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Atari Wants To Reinvent Pong
mikejuk writes "Atari is offering up to $100,000 in a contest for a new version of Pong, the classic game that launched video games 40 years ago, for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. The judges for the contest include Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, who came up with the original idea for Pong. So, what does a 21st century Pong look like? How does it play? And what role does touch have in this, the simplest of games?"
plasma pong...except atari had the creater take it down because of property rights
Maybe they should try hiring Ralph Baer then.
It needs to be first person, it needs to have blood, also needs to have dubstep music.
Oh, and don't forget DLC with new tennis balls and racket designs.
You can't deny it Atari, this is the only way to go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWltQ9UN5vE
You have to get a Government form completed. You bounce backwards and forwards between departments. The only difference is that you never get out and the game lasts forever.
They should call it Ms. Pong, and it should be essentially the same game, except the ball has a ribbon in its hair.
Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
already been done... http://www.addictinggames.com/sports-games/curveball.jsp
Try Air Hockey for iOS (maybe other platforms as well - I don't know). I'd imagine something with the Pong brand would do pretty well though.
Didn't they already do a kind of modernized pong.
I actually remember it not being too bad. Remember playing it on the playstation (back when I actually liked Sony as a company). Had powerups and a 3D camera system that was actually pretty impressive for it's time. Was a good party game.
Apparently everything, as it turns out. Atari is nothing but a name, bought and sold like something found at Best Buy, and now brandished by a company with no resemblance or heritage to the company that defined the name.
Arkanoid?
... a post-modern Pong, where two balls would throw a stick at each other.
It's a flash game that's been around for almost 10 years. It would port perfectly to the App Store.
http://www.newsandentertainment.com/zFcurveball.html
1. Have the ball transmit damage to a paddle on each successful return so that divots are taken out of each paddle. As each paddle becomes more fragmented, a player's ability to successfully return the ball decreases.
1a. Introduce a healing ball that appears at random intervals headed from the middle of the pong field toward the outside. Capturing this healer would restore some portion of sustained damage.
2. That's all I got for now.
blog
http://www.indiegamemag.com/slicing-the-industrys-atari-just-how-offensive-is-the-pong-indie-developer-challenge
No further comment. Just read it!
Atari is offering up to $100,000 in a contest for a new version of Pong ... So, what does a 21st century Pong look like?
You realize that the people with the really good ideas are not going to answer your question given the prize money at stake? You are going to have to wait for the end of the contest to get your answer.
Wizorb and it's better than anything Atari has or will ever ever make.
www.wizorb.com
I did made a Pong "clone" 2-3 years ago. Got some new mechanics, online multiplayer support, achievements and six different scenarios (if you can believe that). Pretty much unpublished only for an early version that I put on a national contest. The catch is: I`m from Brazil so I can`t submit the damn game to Atari. It would be nice to have the visibility.
This combination doesn`t exist: ETIs that know about humanity and want to see us dead. Otherwise we wouldn't exist.
Everyone defends a section of an N sided polygon. N-1 Balls in play :) You only see the defensive wall of your side. Your score is how many you get by others - the ones that get past you. Totally non serious, but could be hilarious with 100 players and laddered stats.
God spoke to me
SMALLER PADDLES!
The new pong must be played with an on-line opponent (much like tennis) and requiring a server subscription. You must buy expensive software rackets giving you an advantage, shoes, balls, etc. I thought the future of gaming was well established...
Why did they bother to ask?
Augmented reality pong. There is no ball, but you and the other player swing your devices around madly whilst still trying to see the virtual ball superimposed on reality. Should result in many dropped or flung devices and a surge in replacement sales.
Silence is a state of mime.
Use the accelerometers such that the entire phone is your paddle.
Eligibility:
"The contest is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columba, eighteen (18) years of age or older as of the date of their entry who have an Apple developer ID and have published a valid and proper Apple iTunes U.S. App Store game prior to the date of their entry...."
I was semi-excited there for a minute.
I say don't drink and drive, you might spill your drink. Before you get behind the wheel just stop and think.
Im not telling you my hot new Pong ideas, no way ! Well, im off to collect my $100,000, see ya !
That is what 21st Century Pong looks like.
I like microcars
I imagine something like Geometry Wars. You have a grid with trippy graphics and a bunch of stuff flying around that you need to destroy, but also you must prevent your weapon (ball, rocket, ect) from leaving the grid with the paddles. You could even play it single player with an Xbox controller by allowing each thumbstick to operate a paddle.
This is an insanely cheap way for them to get software developed for their brand. A straight $100k with no significant % of income is a rip off for the developer in this market. A good branded Pong app will make millions. A similar brand only gets about 20-25% of the sales. But I'm sure they'll get plenty of entries. Ah well, to be young and ignorant again.
