Game of the Week: Pong

Pong is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game with simple two-dimensional graphics. The game was manufactured by Atari and released in 1972. It was created by Allan Alcorn. The game was originally created as a training exercise assigned to Alcorn by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, but once the game was completed, Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney were surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work and manufactured the game.

Pong is a two-dimensional sports game that simulates table tennis. The player controls an in-game paddle, moving it up and down the left or right side of the screen. Players can compete against another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The goal is for each player to reach eleven points before the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other.

Pong was one of the earliest arcade games created, and was the first commercially successful video game. The game helped to establish the video game industry along with the Magnavox Odyssey, another popular game which pong was based on. Soon after Pong’s release, several companies began producing games that closely mimicked its gameplay.