Artifact from when intellectual property didn't mean much...

z3k3

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Artifact from when intellectual property didn't mean much...

Thanks Alan173 for the spiffy Paddle Ball control panel!

IMAGE_B385F745-2C81-4176-ACEE-977EBA1BDD55.JPG
 
And this, ladies and gentlemen is why collectors have no clue. :p

Do I play them often? No. But, they're a blast when one has a party. A couple of times we've had a Pong tourney, and it's been a lot of fun. And, Pong is a non-threatening game for folks not into video games (e.g. most women). Everyone will try it. The same cannot be said for many other titles.

Another thing about Pong that collectors seem to forget. It was *HUGE*. Allied Leisure made 22,000 Paddle Battles. Atari made around 10k Pongs, I think. Many, many, many cocktail clones and otherwise were manufactured. Yet, not many remain (especially Atari Pong). If you have the space, there are worse titles to put in your collection.


They look great, but do you actually play them?

Pong is um, rather dull. :D
 
And this, ladies and gentlemen is why collectors have no clue. :p

Do I play them often? No. But, they're a blast when one has a party. A couple of times we've had a Pong tourney, and it's been a lot of fun. And, Pong is a non-threatening game for folks not into video games (e.g. most women). Everyone will try it. The same cannot be said for many other titles.

Another thing about Pong that collectors seem to forget. It was *HUGE*. Allied Leisure made 22,000 Paddle Battles. Atari made around 10k Pongs, I think. Many, many, many cocktail clones and otherwise were manufactured. Yet, not many remain (especially Atari Pong). If you have the space, there are worse titles to put in your collection.

I don't have parties. You would need friends for that. :eek:
 
Those look awesome! So how would you get quarters out of Pong? Open the back, or does the bottom panel open somehow?

Gotta open the back door to collect quarters. That's why you see numerous molested Pongs like the one below. :(

ataripongconsole.jpg
 
Gotta open the back door to collect quarters. That's why you see numerous molested Pongs like the one below. :(

ataripongconsole.jpg

That's messed up!

I have toyed around with the idea of building a replica cabinet, using the repro metal control panel that I'm hanging onto. Could use the little pong kit PCB, stick a TV in there.. it would be a lot of effort and space to reproduce a simple game though. I DO see the value in the original cabinets, and of course the history of it though..
 
Very nice. +1 for party games. I figured nobody would ever play the Pokemon Catch since it's a redemption ball-catching game with no prizes installed. Boy was I wrong. Whenever I have a party there's a line of at least five people, usually girls, all waiting to play it while Mappy and Tron and the classics watch and frown. It's funny what catches on with 'normal' people :)
 
If you're about to start the project, speak with prOk. He reproduced an Atari Pong cab after I traded him a beater to use as a master.

That's messed up!

I have toyed around with the idea of building a replica cabinet, using the repro metal control panel that I'm hanging onto. Could use the little pong kit PCB, stick a TV in there.. it would be a lot of effort and space to reproduce a simple game though. I DO see the value in the original cabinets, and of course the history of it though..
 
I would love to have an entire collection based soley on Pong and all of it's clones. That would be cool.
 
I would love to have an entire collection based soley on Pong and all of it's clones. That would be cool.

I've also wondered why no one does this. There's quite a variation in Pong clones. Still amazes me that 22,000 Paddle Battles were made, yet when was the last time you saw one?
 
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That thing looks pretty cool, Seth. I really like the logo on it. Very classy Helvetica, looks like it could have been made today.

I really do want an original Pong game and was kind of considering the one that was for sale recently with the smashed top. It's such a classic and it was my first game console! Such a part of history and everyone knows it. When I worked at the ACAM Pax East exhibit, it was one of the most played games. People loved it.
 
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