At GDC in '95 Nolan Bushnell was recruiting for his company that made high end slot machines. I noticed an original cabinet pong machine on the table next to the slot machine and I started talking about it to the guy there. It turns out that it was Nolan Bushnell and he was there with the ORIGINAL, FIRST, HAND WIRED pong machine! It was running from a car battery on the floor. I challenged him to a game, which he accepted. He then kicked my ass at it.
And that's my favorite memory from GDC '95.
Nogginknockers 2 from Bloodlust Software has it all : The scenario, the characters, various super powers, lots of blood, weirdness and unsubtle humorous dialogues. Who could beat it ? Not being networked is even a feature here !
"Atari Wants To Reinvent Pong" is incorrect. It should be:
"Foreign company that owns the Atari trademark wants someone else to reinvent Pong for them, because they blew it trying to reboot a few of Atari's classic titles themselves."
do() || do_not();
I have had ideas for new versions of pong and for many games but I damn sure am not going to give my idea to Atari or any game company. Atari if you want my idea for pong hire me for $100,000 a year and I'll even help you code it.
Otherwise fuck off :)
Would be Wii Sports tennis game.
Or if they can make a kinnect responsive enough.
It's called Bit.Trip Beat and it's great.
If I remember correctly, mode 3 is particularly, mmm, challenging.
http://www.glorioustrainwrecks.com/node/1979
I'm a nature photographer.
If they won't hire you as an employee why would you help them?
Instead of a contest for $100,000 why not offer employment? I know a programmer for Atari working on Pong will make $100,000 a year+. They want to get you to do all the hard work of designing the game so they can come along and give you $100,000 to steal it.
Know what your ideas are worth. They are cheap and this is a complete scam.
Maybe you should be talking to Bally. Oh, wait, you already are.
An original game that's fun to play is worth much more that $100,000. Even if it's a Pong remake.
Look at Tetris, that was a very original idea. You gonna be happy with $100,000 when the world goes ballistic over your idea.
It is called tennis. Pong was limited by computers. Now we can play tennis while standing in our living room. You can even add blood and dub music.
It looks like Wii tennis.
Okay, probably been done before and somewhat off-topic, but how about sphere breakout? Ie, a central "core" piece with wedge pieces layered on top (think something like Tetrisphere) and a paddle a ways from the surface to bounce the ball off. Take away all the pieces and add a second paddle to make it 3D Pong. I assume a trackball would be a good controller.
Oh, and please reply if you know of any other games that could be done this way or have already been done this way. I know my idea isn't original and isn't worth $100,000. But, then, Pong wasn't really worth it either. It just happened to be the right program at the right time to cash in; but, then, that's the core point of it, not per se the game itself.
Eurohacker European paranoia, gun rights, and h
how about Radial Pong? I remember playing it about 10 years ago and it's still online.
I GOT IT!
I'll call it...Arkanoid!!!
You can already buy next-gen pong. It's called "Reflec Beat" and is available from Konami.
How about the players use the iPad itself as a paddle to hit the ball projected in augmented reality (bouncing on walls and other surfaces), one scoring a point when the ball hits another player!? This way you can have more than two players..
One of the best, recent pong/breakout/arkanoid style games I've seen as of recently is just as you describe - Shatter. www.shattergame.com and http://store.steampowered.com/app/20820/ for more info. It has many levels that spherical/circular in design, sometimes in different "stages" - stage one is against the "front hex" , stage 2 is the "back hex" stage 3 is inside the sphere against the "second-tier front hex and then third-tier front hex" followed by your ship going deeper inside until fighting the "core" in a boss fight.
What does 21st century pong look like?
Imagine a man in an orange jumpsuit with black lettering that reads "enemy combatant." He's wandering around a cell at Guantanamo Bay, alternately bumping into a U.S. military judge, a civilian judge and an official from his home country, who keep shoving him back toward the others.
It's accurate, but not much fun.
Create a virtual 3D space and have the tablet be the paddle that hits the ball between two players within that space. You will physically have the move the tablet left/right/up/down and for more power push into the ball. Tilting the tablet would give you different angles to see the virtual space.
Coolest pong I've played in a while:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/pong
And this was done probably 5-6 years ago.
Anyone interested, I urge you to take a look at and pick up "Shatter! ( www.shattergame.com ) and ( http://store.steampowered.com/app/20820/ ) for more info! It takes the pong/breakout game to one of its more in-depth levels I've seen to date. There are horizontal, vertical, and circular playing fields, multi-depth "stage progressions" that take you from the outer shell of a boss to its inner core, weapons and powerups, physics elements (ie destroy an anchor block and all the blocks connected to it will "fall", and you both have a "pull" and "push" ability that can draw in the ball, powerups, and dangerous blocks alike...or push them out to change the impact!), co-op multiplayer modes and mor!
