The Pong experience, what was it REALLY like?

[candiru]

Having recently bought a few of my first ever pong systems I've been getting interested in their history. I was born in 78 and didn't really experience any sort of videogames until our family bought a 2600 for Christmas 83, so I missed out on witnessing first-hand the introduction of these types of systems.

 

I've been to pong-story.com and it's a great website but I was wondering more about the personal experiences and the overall attitude towards these systems at the time. Some of the things that come to mind are kind of silly, like fanboyism. Did the Atari Pong kids make fun of the Odyssey kids? Did they both make fun of the generic pong clone kids?

 

Were they regarded as the amazingly amazing hot new high-technology gadgets or just as expensive novelties?

 

After finding out about my interest in old games, my wife's uncle told me about the first time he saw a pong system set up. He thought it was one of the most amazing things he'd ever seen--to actually be controlling something displayed on a television screen and wondering how they would ever top something like that.

 

I'm curious about stuff like that. What's your pong experience?

[NE146]

It was at a restaurant and it was a cocktail pong (not sure who made it). This restaurant often had like a single pinball machine, or one of those huge bowling machines where you'd slide a shufflepuck, so the pong thing sort of fit in.

 

I remember it was new, and we'd saunter away from the family eating their food to go over to check out the thing. My brother and I would challenge my older sister and she was just too quick for us small kids.. we'd lose every time!

 

I don't particularly remember noticing or even thinking about it.. that it was different from every other arcade game I had seen up to that point (they had been of course, all Electro-Mechanical). But I guess that's because I was probably only 8 or so.. at that age, who bothers thinking of such things! We just played it. And it was fun and just instantly accepted

 

Now a few years later.. when SPACE INVADERS hit the scene.. I was older and ready to fall into videogame addiction. But that's a whole different story

[Rob Mitchell]

I remember playing original Odyssey at a girl's house .. sometime around 1973-74. That was just amazing to make objects move around the screen with color overlays. They were the only people who I met who owned this system.

 

About the same time (give or take a year) I was begging my parents to take me to the Chattanooga Airport Terminal where there was a Computer Space setup amongst a few pinball machines. Another fascinating example of moving stuff around the screen.

 

I saw Pong at family friend's house about 1975-76 .. They had the four person pong (quadrapong) and I remember being fascinated by the game Catch. I may have seen PONG in a pizza arcade some time back then too but I don't remember getting any play with that one. (Maybe because it was for 2 people).

 

1976-77 was a big arcade video game year for me: Steeplechase, Stunt Cycle, Death Race, Indy 800, and Football ... The last four made my jaw drop! It was mostly Atari magic. So when I read a review of the forthcoming VCS:2600 in Consumer Reports .. I just had to have it.

 

I had seen the Fairchild Channel F in the store and loved it. I was fascinated by the colors .. but Dad said it wasn't good enough. (wise)

 

I was the only one in high school who owned a cartridge system (VCS:2600) bought in fall 1977. I had a bunch of friends come over on several occasions for video game parties. (Actually another school acquantance owned the VCS .. but it was home at his father's house and he was away at boarding school. His name is the same as his father's: Ted Turner).

 

My first video game disappointment: Looking though the game matrix of Video Olympics and then cycling though all the games looking for Catch! It is not there!

 

I never met anyone who owned an Odyssey pong.

 

These were all singular experiences. Only the above people whom I knew through family connections owned these. There was no one else at high school who owned anything! So there were no debates about which pong or cart system was better because noone owned them except me with my VCS. I was Mr. Atari in high school. But then I graduated in 1980 and maybe then there were others who came along after me.

 

So before 1980 I have to say that the home scene was pretty scattered.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Stingray]

 Some of the things that come to mind are kind of silly, like fanboyism. Did the Atari Pong kids make fun of the Odyssey kids?  Did they both make fun of the generic pong clone kids?

 

In the '70s anyone who owned any type of home video system was the guy to know. Somewhere around '76ish my family got a pong system, although I don't recall what brand. Our house was the place to be. Every kid in the nieghborhood wanted to hang out at our place. A couple years later we got a Sears Telegames system and the pong dissapeared (garage sale maybe). About the same time my friend across the street got an Odysey. So pretty much everyone in the neighborhood was either at his place or at mine. There was no "my system is better than yours" BS. We were just thrilled to have access to so many games, which at the time was only maybe a half dozen combined, but it seemed like our own personal arcade.

 

-S

[thx1138]

I do remember Space Invaders coming to the U.K I walked one mile to the Sports Centre to play it in the cafetteria. The pier (boardwalk) had onluy electro-mechanical stuff, pinballs and gambling machines.

