\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 http://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/obituaries/ted-dabney-dead-atari-pong.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 (edited) RIP We had the first Pong home game a few years before the amazing 2600 VCS. Edited June 1, 2018 by KD in CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 Pacman repped as < on a Tandy, then a Commodore Pet ruled one summer we input a few pages of code to play a Lunar Landing Module game on a Tandy, showed my friend's younger brother how to win at the game, then changed the code so he couldn't replicate it, he spent weeks in frustration not quite getting it right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 Remember the bar table that had the ancient video games built in? Set your beer on top, feed the $.25 in, and away you went. My buddy next door (who had wheels) would be sitting at home quietly, pondering turning in before I would crash the back door, "BILL! Palmwood! Let's go!" "Aw, not tonight. I'm days tomorrow and a truck's coming in from the warehouse." All it usually took to change his mind was me going "beep.....boop.....beep.....boop". That, and my buying the beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowgirlsFan Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 RIP Condolences to his family and his friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdutton Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 Also the first ever gamer rage quit... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 8 minutes ago, bdutton said: Also the first ever gamer rage quit... "You know, I had hair when I started designing and programming this game..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadingpain Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 A friend across the street had a "pong" type video game. It only played pong games. I think it had a few versions. The console was yellow as I recall. That was the first video game I ever remember seeing or playing. This is before the Atari 2600 existed. I think this was it: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 I remember going to a Thursday nite game in 81 against the Eagles, then going to a buddy's place in Dunkirk and playing pong unitl 5:00 am (or maybe it was Fredonia. Surprise surprise, Bills lost the game) Anyways RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 I wonder if they played that little "electronic" game over thing when he died? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Could you really put English on your return in Pong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyVanMiller Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 There was a cool documentary that I saw that detailed the invention of Pong. The first unit had a modified $.25 box taken off an old department store horsey ride. They talked a bar owner into letting them place it in his tavern next to his pinball machine and dropped it off at 5 pm on a Friday. A couple hours later their phone rings and it's the bar owner. "We thought he was calling to tell us to get it the hell out of there, but instead he says, 'You boys better hightail it over here, your box is completely full of quarters and people are lined up wanting to play,'" Dabney said. RIP, a true pioneer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 6 hours ago, row_33 said: Could you really put English on your return in Pong? I seem to remember if your paddle hit the 'ball' while you were tracking the paddle sideways, you got an appreciable alteration to the ball's trajectory. Not curving, but a new 'straight line' path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadingpain Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 4 hours ago, ChevyVanMiller said: There was a cool documentary that I saw that detailed the invention of Pong. The first unit had a modified $.25 box taken off an old department store horsey ride. They talked a bar owner into letting them place it in his tavern next to his pinball machine and dropped it off at 5 pm on a Friday. A couple hours later their phone rings and it's the bar owner. "We thought he was calling to tell us to get it the hell out of there, but instead he says, 'You boys better hightail it over here, your box is completely full of quarters and people are lined up wanting to play,'" Dabney said. RIP, a true pioneer. Cool story. It's like the first historically documented incident of consumer market testing to see if this new thing called a "video game" would be popular. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 2 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: I seem to remember if your paddle hit the 'ball' while you were tracking the paddle sideways, you got an appreciable alteration to the ball's trajectory. Not curving, but a new 'straight line' path. I think it was just my Dad trying to psyche me out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Just now, row_33 said: I think it was just my Dad trying to psyche me out Alcohol was involved when I played it. My memory may be flawed. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 26 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: Alcohol was involved when I played it. My memory may be flawed. ? Well into Atari years before I had access to booze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 On 6/1/2018 at 10:59 AM, KD in CA said: RIP We had the first Pong home game a few years before the amazing 2600 VCS. As did we. Just pong for a year or two, then an Atari console. Pong was crazy expensive by the standards of the 1970s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 It’s wild to think that that was an advanced game! R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted June 4, 2018 Share Posted June 4, 2018 28 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said: It’s wild to think that that was an advanced game! R.I.P. people couldn't master it even after hours of play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turk71 Posted June 5, 2018 Share Posted June 5, 2018 (edited) R.I.P. My brothers and I loved playing Pong and then Breakout, which Atari had pre Apple Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs create for them. Edited June 6, 2018 by Turk71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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