At some point during our DVD player's set-up, the letters "DVD" appear on the screen and slowly "bounce" back and forth between the edges of the screen. Our 10-year-old daughter thinks we're crazy when we tell her that's what the first video games used to be like. She's incredulous that the game basically consisted of something bouncing back and forth across the screen.
Of course, we're talking about "Pong," one of the first video games. In the mid- to late-1970s, maybe the early 1980s, we got an Atari home video game system. I don't remember how many games came with that first set; it seems like, eventually, we also had Space Invaders, Astroids and Pac-Man.
"Pong" was a very simple game that had two small lines, like to day's "cursor," one on each side of the TV screen. Those were the ping pong paddles. The ping pong ball was a small, lighted "dot" in that bounced back and forth between the two paddles. Each player controlled one paddle with a joystick. The paddles moved up and down on their side of the screen. The player had to put the paddle in the correct place to "hit" the ball back.
That "DVD" bouncing back and forth on the screen always makes me think of "Pong."
What was the first video game you played? When? How old were you?
Write about it in a letter to a friend or family member today. Reminisce a little.
Letter writing topic for Aug. 14, 2010
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