Welcome to the real "PONG" F.A.Q. - v 1.06-e
Creator & Maintainer: Sylvain De Chantal in cooperation with the museums curator

O.K., here's the legal stuff

Copyright 1997-2009, Sylvain De Chantal. All rights reserved. This document may be copied, in whole or in part, by any means provided the copyright and contributors sections remain intact and no fee is charged for the information. Contributors retain the copyright to their individual contributions. The data contained here in is provided for informational purposes only. No warranty is made with regards to the accuracy of some informations. Additional contributions is welcome. Please mail additional information, opinions, and comments to --> slydc@yahoo.ca or contact the curator.

I hope that anybody will like it, it took me at least a year just trying to find information of anykind about pongs. Many thanks to all the persons who sent me comments, corrections or informations! Please go see chap#6 for the credits roaster. This FAQ is now dedicated to William A. Higinbotham since the 10th November of 1997 for the honor of his memory. May the Gods be with you!

Table Of Contents

1.0) Who is ... ?
2.0) What are the Pong clone system specs ?
3.0) Pong Console List (far from complete!) - added soon after review
3.5) More Details of Pongs Units - added soon after review
4.0) What is Computer Space ? The first Arcade System
4.5) What is the Magnavox Odyssey ? First commercial TV gaming system
5.0) Who build the Pong systems in the Arcade halls ?
6.0) Credits (in alphabet order)

1.0) Who is ... ?
If anybody has any insight stories related to the following inventors,
please contact Sylvain De Chantal or the museums curator.

Who is Wiliam A. Higinbothom ?

Who is Steve Russell ? The Creator of Spacewar!

Spacewar! is such a huge hit with the computer community that copies are quickly spread around to other educational facilities in the U.S. across the then burgeoning Internet precursor ARPAnet, and DEC even uses the program to demonstrate the capabilities of its PDP-1 to new clients.

Not only would seeking royalties contradict the hacker ethos revered by these early computer geniuses, but also likely is the fact that the system Spacewar! is running on is the size of three refrigerators and costs US$120,000. Due to its public domain status, the game will end up being one of the most copied concepts in videogame history, from numerous arcade translations like Computer Space and Space Wars to home console games for systems like the Atari VCS and Odyssey2. History is also made by two Spacewar! addicts at MIT who wire together the first gaming joystick devices to replace the control switches.

Who is Ralph H. Baer ? Inventor of the Home Video Console and "Video Ping-Pong"

Ralph H. Baer and the Magnavox Odyssey 200

Working for a military contractor called Sanders Associates in 1966, Ralph H. Baer had an idea for a new use for televisions. He had the vision to create a console that would enable people to play electronic games on their television sets. Baer's first game was about putting out fires. The game involved a red box representing a house that was on fire. Players controlled the game with a lever that represented a water pump. If they pumped the lever fast enough, the box turned blue, meaning the fire was extinguished.

Baer sold his game machine to Magnavox. Magnavox accepted Baer's technology but ignored his vision. Baer wanted to create a simple device that could retail for under $20; Magnavox programmed 12 games into the system, dressed it up with playing cards and plastic overlays that players could put on their television screens, and charged $100. They called the system the Odyssey.

The first prototypes of the Odyssey were finished in early 1972. In May, Magnavox started demonstrating them around the country at private showings. Toward the end of the month, the Odyssey was shown at a trade show in Burlingame, California, just outside of San Francisco. One of the people who attented at the show was a young engineer named Nolan Bushnell, he saw the Odyssey and the games that it could played, and one of those game cought Bushnell's eyes... Read an article written by Ralph H. Baer about the beginning of video PingPong and the Odyssey.

Who is Nolan Bushnell ? A very talented Marketing Manager

Nolan Bushnell promoting PONG, around 1974

Student at the University of Utah in 1962, became addicted to "Spacewar!" - Steve Russell's game. He liked the game so much that in 1970, two years after his graduation, took his daughter's bedroom and converted it into a workshop in which he could create an arcade version of the game. His first idea was to use a computer, prices of computers had dropped sharply by this time but they still cost far too much to use in arcades. But instead of using a computer, he built a device that could only play "Spacewar!" with cruder graphics which he recalled it "Computer Space".

