Post
Two paddles, one ball, and the game that turned video games into a billion-dollar business.
Allan Alcorn built Pong as a training exercise assigned by Nolan Bushnell at the newly formed Atari. The prototype was installed at Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, where it broke down within days because the coin box overflowed. Pong's genius was its simplicity: anyone could understand "avoid missing ball for high score" within seconds. Atari sold over 8,000 arcade units and spawned dozens of clones, kicking off the first gaming gold rush and establishing Atari as a household name.
Example
The Andy Capp's Tavern prototype literally stopped working because too many quarters jammed the coin mechanism. When Alcorn went to fix it, he found the machine surrounded by people waiting to play. That moment convinced Bushnell that Atari had something massive on its hands.
Why it matters
Pong proved video games were commercially viable at massive scale. It launched Atari into a cultural phenomenon, created the arcade industry as we know it, and established the template for accessible game design. Without Pong's success, the entire trajectory of gaming shifts dramatically.
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