 

Within a few weeks the pier had several and some takeaways did too.

 

I think we had a pong clone, before Space Invaders hit the U.K. As I recall ours was a Grandstand. I must have been somewhere between the age of 5 to 7 years old when I first used it, in around '77 I think. I thought it was great - but I had nothing to compare it to. Obviously there were many other better things around.

[killersquirel]

I remember playing the odyssey one when I was really young, my family used to own one. When I got the atari 2600, the odyssey was put away in a closet. Only to come out once in a blue moon.

 

Although when I was in the forth grade back 18 '84 my teacher left halfway through the year, the new teacher Mr Treblehorn (or Mr T for short) brought in an old pong clone that we got to play if we finished our work. I remember thinking that this was really old, but I didn't care as it was a game to play.

 

-Mike

[atari_aaron]

Our first video game system was a pong machine. I don't even know what kind. I don't know whatever happened to it. The only thing I really remember is that it had an "outlaw-ish" type game, pong, and some sort of pong variant that my brother told me was hockey. I do remember that it had removable paddles, but I was very young when we had it.

 

We got it around the time when my parents bought their first color TV... sometime between 75 and 77... couldn't tell you exactly when though. They moved the old family back & white into our (my brother and I) bedroom along with a brand new pong game. We must not have had it for very long, because I don't have too many memories of it. I just remember thinking it was the greatest thing ever made.

[Atariboy2600]

My very first video game system was the Atari Super Pong back in 76 and played it untill my mother got me a VCS in 77 but I still have the Super Pong and the rest of the pong units with my collection I even have the old 1970 RCA Black&White TV that my mother had and it's now in one of my room with that pong pluged in

 

Here's a small list of pong consoles I have so far:

 

Atari Pong.

Atari Super Pong.

Atari Ultra Pong.

Sears Tela-Game Pong.

Sears Tela-Game Super Pong.

Coleco Telstar Alpha.

And many more that I have but you get the point

[Atariboy2600]

Oops sorry for the miss spelling it's

 

Sears Tele-Game Pong.

Sears Tele-Game Super Pong.

[Troy_Whelan]

Did the Atari Pong kids make fun of the Odyssey kids?  Did they both make fun of the generic pong clone kids?

Since all of this stuff was new to everyone, nobody made fun of anybody. Everyone just wanted to play whatever system you had, and all of it was fun since we were young and all of this was so different than anything before. I don't ever remember anyone making fun of someone who had ANY video game system during those days.

 

Were they regarded as the amazingly amazing hot new high-technology gadgets or just as expensive novelties?

They were fascinating and amazing hot new high-technology gadgets! Being that almost every toy/game before then simply involved your imagination, these video games involved your imagination, your audio and visual senses, and you controlled what was happening! You could play against a friend or the computer! What more could anyone have asked for?

 

What's your pong experience?

Extremely fond memories. My Dad came home with a pong based system one day, and we had no idea what it was or what it did. But after he hooked it up, we had Pong, Hockey, several variations of Pong, and a racing game with a little steering wheel on the controller. We played that thing all the time, even Dad played it with us, until one day it was not connected to the tv any longer...I guess we needed to go outside for awhile!

 

Troy

[Adrian M]

I was only 3 or 4 when my parents bought a pong unit from Radio Shack.

Mostly, it was for my dad and his friends to play. I didn't really see the point in hitting the bouncing ball in the pong-oriented games, though I did like using the pistol lightgun attachment.

 

Basically, I didn't really have fond memories of the experience. It wasn't until I saw Pac-Man at a friend's house (on a VCS of all things!) that I first became enthralled with gaming.

[hhwolfman]

I was around the age of 11 or 12, when i saw my first pong Up right. I was at a bowling alley and playing it with my brother in law. I rememeber thinking it iwas the most amazing thing, I had ever seen We were laughing so hard we could barley play it. It was one of my most memorable momments ever. I can stlill remember it like it was yesterday.

[Atariboy2600]

Here is my way of how much I liked the Super Pong,

[Atariboy2600]

Here's the Super Pong name logo just in case if any one need it.

[sega saturn x]

Pong really isint mutch fun any more.

[candiru]

Pong really isint mutch fun any more.

 

Thanks for the insightful revelation.

[sega saturn x]

What? I was just saying what i feel and i feel its just not very fun any more.

[ClassicBoy]

I was only 3 or 4 when my parents bought a pong unit from Radio Shack.  

Mostly, it was for my dad and his friends to play.  I didn't really see the point in hitting the bouncing ball in the pong-oriented games, though I did like using the pistol lightgun attachment.

