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Pong 2000


sd32

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Finally, after about two decades of wondering were i read about Pong 2000, i finally found that sneaky magazine on my basement. I have never seen anyone on the internet mention anything about this game, and often wondered if i had imagined reading about it back in the day, but finally i have proof.

I always tought i had read about it on a "Game Players" issue, but i was wrong, it was a september 1995 issue of a magazine called "VIDEOGAMES". I will post a scan of the article here, sorry for the crappy quality. And will also write what it says right here:

 

 

THE RETURN OF PONG?

Its no secret that Atari is updating a lot of its classic games on the Jaguar, using mind-blowing graphics and adding the word "2000" to the name. You already know about Defender 2000 and Breakout 2000, but get ready for Pong 2000. So far, the designers at Atari have the idea only on paper but the game should be truly revolutionary. Not just because of the gameplay and the graphics, but because of what Atari has planned for Pong--as the new mascot for the Jag. You heard it right, Pong will be a living breathing character. Details are sketchy thus far, but here is what i was able to discover: the loveable Pong is a boy cursed with being made of rubber like a super ball--he bounces and attacks his oponents relentlessly--but he truly wished he were a real boy. The gameplay consists of a 3-D platform game with puzzle-solving skills as well as the satisfaction of a good shooter (courtesy of Pongs powers). Pong must save the Earth from being used and destroyed by colossal aliens in an intergalactic video game. In addition, he must save his girlfriend from the evil king Voidoid, and his army of Paddle soldiers. Atari is keeping a tight lid on this project because the gameplay is so revolutionary. But i have got the inside track and will be feeding you the exclusive story as it develops.

-Chris Gore

Editor in Chief

 

 

What do you thing, guys, is this BS?. Even as a kid back then, the whole thing seemed kinda weird to me, i mean, the story is laughable, but then again thats how stories usually are on mascot games. I dont remember ever reading other issues of this magazine, so i cant coment on how reliable they were, some mags from the era used to write blatant lies, just to print something unique. And so i never got to know anything about this Pong 2000 again. I even got myself thinking for a while that it might have been an april fools joke, but the issue dates from september 95, so... And you know what, now that i re-read it a bunch of times, i kinda dig the whole thing, could have made for a cool game for the Jag.

 

 

 

Now, maybe the most diehard Jag enthusiast know more about this game, and i would love to find more about it.

 

jag.zip

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Here's the relevant part, tweaked:

 

pong-returnu1ptn.png

 

It's got the feel of being either a total fabrication (and as Jaguar fans, we're not exactly hidden from such stuff) or maybe the guy was the subject of a little joke from "an insider". I tend to think the former. Thanks for posting it!

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There were so many things back in the '90s that ended up being total BS. Either purposely manufactured BS, or early concepts that someone briefly mentioned that ending up getting blown up into a 1 or 2 paragraph news item. However, Atari really made a ton of poor choices regarding the Jaguar and Pong-boy would fit right in with the rest of them.

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The only released Pong game which sounds vaguely similar is "Pong: The Next Level", the 3D update that Hasbro Interactive released in 1999, which was made up of a series of Pong-themed adventures and puzzles with a bit of backstory (here is the original trailer); they also did a Breakout update in a similar style. They were fun little games, and my niece and nephew still play them from time to time. I can see the Jaguar being able to do simplified versions of those games, but the game described in that article sounds like marketing spin to me.

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  • 8 months later...

I want to say I remember stumbling upon something Pong 2000 related under his computer code folders years ago but didn't give it much thought, thinking it was just the Pong that has been floating around all this time. Now I'll have to see if I can find it again and double check. Don't have a way to run it even if I do find something... though I'm sure someone here would be willing to give it a go.

 

Interesting read btw... thanks :D

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