The year was 1976. I know it was that year, because that was when I first got my driver’s license.

I went to the Rogers Bowling Center (in nearby Rogers, Arkansas) and was amazed to see, among the pinball games, some sort of electronic device.

Upon closer inspection, I could see two seats across from the three-foot-high playing surface. There was a round knob on the table surface in front of each seat. There was a TV screen in the middle of the square surface, and it had one intriguing word on it: PONG.

It cost a quarter to play, and you could play against the machine.

I ended up spending four or five bucks that day. I thought that this was the absolute epitome of game design. It was so… Star Trek to play a game against a computer!

Well, the rest was history. Video games have become pretty darned close to imitating live video.

But you know what? PONG is still pretty cool in its own simplistic charm.

Today’s Family First site would bowl you over in 1976. Not only is it PONG, it’s 3D PONG! And best of all, it doesn’t cost a quarter to play it!

It’s fast-loading Flash, and it’s extremely addictive. Have fun!

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Tags: family first, pong, 3d pong, whatever happened to pong?, video game history