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So there is only 2 player Pong and no variations?

 

I suppose it doesn't get much more retro than this.

It has two variations: on and off.

 

But yes - two-player Pong only.

 

It's elegantly simple - the paddles are built-in, so you have to sit right next to your opponent, but that could add to the fun depending on who you were playing against. It has an on/off switch and a start button. That's all there is to it. The speed ramps up very well, and the onscreen paddles are a good size so it has a very balanced feel to it. They certainly spent some time dialing it in so it played well.

 

The only way to get more retro would be to pick up an Odyssey. But I was after Atari's first home console. It's a neat piece of history.

I thought the original home unit was black & white.

Not Pong. The home version was always intended to be color.

I need to dig out my Sears Telegames Pong again. It was missing the RF cable when I got it, but I got one put in as someone had left those cursed, three slot screws loose. Worked fine when I parked it at least.

I suspect the batteries was a design decision :

• easier to put the console (with the controls built in) where it's needed & one less cord to trip over
• save the cost & weight of a wall wart (which were massive in those days) or the expense of getting a built-in power supply UL certified

The color is interesting, it looks like they added the output of a custom 3.595 280 MHz crystal (colorburst + one extra cycle per line) to the normal black & white signal.

 

Not sure why they decided to go with built-in speakers rather than adding the audio to the video output before modulating it for channel 3 / 4. Maybe a cost saving measure again - not sure what the extra modulation circuitry would have cost.

There's a little discussion about how Pong did color in the Stella at 20 archives, but I couldn't tell you which tape it was on. Other than it was one of the ones at Nolan's house.

Nice!

 

I have the Atari one at my Dad's house, in a closet in the basement...Still in its box, white with orange stripes. I'll bet I haven't played it since the '70s. I got an Atari 2600 in either '79 or '80 so then I put away PONG. FWIW, I had a Fairchild console that also had speakers instead of going through the TV. That one I sold to Simbalion. (It's the console I always forget I owned for some reason)...

 

On my PONG it's black where yours is white (on the paddles I mean)....It kind of matches the color of the rest of the console. And I think I only ever played it on a black and white TV, but I could swear mine was only in black and white...I'm probably just remembering wrong (Mandela Effect? haaa)...I also don't remember a checkerboard effect, but like I say it has been a long time...

 

Maybe I'll pick it up next time I'm over there...