From the simplicity of Pong’s two bats and a ball to Space Invaders’ advancing ranks of aliens, the 70s saw the rise of a phenomenon that mesmerised the world
15. Pong (1972, Atari)
It wasn’t the first video game; it wasn’t even the first ping-pong game – Table Tennis on the Magnavox Odyssey got there earlier. Pong was, however, the game that kickstarted the video arcade and home console industries, the profitability of its hardware and the simplicity of the gameplay – just two bats, a ball and a scoring system – ensuring its huge success and iconic afterlife.
