November 29, 1972: Video Game Pong Is Released
On this day in 1972, American game manufacturer Atari, Inc. released Pong, which became the first commercially successful video game to gain mainstream popularity. Allan Alcorn designed Pong as a training exercise under the direction of Nolan Bushnell as co-founded Atari. The game featured a ball that players bounced between two paddles using manual knobs.
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Photo: Pong, Rush N’Attack, Astro Fighter and Frogger (Rob Boudon/Wikimedia Commons)
Some of the MFJS faculty and staff remember this game well!