating to reflect on the birth of the computer and video game industry, to reflect on the tremendous progress, and to get some perspective. When geeks are complaining about getting "only" 50fps on Quake III, articles like this are a good reality check.

  2. WHat about pong kombat? by BlueLines · · Score: 3

    They don't mention Pong Kombat, which is (as it sounds) a combination of Mortal Komabt and pong. It's only available for windows (as far as i remember), but it's hilarious. Make sure you read the FAQ's on the site.

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    --BlueLines "The cost of living hasn't affected it's popularity." -anonymous
  3. Re:Pong as an Easter Egg by HerrNewton · · Score: 3

    Breakout, not Pong. It was only in System 7.5, 7.5.1, and 7.5.2

    The significance of Breakout and Apple? Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak worked at Atari and, as partners, created Breakout.

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    Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
  4. Build your own! by Klowner · · Score: 5

    Don't tell me this isnt totally cool :)
    make your own pong game with a little soldering and a PIC microcontroller, generates simple black and white NTSC output and everything.

    VCR Pong

    Klowner

  5. Pong as an Easter Egg by namespan · · Score: 3

    I seem to recall that Pong is a popular easter egg. Places I've heard that it is:

    1) Hidden somewhere in the open firmware of Macs that have open firmware.
    2) Hidden in Microsoft Excel
    3) Hidden in the about box of some version of the Mac OS.

    Can anyone verify the above? Or know of any others?

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    Libertarianism is rich wolves and poor sheep playing gambler's ruin for dinner.