Later in 1971, he sold the idea to Bill Nutting, owner of Nutting Associates. Nutting hired Bushnell to oversee the creation of Computer Space while working on other engineering projects. They began to ship the game by the end of 1971, but Computer Space was a failure. They sold about 500 to 1,500 machines. Bushnell left Nutting Associates, formed a partnership with a friend named Ted Dabney and opened a new company called Syzygy but saw that the name already belonged to another company, so he chose - Atari.

Atari's first product was PONG, an electronic tennis match in which players batted a square ball back and forth with rectangular paddles. Created by engineer Al Alcorn - and NOT by Nolan Bushnell but helped with the game since he saw the "Tennis" game on the Odyssey only a few weeks ago at the Magnavox Profit Caravan demonstration in May of 1972.

Bushnell´s incriminating signature from the Magnavox Profit Caravan guestbook
where Odyssey was demonstrated in May of 1972

The original Atari PONG instructions

PONG was a simple game with minimal instructions. DEPOSIT QUARTER BALL WILL SERVE AUTOMATICALLY AVOID MISSING BALL FOR HIGH SCORE Bushnell and Alcorn placed a prototype of their game in Andy Capp's Tavern, a Sunnyvale, California bar. Two weeks after installing the game, Alcorn got a late-night phone call from the manager of the bar.

The game had broken down, and he wondered if he could fix it. When Alcorn went to check the machine, he found a most unusual problem. There were so many quarters jammed into the coin drop that the game had stopped working. Within a few months, Ramtek, Nutting, and several other companies released imitations of Pong. Magnavox sued Atari for infringing on Baer's patents and ended up paying Magnavox $700,000! This is it, the first videogame court battle.

The original Atari PONG Arcade

In 1973, Eight to ten thousand units are made, PONG is an unprecedented success. Ted Dabney panics about competition and sells half is share to Bushnell. Bushnell forms Kee Games (named after Joe Keenan) to provide "competition" for Atari. In 1974, Atari began work on Home Pong, proposed by Harold Lee, a consumer version of the popular arcade game that could be played on a television set. Lee, Alcorn, and an engineer named Bob Brown develop the product. Because of the Odyssey's poor sales record, no retailers are interested in carrying the Atari Pong console, a tiny black and white box with two mounted paddle controller dials. In 1975, After being turned down by toys, electronics and department stores, an Atari executive reached Tom Quinn, from Sears, Roebuck. After several meetings with Bushnell, he ordered 150,000 Home Pong consoles for Christmas, and the console is badged with the Sears Tele-Games logo.

By January 1976, Home Pong had become the new champion. Attracted by Atari's success, several companies release home video game consoles. Because of a rush on circuits, only Coleco receives its full order in time. Based on technology largely similar to the Pong machine, Coleco's Telstar Pong machine debuts. And a new menace for pongs systems is born: the Fairchild Channel F, the first programmable home game console, and not long after the RCA Studio 2 made it's appearence.

By 1977, Atari released a game system that change videogames forever: the Atari 2600 VCS. Bally released the Astrocade in 1978. By the end of '78, pongs became boring to play and companies ended producing and marketing them since people wasn't bying them anymore. The fate of Pong has been sealed and "died" without remorse.....fate can be cruel.

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2.0) What are the PONG clone system spects ?

Well, to tell you the truth, there isn't really much specification about "PONG" systems, the Odyssey 1 has no microchip, it was made with transistors. A microchip called the "AY-3-8500", made by General Instrument in 1975?, was THE chip that Coleco installed in their "PONG" system and that many manufactuers did based their systems on this chip, more than 75 other companys had issued similar video game clone units.

Thanks to Ramon Martinez, here's is the schematic of the AY-3-8500, this info is greatly appreciated!

Mainly, "PONG" systems has:

- power ON/OFF
- 2 "paddles"(turning knobs, levers, sliders...)- up to 4
- RESET button
- SELECT GAME button or switch
- BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE/PRO skill switch
- BAT SIZE (small/large) switch (may or not)
- BALL SPEED (slow/fast) switch (may or not)
- SLICE (min/max) switch (may or not)
- SERVE button or switch(manual/auto)(may or not)
- Color or Black&White
- 2 player generally (but can be 1 to 4 players)
- PISTOL or GUN (may or not)

And usually has those type of games:

- TENNIS
- HOCKEY
- SQUASH (or SMASH,GRIDBALL,HANDBALL)
- JAI ALAI
- PRACTICE
- TARGET
- SKEET (or SHOOT)

And some has those type of games:

