Today in Video Game History (November 29, 1972): Atari releases Pong!
On November 29, 1972, video game company, Atari, Inc. releases their first product, "Pong". "Pong" became the world's commercially successful first video game, spawning the video game industry. The creation of "Pong" was originally assigned as a training exercise for early Atari employee, Allan Alcorn, by co-founder, Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell and other Atari co-founder Ted Dabney were impressed with the game Alcorn created and decided that it should be released commercially. Magnavox later sued Atari for patent infringement as "Pong" was extremely similar to the table-tennis game included on the Magnavox Odyssey, the world's first home video game console. In 1975, Atari released "Pong" home consoles through Sears, which opened up the video game market to "Pong" clones.