My 8-Bits: Pong Consoles

[theflea]

My 8-Bits: Pong Consoles

This will be a forum series where I'll talk about the history and my experience with the gaming consoles I own and this time I'm going over collecting Pong Consoles.

Pong Consoles


The first Atari Pong and the updated Super Pong


Magnavox Odyssey 300 and Odyssey 3000

History:
In 1972 Ted Dabney & Nolan Bushnell founder of Atari released an arcade cabinet that was the first successful video game. People couldn't get enough of Pong. Then in 1974 Atari released a home version that started the home video game craze, and everyone wanted in on this and I do mean everyone. Because Pong/Video Tennis was everywhere. Magnavox, Coleco, and even Nintendo made Pong Consoles.

How did it do?
Very well at first, When Atari first released their system, stores couldn't keep them in stock, then Magnavox released Odyssey models with new features and Atari had to make new versions to compete. Then Coleco released Telestar at half the cost, then everybody was releasing a video tennis console of some kind. The market was so over flooded by 1976 that it was technically the first video game crash. People got sick of it. One can only take so much Pong. (lol) Even though sales plummeted Pong consoles got cheaper and where made will into the early 80s.

Graphics:
Really simple, two paddles and a ball. But an improvement over the odyssey because now it keeps track of score and there's rules and boundaries. Also better physics when you paddle hits the square ball. Most Systems where black and white. But others like Atari did have color.   

Is this system still fun to play?
Kind off. If you have two players and want to play basic table tennis you can have fun, but it wheres off pretty fast nowadays.

What games are worth playing?
It's Pong with some adding hockey, squash, racquetball or some even added a light gun later. Not really much to choose from here. (lol)

How many versions are there?
Oh lord, somewhere around 250 (give or take) There was so many Pong clones on the market it's almost impossible to list them all. 

What do I need to know if I start collecting this system?
Well first off which Pong consoles interest you? Because with so many consoles out there you ether have to pick out the versions you want or just buy what you find in the wild cheap or dedicate an entire room to Pong. (lol) These systems do not age well, most have issues even working and most all get paddle jitters as they age. (basically when you turn the knob to control the paddle on screen it juggles real bad) The other thing to watch for is the battery compartment. Most all of these run on batteries of some kind and people like to leave the batteries in them and over time they corrode away and destroy the system. So the first thing you should always do when finding a Pong console is open the battery compartment. Collecting Pong consoles isn't that expensive, most you can find complete under $50 and loose under $20. The only Pong consoles (that I know off) that fetch higher dollars is the first Atari Pong and Nintendo Pong consoles (only released in Japan). While I'm sure there's a few other rare ones that might go for bigger dollars the two I mentioned are the most popular with collectors. My personal opinion is If you spend more then $20 on an average Pong console you paid to much. And if its compete brand new in box maybe $40.

My Experience with the Console
I remember playing Pong real young, it was a Radofin Tele-Sports model. It was okay but I always preferred playing the Atari 2600 or Odyssey2. I didn't play Pong til after Atari was popular. I have picked up a few Pong consoles here and there, but I honestly don't have many. The only one I ever hunted down was the first Atari model then rest I found cheap in the wild. I still want a Nintendo Model but always found they go for higher prices. I bought an Atari Super Pong from a guy online dirt cheap ($10) and when I got it in the mail I noticed it was heavy and opened the battery cover to find the batteries where a corroded mess. Destroyed everything inside. Only way I could get this console to work is with an adapter. I would like to own the Atari, Nintendo, Magnavox & Coleco consoles. But the rest only if I see them dirt cheap.

Final Thoughts
Pong consoles are definitely a product of the 70s, most have that 70s space age look or a wood-grain look of it's day. I love the look of some of them and others are down right ugly or plain weird. Collecting these consoles are kind of fun just because they look like nothing else. They where kinda the original Plug and Plays we have today. Are they worth collecting? Up to the collector. I personally only buy most of these cheap in the wild. And for the casual collector you should too, if your into classic 70s gaming.

Let me know what you think, should I continue on? I'm gonna and do them in a sort of order as they where released, Again I don't know yet how often I'll have the time to write one of these but I'll have one up as often as I can.   

Leave reply's on your experience with Pong and finding and collecting Consoles. Do you have a Favorite version? I'd love to hear them.   

Past Reviews:
Magnavox Odyssey http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4683.0.html

[burningdoom]

Another cool write-up!

I have one of the Pong Clones, called a Wonder Wizard:



Got it cheap off of eBay, and thought it would be a cool piece of gaming history to have in my collection for $20. What's really neat about it is that the game's sound (what little there is with bleeps and bloops) comes from the unit itself and not from your T.V.

I saw an actual Atari Pong system in Goodwill just the other day for $25. I would have snatched that up, but there was no AC adapter plus the battery compartment had the door missing so the batteries would've just fallen out, so no way to test it even. Too bad, if it worked it would've been a steal.