

All the Other Home Pongs
Apr 15, 2025
The podcast dives into the overlooked history of the home Pong market in the 1970s, revealing fascinating stories of lesser-known competitors like Coleco and Magnavox. It highlights groundbreaking 'Pong-on-a-Chip' technology that revolutionized console manufacturing, allowing anyone to build their own gaming system. Amid humorous anecdotes, discussions about market missteps and the unique challenges of the European gaming scene illustrate the era's wild evolution. Listeners discover how niche strategies shaped the competitive landscape as the industry surged forward.
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Magnavox Odyssey's Market Limitations
- Magnavox Odyssey was expensive for its limited gameplay and failed to create a sustainable home gaming market.
- It used early digital technology with discrete components, making it costly and not exciting enough.
MIT Students Built Television Tennis
- Executive Games contracted MIT's Innovation Center students to create their home pong product, Television Tennis.
- This collaboration brought unique novelty to the niche home game market in 1975.
First Dimension's Shady Beginnings
- First Dimension, a subsidiary selling key fobs, had somewhat shady business tactics.
- They engaged in selling franchise opportunities and later in dubious Pong business deals.