SS Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Okay, you guys have it all wrong. THIS is how you play Pong:http://www.cyberniklas.de/pongmechanik/ I am such a friggin' geek! That thing is cool as shit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy2600 Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Okay, you guys have it all wrong. THIS is how you play Pong:http://www.cyberniklas.de/pongmechanik/ I am such a friggin' geek! That thing is cool as shit! Holy F! Thats sooo F'in COOL!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gulag picture radio Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 This is one cocktail cabinet that you do NOT want to spill your drink on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 That is cool as hell, just a shame it uses joysticks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy2600 Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Man you guys should download there video and see how they made it! It's seem that they wanted to make a what if Pong from the 30s or 40s and not the 70s by not using any computer chips but by Phone Relays and battery power magnets. It's in subtitles but it's way too cool to past off to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 kinda reminds of the old non-video blip handheld... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gulag picture radio Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 I have a soft spot in my heart for those TOmy handhelds since they kind of used brute force to give you a handheld video game. The graphics were all very reminiscient of videgames, but they still used springwound clockwork motors! Way cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 It's seem that they wanted to make a what if Pong from the 30s or 40s and not the 70s by not using any computer chips but by Phone Relays and battery power magnets. Agree, that's the best part of it. I think this actually demonstrates that - conceptually - the game could be conceived and built not even in the 30s, but at the end of the 19th century indeed, if Mr. Cahill was able to create this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindog Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 the copyright for that one has probably expired since we're talking about 30+ years The bad news is, in America copyrights don't expire now till 75 years after the death of the author, or 95 years after publication if it's a "work for hire." The good news is, Pong was never copyrighted since it was implemented in discrete circuits... no code to copyright The trademark is a different story of course, and I assume that's why Mondo Pong ended up being disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisrael Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 The trademark is a different story of course, and I assume that's why Mondo Pong ended up being disappeared. You think that's why? I thought it was more because it wasn't considered a complete work, though it's still very playable. At any rate I haven't heard of any problems with "JoustPong"...of course "Joust" is the even more questionable parody/fair use thing... if need be it'd become "FLAP"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 Man, I'd love to hear what a Teleharmonium (sp?) sounds like! It's a real shame the original prototype ended up scrapped. I can't imagine what that would be worth now, to the right person (or museum.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gulag picture radio Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 It's a symptom of a lot of your crazy inventor types. They create something that's never been done before, adn before it's finished, they're off to invent the next thing - often using parts of the old thing! Another electronic music pioneer, Raymond Scott, did this. That's why there are so few remaining examples of his musical inventions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 and yeah its pretty boreing . Pong is only boring as a one player game. IMHO, however, it remains one of the best, most satisfying two player competitive games ever written. Well i dont know if the 2600 has a b&w pong game but i do knoe the genesis does. It was packed in to a cart with to other games missile command and centapide. Pong is the ONLY reason to ever even plug that cart in. The ports of the other two games are absolutely horrible! Pong is decent enough but it does lose some of it's charm when played via joypad rather than paddle. Oh Sh*t, I better drop Quake III Deathmatch or Doom3 - I musta missed out on the Pong revolution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted September 17, 2004 Share Posted September 17, 2004 OT Man, I'd love to hear what a Teleharmonium (sp?) sounds like! It's a real shame the original prototype ended up scrapped. I can't imagine what that would be worth now, to the right person (or museum.) Seen the mechanics, probably it didn't sound much differently from the later Hammond organ, which is obviously inspired to it. But if you have ever played synthesizers, isn't the fact that the telharmonium's keyboard was "touch sensitive" almost unbelievable? However, you got the message: it was all built with pure PASSIVE electromechanics: the vacuum tube and the first amplifier were WAY to be invented. No mixers, no oscillators, nothing. The technology is exactly the same used in that "pong" table, thus I think that a genius could have eventually conceived and built that game as early as in the XIX century. It's a symptom of a lot of your crazy inventor types. They create something that's never been done before, adn before it's finished, they're off to invent the next thing - often using parts of the old thing! Another electronic music pioneer, Raymond Scott, did this. That's why there are so few remaining examples of his musical inventions. No no no, things went differently here!!! After the prototype, two complete massive and fully working telharmoniums were made thanks to huge private investments. They have been operated and they broadcasted music for years, though both never made good profits. The main problem was the crosstalk with normal telephonic conversations, which pissed off telephone users and refrained AT&T to give full support to the company. In the long run, both telharmonic companies had to declare bankruptcy, and as soon as the radio raised, the whole idea became obsolete. In the fifties, Mr. Cahill's brother was still trying desperatedly to raise the attention of the museums towards the machineries of the Telharmonium. He still had the full working gear of the first prototype and many other things. Nobody ever showed any interest, so he finally had to sell iron and copper by the pound, before being overwhelmed by the cost of the storehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hi there! At any rate I haven't heard of any problems with "JoustPong"...of course "Joust" is the even more questionable parody/fair use thing... if need be it'd become "FLAP"... Uhm... Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisrael Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hi there! At any rate I haven't heard of any problems with "JoustPong"...of course "Joust" is the even more questionable parody/fair use thing... if need be it'd become "FLAP"... Uhm... Yeah yeah "lookin' at my gucci it's about that time" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hi there! Sucks! Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisrael Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Yeah, no kidding. I wanna keep checking with Al before I go into big details, as far as I can tell the only focus is on the store, and I haven't been exposed to any of it directly. Ah well...there was that tiny little bug anyway (In a 10 point game, the winner gets a "W", but not in a 3 point game.) And I had that name as backup for a while...actually I thought of using "FLAP" back when I thought (for some odd reason) I'd only have like 2 player graphics to work with to draw the title. (Or maybe I wanted an animated title or something, I dunno...I was pretty clueless back then.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Okay, you guys have it all wrong. THIS is how you play Pong:http://www.cyberniklas.de/pongmechanik/ Bah, that's nothing compared to the sadomasochistic glory of the Painstation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisrael Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 So Al says it's fine to talk about. Not that there's that much to say...I guess the current incarnation of Atari has gotten all huffy about the store selling anything with the word "Pong" in the title. So, I guess the strategy is change the name and art to "Flap" (or "FLAP" or "FLAP!" or something...not sure if that's too gay or not) for the atari release, though at this point it doesn't look like I'll need to change my website or the downloadable ROMs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xot Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 So Al says it's fine to talk about. Not that there's that much to say...I guess the current incarnation of Atari has gotten all huffy about the store selling anything with the word "Pong" in the title. So, I guess the strategy is change the name and art to "Flap" (or "FLAP" or "FLAP!" or something...not sure if that's too gay or not) for the atari release, though at this point it doesn't look like I'll need to change my website or the downloadable ROMs. Interesting. I didn't think Pong would be trademarkable in that sense. After all, it's just a shortened version of Ping Pong. If Williams hasn't gotten on your case about the Joust part, why not call it Joust Ping fron here on out? It could even be a clever play on "Jousting." Seriously, I understand wanting to placate the "real" Atari, but I don't think it would stand up in a lawsuit, fair use would win out. The Joust logo, on the other hand... you're at Williams' mercy on that one and quite frankly I'm amazed you've gotten away with it as long as you have, especially considering the mainstream coverage it got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisrael Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 So Al says it's fine to talk about. Not that there's that much to say...I guess the current incarnation of Atari has gotten all huffy about the store selling anything with the word "Pong" in the title. So, I guess the strategy is change the name and art to "Flap" (or "FLAP" or "FLAP!" or something...not sure if that's too gay or not) for the atari release, though at this point it doesn't look like I'll need to change my website or the downloadable ROMs. Interesting. I didn't think Pong would be trademarkable in that sense. After all, it's just a shortened version of Ping Pong. If Williams hasn't gotten on your case about the Joust part, why not call it Joust Ping fron here on out? It could even be a clever play on "Jousting." Seriously, I understand wanting to placate the "real" Atari, but I don't think it would stand up in a lawsuit, fair use would win out. The Joust logo, on the other hand... you're at Williams' mercy on that one and quite frankly I'm amazed you've gotten away with it as long as you have, especially considering the mainstream coverage it got. Well, it's not like the "mainstream coverage" was extensive at all, maybe a reference like "and oddball hybrids like 'joustpong'" in EGM, that was it for the most part wasn't it? Yeah, I thought "Joust" might be more problematic than "Pong". Though my game is a Parody of Joust and Pong. It's video satire! So it's all fair use, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xot Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Yeah, I thought "Joust" might be more problematic than "Pong". Though my game is a Parody of Joust and Pong. It's video satire! So it's all fair use, right? Use of the names, IMO, yes. Legally... probably okay, but questionable. Use of the Joust LOGO, no freakin' way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Yea, it's a real shame none of those museums took the offer. It's almost hard to believe a museum wouldn't want such a piece of history. That should be in the smithsonian for crissake! As far as the pong thing, doesn't that come from the arcade division (kee games, or midway or whatever it's called now,) and yea, the name is just a frikin sound. thatd be like saying you cant use the word 'bleep' in your game or 'ping' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisrael Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Yeah, I thought "Joust" might be more problematic than "Pong". Though my game is a Parody of Joust and Pong. It's video satire! So it's all fair use, right? Use of the names, IMO, yes. Legally... probably okay, but questionable. Use of the Joust LOGO, no freakin' way. It's not the full logo....it does't extend back in 3D! It's just the similarity in font for the word... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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