The video game that started it all, Pong turned 45 yesterday. Pong was originally released on November 29th, 1972.

I say started it all because it was the game that really captured everyone’s imagination and turned us all into video gamers. It was far from an original though. Atari’s Pong was really a copy (or ripoff) of the Magnavox Odyssey.

While the Odyssey was the original, by the time the 1970’s were over most folks called the Odyssey by the name Pong.

The first time I ever played Pong was at my Grandma’s house. My Aunt had got one for her birthday, and we played it on Grandma’s floor model Zenith. I was also in awe of the TV as it has a fancy Zenith Space Command remote. Pretty advanced business for the late 70’s/early 80’s.

I don’t even remember what “brand” of Pong she had, I rember the paddles were removable and it was a dedicated Pong device.

The Pong coin op arcade game remained popular throughout the 80’s. I remember seeing them in arcade’s along more advanced games until the early 90’s.

Did you play Pong? Comment below.





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