I know it has come to critical acclaim with some indie-styled awards, but I don't know if it is "pong-enough" for this, as it tends more towards the "breakout - single player vision" than the one-on-one table tennis "VS pong". Still, an excellent example in the genre.
For a retro throwback, I urge you to checkout "Wizorb" ( http://www.wizorb.com/ ) which approximates a later-generation NES title graphically, and mixes breakout style play with RPG elements as well! It even has native Linux clients available which you can pick up direct or from Desura (For those who don't know, Desura is an open digital distribution system that favors mods, indie, and alpha titles but also supports AAA games of course. They have a native Linux client, but of course not all games sold on the platform have native linux support, but many do)
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BrianRobbins/20120228/163180/Why_Ataris_Pong_Indie_Developer_Challenge_is_bad_for_developers.php
You've got pong right, well what's better than 1 pongs? TWO
Then you've got iphones and ipads and ipods that are all the rage these days, we've got to capitalize on that too.
So lets stick an "I" in one of the pongs.
Wait, i've got it...
PONG PING!
Duh! Any modern tennis (or table tennis) video game is a modern Pong!
Circumcision is child abuse.
Maybe they could call it Ping. You bounce a packet back and fourth down tunnels that represent complex circuits. First your packet has to survive the route that you have a split second to pick, then the other player sends it back the same. The routes constantly change.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
Don't you mean the people who bought the name/rights after the real Atari quietly disbanded and had its "brains" scatted among silicon valley, to be absorbed into the gray corporate goo? ( http://www.atarihq.com/othersec/dthomas/100496.html )
This is just another investment firm trying to profit off the past of others. Just say no.
Ya, i'm still resentful, even after all these years.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I just implemented a pong game in Minecraft.. 21st century = you implement games inside other game worlds.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
talk about an XXXXXTREME form of pong!!! http://www.inclusionsports.com/
I didn't think it was possible, but they already made a great pong remake. It was on the PS1 and had a ton of different tables/variations. They ever had a four player (2 vs 2) coop option!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se5gYQ8wURQ
Looks like this.
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Its not bad enough atari biggest release in the past decade was putting centipede on a disc inside boxes of cereal but now they show the complete lack of creativity by trying to re-invent pong of all things, and worse yet they cant even do it themselves and have to pay someone else to.
First they want to remake the original baldur gates games and now this shit.
I wish atari would just go bankrupt and stop shitting out the same old 80's games over and over again. I cant even understand how they are still in business, they have barely been able to keep their heads above water for 10 years now. The only reason they stay in business is by riding the shoulders of others like they published the witcher 2 but they had nothing to do with making the game.
It won't be true to the spirit of pong unless it burns lines into the screen.
Don't just make it classic pong + AI because then this happens.
Next they will want someone to reinvent Tetris. Then Spacewar.
Isn't that Warlords?
Gamasutra covered how much of a scam this contest is.
The executive summary: Atari gets full ownership and rights to every submission, winning or otherwise, and you'll never earn anywhere near $100k even if you win the top prize.
All of this is rather unsurprising, given the dirty tricks Atari Legal have been playing lately.
mmo
I started submitting an idea for this in line with a game I am presently working on. At a glance, they seem to share profit and everything is ok, but read the rules. This is what you give up with your entry: All Entries become the sole and exclusive property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor shall own all right, title and interest in and to each Entry, including without limitation all results and proceeds thereof and all elements or constituent parts of Entry (including without limitation the Mobile App, the Design Documents, the Video Trailer, the Playable and all illustrations, logos, mechanicals, renderings, characters, graphics, designs, layouts or other material therein) and all copyrights and renewals and extensions of copyrights therein and thereto. http://files.atari.com/pongContest/Indie_Pong_Developer_Challenge_Rules.pdf I bet this company has no clue how to reinvent PONG or how to successfully reach the mobile market. Under $50,000 in cash is not worth a real developer's time an intellectual property and that's just the winner. They own every entry, so without getting a dime, they own full rights to every idea in your submission. This type of exploitation of talent in the form of a gimmicky competition makes me sick. I can't believe I let myself get excited about it at first. Don't let the same thing happen to you.
