The fetid Pong of nostalgia
Added 2024-10-14 16:15:31 +0000 UTCSome people here will be old enough to remember a Christmas Day at the end of the 1970s when you opened up ‘the big present’ - and found your first games console inside.
For most of us outside the US it wasn’t an Atari - it was one of the many cheaper alternatives with names like Binatone, Grandstand and Radofin.
After sending the smallest member of the family crawling behind the back of the TV to swap aerial wires and twiddling a tuning wheel, eventually a stark image would appear on the screen. From that point on, the rest of the Christmas period consisted of numerous tournaments of Pong (or Tennis as it would be known on these machines) much to the annoyance of anyone who wanted to watch anything else on the TV.
If you have any memories similar to these - I suggest that you hang on to them but also just leave them as memories. With the benefit of hindsight my decision to revisit the classic game of Pong in the 21st century now seems about as wise as John Hammond’s decision to reintroduce Dinosaurs. It’s not as big of a disaster, but it’s still not something I’d recommend.
Here’s the video. https://youtu.be/YKPbvAnvtpA
Anyway, that’s it - just a simple video this time. Admittedly it’s a bit rough around the edges, but (hopefully) I can now move on to the making the next one which will take a bit longer. I trust you’re all well, take care and have a good week.
UPDATED - A quick re-edit mainly to remove heavy breathing, but I took the opportunity to tighten up a few sections too.
Comments
Me too. He's a very amiable content creator and it's heartbreaking to see him wandering through the ruins of his house and the loss of all his equipment and items. As you can imagine, it's going to be impossible for him to replace a lifetimes worth of creativity.
Andrew Fletcher
2024-10-26 10:22:40 +0000 UTCI still love playing old arcade games from the late 70s and 80s, but I'm very aware nowadays that the primary purpose of them was to take money off kids. If only the difficulty on those games wasn't quite so brutal, I'd enjoy them a lot more.
Andrew Torrance
2024-10-25 20:28:54 +0000 UTCIt helped - for a video I thought was a poorly made shambles, it’s done ok. Perhaps I should aim to make more sub standard videos…but sometimes that comes naturally. I’m currently on day three of editing a video with lots of elements. I’m hoping to finish it tomorrow. I’ll be very relived when it’s finished.
Techmoan
2024-10-24 20:43:38 +0000 UTCOh no - I hope things are getting better for him.
Grace Robbins
2024-10-24 18:24:13 +0000 UTCIt's great that Hackaday wrote an article about this video as well. I hope all is going well for you. Right now anxiety ramping up here because I hope we elect the right (left) president on November 5th.
Grace Robbins
2024-10-24 18:22:48 +0000 UTCI appreciate the philosophy at the end. It made this video more than a tech review.
Jeremy Taylor
2024-10-22 17:45:22 +0000 UTCGood points Mat. As always you are the voice of reason and respect. Thanks for your perspective. Andrew.
Andrew Fletcher
2024-10-20 08:55:40 +0000 UTCI’ve been following the situation and aside from any damage to collectibles and the impact on his ability to earn a living, it just looks like a massive logistical hassle. I was going to mention his predicament in the next Patreon video, as far as I can tell he’s working through the process as best he can. I think all his subscribers and patrons are aware of what’s happened through the video and updates he’s posted, I’m not going to be able to add anything to that. I believe that he’s not asking for personal donations and if I were in same situation I’d be doing the same. I think the best thing that anyone that watches his channel can do now is to be patient and bear with it while he gets back on track. YouTube is very fickle but I don’t think his subscribers will go anywhere any time soon. I’m sure making videos is low on the agenda at the moment, but the goodwill he’s built up over the years will ensure that the audience is there whatever happens.
