Pong Creator Smokes Dutch Mayor to Open Festival of Games
Pong Creator Smokes Dutch Mayor to Open Festival of Games
June 19, 2008
The NLGD Festival of Games opened yesterday with a special Pong match between the game's creator, Ralph Baer, and the mayor of the Dutch city of Utrecht.
Vertical Wire reports that the "heated" match was played on authentic, 1960's-era equipment. After dispatching the mayor 2-nil, Baer gave the keynote address to open the conference, which was designed to promote the Netherlands as a European gaming hub.
Among those presenting at NLGD are serious games guru Ben Sawyer and Spore design team member Chaim Gingold.
UPDATE: A reader, Rob F, writes in to advise that we've got an error in this story regarding the origins of Pong:
[I] just wanted to point out that Ralph Baer did not create Pong, Nolan Bushnell/Al Alcorn did. Also, Pong was released in the 70s, so I'm unsure what 60s era equipment they were playing on, maybe Baer's Brown Box? Think was also from the 70s, maybe late 60s. Bushnell viewed Baer's Table Tennis on the Odyssey (the first home console) and basically ripped Baer off. I'm not a big fan of wikipedia, but from what I scanned they got it right.
Ralph wrote a book a couple years ago, it's really good. You can view a sample here.
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Posted 10/15/08 at 03:30pm
ezbiker555: JT screws up again, check the forum on his thread on page 23
ezbiker555: JT screws up again, check the forum on his thread on page 23
Posted 10/15/08 at 03:11pm
E. Zachary Knight: The box doesn't have to. The game and the CEO have already said it.
E. Zachary Knight: The box doesn't have to. The game and the CEO have already said it.
Posted 10/15/08 at 03:07pm
GoodRobotUs: Justr try selling it second hand ;)
GoodRobotUs: Justr try selling it second hand ;)
Posted 10/15/08 at 03:00pm
insanejedi: I'm not sure if the box on my copy of Dead Space or Mass Effect says your a theif.
insanejedi: I'm not sure if the box on my copy of Dead Space or Mass Effect says your a theif.
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:48pm
ezbiker555: Hey EZK, have you seen the uncylopedia article on jt, its hallirous!
ezbiker555: Hey EZK, have you seen the uncylopedia article on jt, its hallirous!
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:42pm
E. Zachary Knight: insanejedi: I guess their alright if you like being openly called and treated like a thief and a moron.
E. Zachary Knight: insanejedi: I guess their alright if you like being openly called and treated like a thief and a moron.
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:41pm
GTCv Deimos: In regards to FS2, I'm hoping that interplay's ressurection will cause them to hire volition for FS3... cuz WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!
GTCv Deimos: In regards to FS2, I'm hoping that interplay's ressurection will cause them to hire volition for FS3... cuz WHAT A CLIFFHANGER!!
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:40pm
GTCv Deimos: @phalanx, but if you gets something crummy, and immediately resell it, you can get a good $40 for it. see: assassin's creed
GTCv Deimos: @phalanx, but if you gets something crummy, and immediately resell it, you can get a good $40 for it. see: assassin's creed
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:39pm
GTCv Deimos: @goodrobot: you called it. Still a fav to this day. Also was a convenient XBL tag
GTCv Deimos: @goodrobot: you called it. Still a fav to this day. Also was a convenient XBL tag
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:34pm
Spartan: Yes we do since EA treats customers like thieves and considers them morons in general and let's not even talk about customer support.
Spartan: Yes we do since EA treats customers like thieves and considers them morons in general and let's not even talk about customer support.
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:27pm
insanejedi: Do all of you have an axe to grind with EA?
insanejedi: Do all of you have an axe to grind with EA?
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:17pm
GoodRobotUs: Though, in all fairness, I doubt much of the original team remains
GoodRobotUs: Though, in all fairness, I doubt much of the original team remains
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:16pm
GoodRobotUs: Well, the company that actually wrote it was Volition, of current Saints Row 2 fame ;)
GoodRobotUs: Well, the company that actually wrote it was Volition, of current Saints Row 2 fame ;)
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:12pm
ShadowDragon28: FS2 is easily one of the best Space Sims of all time. Too bad it got too little exposure and the developer went under.
ShadowDragon28: FS2 is easily one of the best Space Sims of all time. Too bad it got too little exposure and the developer went under.
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:06pm
GoodRobotUs: It's a swine to install, but worth the effort ;)
GoodRobotUs: It's a swine to install, but worth the effort ;)
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:06pm
GoodRobotUs: http://scp.indiegames.us/screenshots.php?gallery=MediaVP
GoodRobotUs: http://scp.indiegames.us/screenshots.php?gallery=MediaVP
Posted 10/15/08 at 02:05pm
GoodRobotUs: @Brokenscope - Have you tried the Source Code Project for Freespace 2?
GoodRobotUs: @Brokenscope - Have you tried the Source Code Project for Freespace 2?
Posted 10/15/08 at 01:58pm
Brokenscope: See, everytime I see his name, I go find my old FS2 disks, and play away.
Brokenscope: See, everytime I see his name, I go find my old FS2 disks, and play away.
Posted 10/15/08 at 01:53pm
GoodRobotUs: GTCv Deimos - You have GOT to be a FS2 fan ;)
GoodRobotUs: GTCv Deimos - You have GOT to be a FS2 fan ;)
Posted 10/15/08 at 01:43pm
gamepolitics: thanks, GTCv !
gamepolitics: thanks, GTCv !
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Comments
It has to be said:
Gaming, serious buisness!
Is that a deliberate double-entendre I see there Dennis? ;)
That is awesome! :D
Duuuddeee for a minete there I thouight it read bong smokes.....
I is fuzzy brained mew
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
This from a nation in the EU, where lately all we've been seeing is how badly video games and their companies get mistreated. Thank you, Netherlands, for not being stupid.
Mr. Baer rawks, and I'm glad to see he's still at it. He was kind enough to grant us an interview at Gamerdad a couple years ago and it was great to get his perspective on this whole thing.
To be overly technical, Al Alcorn was the man who invented Pong. The Odyssey had a game called Tennis or Tennis For Two, but it did not feature the characteristic sound effect of flipper physics that Pong features.
Don't get me wrong, I have a huge amount of respect for Ralph Baer and did have the utter priviledge of interviewing him and own a much valued copy of his book, but he didn't invent Pong.
It can be very confusing trying to figure out who stole what from whom.. Baer invented television gaming, Bushnell stole it, and Baer later stole Simon from Bushnell. And then you get into the specifics that Bushnell marketed and helmed the company behind Pong but Al Alcorn himself engineered, designed, and programmed it.
Just wanted to put in my two cents. Hope it helped and didn't annoy. :)
Having gone back and read the article again, it talked about it being played on a vintage 60's era machine, which could actually be the Brown Box of Baer's rather than the arcade Pong cabinet shown in the picture (it would have to be, actually, if it is indeed a sixties era machine), which would indeed be something Baer invented. It just ain't Pong.
All right, shutting up now.
LOL Actually, it's nice to hear a little bit more detail of the history of things.
I suppose it's like all major inventions, Television, Telephones etc, they seem to have risen in several places at once, and years later, there's a whole load of confusion about who invented what :)
According to my paperback book on video game history, Baer's brown box was made in 1969 and was a prototype to the Magnavox Odyssey. The Pong machine wasn't directly related to that. The first game Baer made with the box wasn't actually a Pong-like game but a simple light gun game where you shoot white squares on the screen.