3D pong is great! i played it all the time in the early 2000s at work on a touch screen register that was painfully easy to break out of. i think it went by the name curve ball.... google it if you want its St. Patrick's day and im drunk
Let's face it, we're dealing with two sticks... and a ball. The only real way I would think it could "revolutionized" is instead of having on a 2d playing field, have it be more 3d oriented inside of a sphere. Again, though... it'll still be 2 sticks and a ball.
100k/year? You're really selling yourself short.
Made me sick too
"Be the ball!"
It's all about different perspective!
I want a pong where game play is I'm the ball and I choose the amount of english on the spin
I want frogger from a first person view. I want an turn based "defender" where I control a massive army against an overpowered computer AI player.
Dammit, I want a lunar lander where I am fucking gravity......
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
It was cheap, like 15 bucks, which is why I got it. Autorun did not wok, installer crashed 3 fucking times, had to sign in to steam, installer crashed, uninstall, crash crash, fuck this copy disc to hard drive, uninstall, actually installed and got notice that a update HAD to be installed, thats 400 megs larger than the fucking game on the disc ... 4 hour download. So to sum up, 2 hours after I bought the stupid thing I got to wait 4 more hours before I can even play it ... and according to the reviews its just a MEH game anyway ...
That right there is how you make a Atari game!
The original Pong coin-operated arcade game did not use a microprocessor of any kind; it was entirely made of 14- and 16-pin logic chips (mostly 7400 series TTL if I remember correctly). Note that this was not a "discrete processor", it was an entirely hardwired circuit. The circuit board was about 15 inches by about 24 inches (don't remember exactly) and drove a black-and-white CRT monitor. Later on, you could get Pong on a 28-pin DIP made by General Instruments. Most recently, I happened to be in Radio Shack picking up a 4-AA cell battery holder for a small project I was working on, and noticed that you could get Pong on an even smaller DIP-packaged chip than the General Instrument chip. I was amazed that anyone would care enough to produce and market a chip to do this anymore, in a day and age where you can get even the simplest cellphone to do this for you for probably $0.99.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Nah, there's lots of scope. Instead of two simple bars, you have two 3d-rendered "bats", held by 3d-rendered "people". Instead of a plain black background, you have a blue or green "table" with white markings on all 4 sides to accentuate the edges and one thinner line down the centre of the "table" dividing each player's play area either side of a realistic looking 3-dimensional "net" into 2. Also, instead of a box moving back-and-forth, you could have a 3d-rendered white "ball". Something like this maybe?
Ballistix by DMA Design on the amiga, probably the best 'pong' spin I've ever played. Instead of using a paddle to bounce the ball back and forth, each player fires other balls at the main ball, with all kinds of field power ups & obstacles on a grimly demonic field.
A tablet game where you look through the tablet and see the ball.
There's NO good reason to reinvent Pong, it still works fine. And the only worthwhile reinvention has already taken place, and it is called Arkanoid. You may notice that this occurred quite some time in the past.
But AR is a fad right now so you could probably SELL a Pong game based on AR, which is why I think it's a "good" idea... for them, not for a game.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
As one of the 'original' set of computer games, pong made a substantial cultural impact on our society.
After 40 years surely it is time for pong to enter the public domain. The fact that Atari have to resort to begging for new ideas to base on pong show, in my opinion, that they have no ideas themselves, but are not only unwilling to let go of anything they might be able to use to extract cash from, but also they recognise that greed is the only reason not to enter pong into the public domain.
However, my idea would be solid barriers behind each bat (so the ball never goes out of play) and the goal is to destroy a nearly impenetrable block forming the shape "DRM" between the wall and the bat. As soon as a player cracks their opponents block the game sues them under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
I want frogger from a first person view.
It's not exactly first person, but they did do a somewhat 3D version of Frogger in the late 90s.
I remember hearing about Hasbro's 3D version of Centipede at the time and thinking "typical gimmicky attempt to 'update' a classic", but having looked it up, their 3D Frogger appears to have done something interesting with the idea, even if it's more of a sequel that expands on the idea (see my comment on Invaders/Galaxians above) than the remake of the original it presents itself as.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Quite funny music video prominently featuring pong:
Eisenfunk "Pong" the official music video, taken from the upcoming album "8bit".
Worldwide Release: 26. March 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNAdtkSjSps
Most every responder is missing the point of the question asked in the original post: it wants people to give ideas on what will help the poster (or anyone else who reaps the feedback) to create a version of Pong that will add ~100K to their wallet.
I think the best kind of remakes are ones that still look like the original but have improvements from modern technology that the original authors would have used in the game to make it better (not just add !@#$).
