Pong
It's from 1972, before you were born.
- Maker
- Atari
- Type
- Arcade video game
- Debuted
- 1972
- Note
- Two paddles, one dot, infinite hype
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About
As of 2026, it's 54 years old.
Pong was two white rectangles, one bouncing dot, and a beeping sound that launched a multibillion-dollar industry. The instructions were a single immortal line: 'Avoid missing ball for high score.'
Legend has it the very first arcade unit broke down at a California bar — not from a malfunction, but because it was so jammed full of quarters it choked. That's the kind of problem every business dreams about.
Crude, addictive, and absurdly simple, Pong was the Big Bang of video games: proof that you don't need pixels to spare when you've got a good idea.
Pong through the years
Arcade debut
Atari's coin-op Pong hits bars and arcades.
Home Pong
A console version plugs straight into the TV, via Sears.
Atari 2600
Atari leans into cartridges and never looks back.
