Pong: The Game that Started it All [1972]
5The one, the only, the fake project that launched a thousand games. Subscribe to Blown Cartridges for more retro game review videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoDQj54Gd-w8RTdukMrQScQ?sub_confirmation=1
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Following the disappointing release of Computer Space, Nutting Industries wanted contractors Atari to work on refining a two-player version of the game. Nolan Bushnell was, however, less than impressed with David Nutting's lack of involvement with the technical side of his business - instead, Atari would contract out as developers on a royalty basis.
The first manufacturer they approached was the pinball giant Bally, which had positioned itself as a strong contender to take on new technologies through their recent acquisition of Williams Electronics. Needing to expand, they set up in a small warehouse facility, using their Computer Space royalties to buy some turn-key pinball machines along a route through the local coffee shops, bars, and the Stanford student union, creating what would be their primary early source of income.
Hiring a former babysitter as receptionist to give the impression that they were a larger firm, Bushnell managed to score a contract from Bally while going forward to complete the newer version of Computer Space for Nutting. This, of course, meant they needed more engineers.
Enter Al Alcorn. A former coworker of Bushnell and Dabney back in the Ampex days, Al was pessimistic about their venture and predicted failure - but took up their offer of employment because it sounded like a fun ride, and he was confident in his ability to find more work after Atari collapsed.
With Alcorn on board Bushnell pitched a complicated ice hockey game to Bally, featuring on-screen scoring, goals, field markings, multidirectional players with sticks, and a puck whose movement simulated actual ice.
Realizing that this might be a bit much for Alcorn's first game development project, Nolan decided to give their new engineer a simpler project to teach him the basics of the discrete logic circuits he and Dabney had created for arcade games.
Bushnell instead told Alcorn about a project they had lined up for General Electric - Create a table-tennis game playable on the television featuring two paddles, one ball, and with a score visible on the screen.
This was a lie. There was no contract from GE.
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