Always good to be cross-platform, but I think the device version that will shine here is the iPad (and any other tablet). Because Pong is a multiplayer game--I don't think anyone would have given a crap about Pong had it not had the same two player feel of tennis (wall ball
Keep the blocky look. Maybe add effects for each level that apply effects to the blocky look to give it variety (color, glowing, strobe effects, disco. Provide background effects at time, but don't let it distract from the game--make it make sense (like when a score is made). Apply CRT emulation, for sure (trails, fuzzy, bleeding).
Again, 2+ multiplayer is key. I think it would be a cool improvement for 4+ player play to have it to where the paddles bend around the corners of the board. Or maybe not necessary--but have players on the side line, keeping the ball from going outside horizontal bounds. 'Doubles' was a classic upgrade to Pong--that could be done as well with some interface creativity.
Lastly, I wouldn't get too hung up on the iOS only contest criteria. I suspect its a minimum requirement. If you make a version that will also be sellable on the Android market, the judges will see extra $$$. And it appears as though they already see that money enough to drop 100K.
"So don't get programmed by anybody but yourself" --Bill S. Preston, Esquire
I want an turn based "defender" where I control a massive army against an overpowered computer AI player
Back in high school, a friend and I drew up designs for a game called "Offender", where you played the aliens trying to steal the humanoids from the planet. We got as far as designing sprites, but never coded anything.
Pretty much like a 21st century buggy whip.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
Each of you has a paddle shaped object, and you use a physical ball, see, and... oh never mind.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Isn't there already a 21st-century Pong available for iOS?
If you want to use my idea, feel free to take it an run with it. Just promise to cut me in for a small share. ;-)
Pong is tired because it's a flat the game needs to evolve.
At the start screen you first choose a character, like baseball player, karate guy, lacrosse player, soccer player, etc.
- Stage 1: classic pong, that looks nearly identical to the classic. Only some minor variation based on your character choice. For example, the baseball player may have a little longer paddle, and the soccer player can get more deflection on the puck if he hits it on the edges. The puck slowly gets faster with each hit (to ensure the round progresses quickly). Play to 6 or whatever round-number so puck serves to each side equal #'s.
- Stage 2: upgraded pong. I call it "force pong" in my notes. You have the ability to hit a button to effect the puck. Effects depends on character. Baseball = harder (but less deflection) . Lacrosse may nab the puck for a split second and release it with extremely high deflection, karate guy "damages" the puck so on it's next rebound to him it travels at a slighter slower speed, etc. If you use a special effect then it take xx seconds to recharge, and your paddle moves slower while you recharge.
- Stage 3: 3D pong, with player. Now you see a 2D render of your selected character, and the world looks like a 'Street Fighter' type match-up screen. There are now physics in the game (gravity from top of screen toward bottom) will pull the puck downward, etc. Instead of only slide up and down now you need to crouch, stand, jump, or double jump to get to the puck. Players still only get very basic "effects" on the puck. Eg, baseball guy can get line-drive and bunt.
- Stage 4: battle ball. Same as above but now you get attacks and more special moves. (And ability to go into a "block" stance). Lacrosse player tries to peg you with a rock, baseball player "greases the ball" to reduce your deflection or even allow ball to go past on a near-hit. All effects still only effect the puck movement, or effect the players move speed or special power attacks. Scoring is still classic pong style: ball goes past == 1 point.
- Stage 5: Hero mode. Your players turn full-blown comic book style, with styling like Street Fighter. You now have a full retinue of moves. Your scoring in rounds 1-2 determine your health bar, and rounds 3-4 determine your special power bar and recharge speed. Now is the only "real" round to determine the winner. Any puck that goes past you now only lowers your health a bit, and then it will rebound back to the opposing player. This allows fast, non-stop action, and the potential for combo attacks. Karate guy can now throw energy balls, baseball guy can hit a line-drive flaming ball directly at the opponent (stand in way == health damage, block == slight damage, but successful riposte == extremely high speed return), etc.
As you can see, this game becomes more of a classic 2D fighter than just straight pong. But it sticks with the heart of pong since at it's heart it's still a "goal defense" game. I think it'd be fun to play. You can also offer a direct-to-stage-5 mode to play for players that only want the "final" game.
Anyhow, I hope somebody sees this, and thinks it's worth a shot. I wish you the best of luck! If you want to catch me you can email me at my username at gmail.com.
Dammit, I want a lunar lander where I am fucking gravity
You Suck!
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
It's just like Pong, except everytime you start a game, it connects to the DLC server and randomly grabs a new set of rules. It hashes the ruleset, so you can never get the same set twice. Users can add rules into the global pool as often as they like.
You are not informed of the rules prior to starting.
Most games will end in fists.
UTF-8: There and Back Again
Unfortunately a "moden re-imaging" of Pong would make it a cover based shooter, just like everything else these days.