History of pong
Barton, m. and Loguidice, b., 2020. Gamasutra – The History Of Pong: Avoid Missing Game To Start Industry. [online] Gamasutra.com. Available at: <https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3900/the_history_of_pong_avoid_missing_.php?print=1> [Accessed 15 September 2020].
Computinghistory.org.uk. 2020. Atari PONG – Game Console – Computing History. [online] Available at: <http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/4007/Atari-PONG/> [Accessed 28 September 2020].
Humble even by contemporary standards, Pong was an effort to introduce a video game so intuitive that even a child could grasp it instantly.The modern video game industry was born on November 29, 1972, in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California. The game was Pong,a machine recently constructed by Al Alcorn, an engineer working for gaming entrepreneurs Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who had recently incorporated under the name “Atari”.Pong merely asked players to “avoid missing ball for high score.” The banal but intuitive gameplay made it the right game at the right time.For too long people had been asked to watch passively as others performed for them. Now they were asked to perform themselves, to become part of the action on the screen.Over the years, the game was improved many times and inspired many clones and spiritual successors.The first known precursor of Pong debuted in 1958 on a visitors’ day at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. It was there that William Higinbotham and Robert Dvorak demonstrated Tennis for Two, a small analog computer game that used an oscilloscope for its display.
Due to the success of the arcade version of pong a home version of pong began creation by Atari in 1974 and the game was release a year later in 1975 and like its arcade version it became in instant success.It sold 15,000 units that very Christmas,similarly to arcade pong some companies created clones of the game to profit of the success of home pong.
Pong consistently earned four times more revenue than other coin-operated machines, which resulted in an increase in the number of orders Atari received. This provided Atari with a steady source of income; the company sold the machines at three times the cost of production. By 1973, the company had filled 2,500 orders, and, at the end of 1974, sold more than 8,000 units.[20] The arcade cabinets have since become collector’s items with the cocktail-table version being the rarest. Atari eventually sold more than 35,000 units, however, many more imitations were produced by competitors
I conducted research on pong and i think that the research is of good quality.i found a reliable source quite quickly however it didn’t have as much usable information as i had hoped so my research was shorter than i had hoped it to be.Since the task was quite simple i was confident that i could complete the task.I have learnt that pong was the first successful game due to its easy to understand nature and due to this it launched the games industry because of its massive popularity in the 1970’s.I have also learnt that pong was inspired by a tennis for two demonstration back in 1958.Due to this information i will try to make my version of pong simple like the original so that everyone can enjoy it,as that is what made it so likeable.This information is useful because it explains why pong was successful and how it helped launch the games industry.Next i will look for other peoples pong creations to see what others have added to the game and if it worked,this will allow me to critique my own ideas better.To make this more detailed i could use multiple sources so that my research would be more reliable.
Current interpretations of pong
Ackerman, D., 2020. CES 2019: This Modern Pong Table Is Better Than It Has Any Right To Be. [online] CNET. Available at: <https://www.cnet.com/news/this-modern-pong-table-at-ces-2019-is-better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be/> [Accessed 28 September 2020].
Themes of pong games
Store.steampowered.com. 2020. Ping Pong Space – Retro Tennis On Steam. [online] Available at: <https://store.steampowered.com/app/1193930/Ping_Pong_Space__Retro_Tennis/> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
Pong, B., 2020. Save 76% On Beach Pong On Steam. [online] Store.steampowered.com. Available at: <https://store.steampowered.com/app/939930/Beach_Pong/> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
Atari. 2020. Pong Quest » Atari. [online] Available at: <https://www.atari.com/games/pong-quest/> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
Jeffryes, T., 2020. Pong Quest Is Much More Than Just Pong – Big Boss Battle (B3). [online] Big Boss Battle (B3). Available at: <https://bigbossbattle.com/pong-quest-review-is-much-more-than-just-pong/> [Accessed 20 September 2020].
Ping Pong Space takes pong and adds a space theme to it,this new theme adds a space background,changes the ball into a meteor,the paddles are also changed to fit the theme. This new theme also adds new mechanics for example a smaller ball, lasers and a faster ball.
Beach Pong takes pong to a beach with a new beach background as well as a volleyball replacing the pong ball, it also allows the paddles to move in any direction. This new theme keeps the game simple while also introduces a new mechanics to make the game more fun.
Pong Quest is a very large re-theme of pong as it turns the game into a dungeon crawler RPG which is very different to the original pong.Each battle is a game of pong except the scoring system has been replace with a health system in which the player must make the enemy’s health hit zero before their own however it hit on the ball takes health away from whoever hit the ball.The game also has one time use power ups that change the playing fields by for example changing the size of the ball.
Primary research
tch.io. 2020. My Library. [online] Available at: <https://itch.io/my-collections> [Accessed 21 September 2020].
Each game in my collection has its own unique gimmick that makes it different from standard pong such as a different theme or by changing the core gameplay while still maintaining it as pong.These will be a great influence on the design of the pong that i will create.For example spin pong and new retro pong both have one player controlling the paddle/paddles with the goal of keeping the ball within the playable space,i thoroughly enjoyed both these games as both demanded skill for the player to stand a chance.In the spin pong managing two paddles means that you must multitask and coordinate which is very fun and satisfying,where as in new retro pong the player only controlled one paddle however they need fast reactions as they needed to cover the whole 360 degree area which like spin pong was fun and satisfying.The other three versions of pong were mainly the same gameplay as the original pong however they each added new challenges such as how in car pong there were cars in the middle of the playing fields that made the ball bounce more which caused a sense of unpredictability to the game,this new challenge made the game quite exciting.In riso pong the new theme looked amazing with its colour scheme that made the game great to look at, it also had obstructions in the middle of the playing field that were breakable which like car pong gave a sense of unpredictability.
I went and got some primary research,i had found primary research before so i knew what i was doing so i was confident.the positives were that i got to play games to help me create my game and there weren’t any negatives.I now am better at writing up my primary research because of this task.I could have played more versions of pong so that i had a wider range of research,next time i would have a wider range of research and go into more detail.
Visual Research
I conducted primary research to aid me in my creation of pong,i have done primary research before so i wasn’t really worried about the research i had gotten however i was worried about if i had enough research.The positives of the experience were that i enjoyed collecting the research and that i didn’t find it too difficult and there weren’t any negatives.I now have more experience conducting primary research so i will be better at it in the future.I could have gone into more detail in my research.If i were to do this again i would conduct more research and add more detail.
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