Mom's Minute

Pong video game is 40 years old

Video games have grown leaps and bounds since the first Pong video game was introduced by Atari on November 29, 1972. However, it was the simple black and white tennis video game Pong that set the stage and led the way to the growth and success of the video game industry.

Pong was created in 1972 by Allan Alcorn after being assigned the project as a training exercise by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell.

                                                                                                                                          Pong Video Game Turns 40

Pong began as an arcade game and moved to be home-based in 1975, distributed by Sears.

Atari Pong game system

Many view the Pong video game as the start of the video game industry --  An industry that in 2011 was valued at a whopping $74 billion and growing.

To the video game Pong:  Happy 40th Birthday.