 

Basically, I didn't really have fond memories of the experience.  It wasn't until I saw Pac-Man at a friend's house (on a VCS of all things!) that I first became enthralled with gaming.

 

The "pong" unit from Radio Shack was my first video game unit also. My brother and I got it for Christmas probably in 1977. One player held the main unit with a paddle controller at the base of the oversized telephone shaped unit. Player two used a second, much smaller paddle unit that was attached to the main unit. It also had a light gun. I remember that the unit had several variations of pong including a hockey game.

 

One hilarious thing about the unit was that someone using the gun could actually shoot the "puck" during a pong game and make it disappear. Not something the designers had planned but fun nonetheless...unless you were the one trying to play the paddle game. It did have a dedicated shooting game that consisted of a puck bouncing around the screen and a score for each time you hit it and made it disappear.

 

I always hated the fact that player one had to hold the entire heavy base unit to play.

[retrocon]

My first video game I recall so clearly.

 

I got for Christmas a cocktail pong machine. I want to say Christmas '76 or '77. My dad got it from a friend who owned a bar.

 

Needless to say this game rocked. I don't think any pong really compares to one of these arcade machines. The rugged paddle control, the analog, silky smooth movement of the on-screen ball and paddles. I used to play my sister all day long. I imagine that I was probably the best around at that game. I beat everyone, adults and friends. I mastered the 'edge' hit and could last for hours with a volley. Oh the memories! Wonder whatever happened to that old machine.

[Mr Egg]

the firs video game system i ever had as a kid was pong . it was about 1982 or 83 ( i grew up in Mexico so we where always a little behind the times ) is dont remeber the brans bu i believe it was a magnavox or an emmerson . it was just magical to be able to move objects on the tv. played up until 1984 when we finally got the atari 2600 . last i remeber of that pong system was in 1988 when i was left behind in the house in the same box my 2600 was when we moved to the US . i never saw it again

[Jacob Rose]

I picked up a dual-paddle Jakks system for my sister, who was a huge fan of Circus Atari back when, and of course I had to test it before I mailed it to her (darned tough to put neatly back into the "box," too), and my s.o. and I had fun playing Video Olympics (a game I never had on the 2600) for 15 minutes or so. Could we play it for hours at one sitting? Probably not. Does, say, Half Life 2 have a better hours-of-play to dollar ratio? Maybe. But I think games like Pong are largely injustly forgotten. Pong is pure; the analog controller makes your interaction every bit as "true" as the mouse in a FPS or the knobs on a foozball table. Nobody claims foozball is no fun because it isn't part of the latest genre or doesn't have new technology in it...

[J.Max]

I think the "fanboy" stuff started with the VCS vs. Intellivision. (Probably due to the Inty's TV ads.)

[Zonie]

I think the "fanboy" stuff started with the VCS vs. Intellivision.  (Probably due to the Inty's TV ads.)

 

I'll agree with that. I've had my VCS since '77 and when the intv came out my friend who had a "lloyds game system" (Pong clone) had to get one. His folks finally got him one and all he could do after that was say my atari was crap.

 

Funny thing was that he loved that VCS until the intv was his. I really freaked him out when I got an intv night stalker book cover and actually used it. Couldn't believe that I was promoting HIS system.

 

God... How the hell did I remember all of that?

 

Regarding Pong, My sister asked for a pong for christmas in like '75 or '76. She called it TV tennis, as a lot of the clones were called that. My parents got her a mechanical contraption (called TV tennis) that had a motor with a spring loaded arm with a light bulb on the end of it. It would swing back and forth and you hit it with the paddles which were mechanically connected to knobs on the bottom of the unit. You could peg the thing at the bottom of the box with the paddle, let it build up tension, and then let go. It would fly madly across to the other side. I still remember the groaning noise the damn thing made.

 

It was nonetheless NOT what she wanted.

 

I think my folks got it because of all the TV's that had Burned in pong "nets" down the middle.

[Lost Monkey]

Regarding Pong,  My sister asked for a pong for christmas in like '75 or '76.  She called it TV tennis, as a lot of the clones were called that.  My parents got her a mechanical contraption (called TV tennis) that had a motor with a spring loaded arm with a light bulb on the end of it.  It would swing back and forth and you hit it with the paddles which were mechanically connected to knobs on the bottom of the unit. You could peg the thing at the bottom of the box with the paddle, let it build up tension, and then let go. It would fly madly across to the other side.  I still remember the groaning noise the damn thing made.

 

It was nonetheless NOT what she wanted.

 

 

I've got one of those.. boxed and complete.. what a miserable piece of garbage it is too! I have stuck it out in 3 yard sales just trying to get rid of it and no one will even glance at it..