- BASKETBALL
- BREAKOUT (or BREAKAWAY)
- JOKARI
- PINBALL
- ROAD RACE
- SOCCER
- SPACE INVADER
- STUNT CYCLE
- TANK

3.0 - 3.5 Pong List and more infos - added soon after review

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4.0) What is Computer Space ? The first Arcade System

by Roger Earl from Electric Playground Game Reviews

Computer Space Advertisement

Considering that Computer Space was the world's first publically available video game, it may seem a bit strange that most people have never heard of it. Perhaps Computer Space is the ultimate example of how a video game needs to be playable in order to be remembered. Pong captured the fame regardless of the advantages that Computer Space had. First publically available video game, almost a full year before Pong. Futuristic looking fiberglass-molded cabinet. Computer Chip design (Pong was solid-state). Appeared in a popular Sci-Fi movie. An original design created by Nolan Bushnell (The Pong design was "borrowed"). Nolan Bushnell's pre-Atari company Syzygy (the name means: The Sun, Moon and Earth in total eclipse) designed Computer Space and was manufactured by Nutting Associates. To the best of my knowledge, Nutting never produced another video game. Although loosely based on Steve Russell's Spacewar game (1962), which Bushnell played on a PDP-1 computer at MIT, the game was changed significantly enough to make the relation between the two disputable. The game and cabinet were designed as an example of what future entertain- ment would be like.

1.Insert quarter and press start; your rocket ship will appear. 2.There is no gravity in space; rocket speed can only be changed by engine thrust. 3.Evade the saucers' missiles and use yours to score hits. 4.Outscore the saucers for extended play in hyperspace.

You controlled a rocketship around a starfield on the black & white screen with a shoot or be shot style of gameplay against "computer-guided" flying saucers. Actually, the flying saucers only tended to move up, down, or diagonally (a Z pattern). Like many games of the era, hitting the targets largely depending on mastering the phenomena known as "after-touch", meaning the bullets could be guided after you have shot them. The game was timed, with bonus (hyperspace level) time according to your performance. A switch setting inside the machine could allow two games on a single quarter. Two "games", not lives, because your score was completely reset at the end of a timed game. The controls consisted of four buttons: thrust, fire, rotate left and right.

What is missing in my description is the fact that the game was incredibly slow. Computer ciruit technology just wasn't ready for the graphical intensity of video games, that is perhaps the main reason why Nolan Bushnell went with a solid-state design on his next project. The other problem was the feeling of inevitable failure that came along with the time limit, cushioned only slightly by the promise of bonus time. Combining the frustration of turning ever so slowly on an inclosing invader.

With the clock ticking, giving you the kind of dread that a video game should never impose. After the game is over, you have an urge to push your nose high in the air and try to feel superior to a game that has only beaten you because of its lack of technological prowess.

So Computer Space didn't take off as a runaway hit, that was reserved for Pong the next year. At the most it was considered a novelty. Even so, it wasn't a complete disaster or at least the manufacturers had a bit of faith in it eventually catching on. I say this because after the initial run of machines, they released a two player version with alternative controls (strange joystick-dial combos). Both versions were available in three colors: candy-apple blue, candy-apple red, & candy-apple green. The candy-apple part meaning that they were painted in that metallic sparkling stuff that was so popular in the 1970's. The cabinets looked so much like a prop in a Buck Rogers film that one was featured in the Charlton Heston Sci-Fi cheeser Soylent Green, although they had painted it white to match the decor of the film.

Computer Space has the same charm that the Ed Wood films do. It is a game so bad as to be a bit amusing. Collectors travel great distances to obtain one and with good reason. If I were to rate Computer Space as a piece of pop-art to place in your office or home, I would without a doubt give it a glorious 10 out of 10. As a piece of nostalgia it doesn't rate high for me because I don't remember it from it's original era. As a game, I doubt if it would score even a 1. So I'm doing something a bit strange with the score on this game, I'm compromising for which I can without a doubt say is the best coin-op cabinet ever made...

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4.5) What is the Odyssey? First commercial TV Gaming System

Magnavox Odyssey - courtessy of pong-picture-page.de

The Odyssey (AKA Odyssey I) Came Out In 1972 and was invented by Ralph Baer. It played a game "PingPong" as well as a number of additional games that required overlays and playing pieces. The Odyssey had two removable controllers that allowed the user to control their paddle in BOTH the x and y axis. In addition, the Odyssey came with 6 Cartridges that (along with a number of screen overlays, game boards and cards) allowed the user to play a number of different games. As an option, Odyssey owners could buy the "Shooting Gallery" which included four more games and an electronic gun. The gun was simply light sensitive and a score can be racked up quite easily by pointing it at your local light bulb.

Name of games: Cart #

01 - Table Tennis
02 - Ski/Simon Says
03 - Tennis/Football/Hockey/Analogic
04 - Football/Cat And Mouse/Haunted House
05 - Submarine
06 - Roulette/States

Add-On Games

07 - Volleyball
08 - Handball

Shooting Gallery Electronic Rifle Games

09 - Shootout, Dogfight & Prehistoric Safari
10 - Shooting Gallery 10

Complete Parts List

* Odyssey console (of course !)
* Two plug-in controllers
* Six Magnavox C-cells (when you buy it at the time)
* Six Plug-In Game Cartridges (no# 1 through 6),
* Original switchbox with two hooks and box,
* 12 foot game cord,
* 36 or 24 pages instruction manual
* Eleven 18" TV overlays
* Eleven 23" TV overlays
* Game Field/Roulette Board
* Stadium Scoreboard
* Two football tokens
* Two yardage markers
* 20 pass cards
* 20 run cards
* 10 kick off cards
* 10 punt cards
* 6 play cards
* 30 clue cards
* 13 secret message cards
* 48 plastic chips(sealed)
* Two Dice
* Play money
* 50 state cards
* Affairs of State (answer folder)
* States study map
* 28 Simon Says cards
* Cat and Mouse stickers(25) sheet.

It's interesting to note that future game cards were planned and there was an accessory port. If you look at its innards - there are NO Integrated Circuits (IC´s) at all. About 85,000 Odyssey's were sold in 1972 and about 20,000 rifles. Apparently people believed you had to own a Magnavox television for it to work which scared away some buyers. After that time, the Odyssey sales fell due to the outbreak of competition.

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5.0) Who build the Pong Systems in the Arcade Halls ?

This Pong list was taken from the KLOV list which is made by Mike Hughey, Jeff Hansen & Jonathan Deitch.

• Computer Space - made by Nutting Associates in 1971 - B/W screen - 2 Players
• Dr.Pong - made by Atari in 197? - B/W screen - ? Players
• Elimination - made by Kee Games in 1973 - B/W screen - 4 Players
• Pin Pong - made by Atari in 197? - B/W screen - ? Players
• Pong - made by Atari in 1972 - B/W screen - 2 Players
• Pong Doubles - made by Atari in 1973 - B/W screen - 2 Players
• Quadra Pong - made by Atari in 1973 - B/W screen - 4 Players (plain copy of Elimination)
• Super Pong - made by Atari in 1973 - B/W screen - ? Players

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6.0) Credits

Many thanks to these guys !!! If it wasn't for them or for their info, this FAQ wouln't exist !!

Dennis Brown * Martin Buchholz * Randy Buss * Greg Chance * Steve Cooper * Dean Dierschow * Phillippe Dubois * Roger Earl * Eric Hamel * Kevan Heydon * Tom Howe * Robert A. Jung * Steven Kent * Corey Koltz * Jeremy Larsen * Harold A. Layer * Ramon Martinez * Dan Mazurowski * Doug Manegre (DougM) * Rene Meyer * Danny Monaghan * David Orlikowski * Fabrizio Pedrazzini * Rico Quetzalcoatl * Christopher Rodgers * Glenn Saunders * Joe Scoleri(the Maverick) * Lee K. Seitz * Pieter Verhallen * Alan Watkins * Sam Z...? * Jason "Kaotic Page" * EGM Magazine * the Japanese Classic Videogame Station Odyssey * the defunct Arton's Pong Page * and some few people that I lost their name and some info due to my harddisk crash...

Thanks and see you in the next version ! Copyright 1997-1999, Sylvain De Chantal, slydc@yahoo.ca

Some images and information came from the following sources, in no particular order:

www.cyberroach.com/blog/2007/09/original_pong_arcade_going_onc.html (PONG Arcade Images)
www.pong-picture-page.de (Odyssey Image)

Any informations, inputs, contributions, descriptions or anything related to Pong will be greatly appreciated! If you have extra info about this page, if you noticed errors, please help us to maintain this site. Send us the information you have, thank you in advance. Please contact us.

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Related Links

Our page about W. A. Higinbotham
An article by Ralph H. Baer