Techmoan
2024-10-19 14:50:56 +0000 UTCHey Mat. Just wanted to ask if you would put a shout out for a you tube content creator that I and many others enjoy, LGR. He reviews vintage games tech, computers, monitors and various other stuff, some of which would interest you I'm sure. You may even be aware of this chap. He's very easy going and I along with many others enjoy his lighthearted reviews. Thing is, he's just had his entire house and years of collected stuff wiped out in the Hurricane that his part of the world has just suffered. It's absolutely heartbreaking to see him walking through the ruins of his house trying to salvage anything he can, years of content gone forever! Might be nice to mention a fellow content creator and maybe " buy him a coffee." I'm hoping he can salvage enough to keep his channel running but it's not looking good at moment. Just thought I would mention him anyway. Cheers Mat.
Andrew Fletcher
2024-10-19 07:26:46 +0000 UTCI paid hundrets of Euros and spent days of work in recreating my childhood games with a nearly perfect setup and a lot of games from my zx81, spectrum, G7000, Atari 800, Amiga and Arcade years only to find out that after a few seconds with each game I lost interest. My favourite spectrum game was Jet Pac. I spend 8 hours without dying playing this game in 1983 until somebody came into my bedroom and moved the spectrum a tiny bit so that the joystick connection made it reset (a common problem in those days). The game nowadays is so basic that I cannot play it for more than 5 minutes. There's a good new version on the xbox 360 arcade BTW. And it's not because I'm not a gamer anymore. No, I play a lot of video games and use all the latest tech like VR, PS5 pro etc. - the simple reason is: The games were just bad back then. My theory is: People who stopped playing games in a certain age are the ideal persons for all the retro stuff because they don't care about the new tech in terms of gaming and live in the past (in terms of gaming). That's with a lot of hobbies. Why would otherwise anybody spend thousands for vinyl? I love retro channels and watch them but only for entertainment. But what's funny: I am glad I have my retro equipment and library ready. I hardly or never use it but it helps to know it is there.
Michael Wehr
2024-10-18 15:26:54 +0000 UTCSea Wolf was also my first arcade game experience, probably around 1977. I could barely reach the periscope, but it blew my mind. I can highly recommend the arcade version of Warlords. I modded my Tankstick arcade controller with a spinner just to play it (using MAME) properly.
Andrew Torrance
2024-10-17 13:41:29 +0000 UTCI haven't played Warlords since probably 1986 when my cousins replaced their ColecoVision with NES. Don't remember that level of detail, just remember enjoying playing it with friends.
Don Eitner
2024-10-17 00:28:05 +0000 UTCYou are speaking my language! Was it the same for you when you played one-player that the guy in the upper right corner was almost comically inept? Very often he'd destroy his own castle before getting a shot off! And I had no idea there had been an arcade version. I actually prefer the lines of the 2600. You can play it as a science-fictiony context if you wanted.
David Fulton
2024-10-16 23:16:06 +0000 UTC"Memory Lane is cobbled with regrets." I can definitely attest to "Sea Wolf" being the first arcade game I ever played. I think it must have been a seaside boardwalk type of thing down in San Diego. I was so overwhelmed by what I was seeing that I couldn't think of anything else for days. I'd doodle ship outlines and missiles. It was almost as bad as when I got wind of Star Wars. The Atari 2600 was the 1981 Christmas gift of the year. We actually got the Sear's branded console that looks slightly different. That Pong Sports compilation looks like Atari Olympics. We had that in our first bundle. But we weren't going to be gorging our eyes and developing our fine motor skills with video tennis. We'd experience the home version about five years prior when Radio Shack released a tiny console with a few Pong variants. And yes, I have very distinct memories of dad fiddling with the wires in the back and being excited because we got to use the never seen "Channel 3" on our Zenith! No, we quickly abandoned the tennis games and instead kept our region of space clear of asteroids and invaders from space. (Pitfall Harry came a bit later.) But Warlords was hand's down my favorite game at the time! I found it fast-paced but also manageable because you could hold the projectile. And then it would get caught behind an opponents sprite and would get kicked back into their wall a la Breakout. In fact, I as thought of Warlords as the apotheosis of brick busting games. Didn't know until this very day that Warlords was very in the arcade! I think I might keep it around just for the Tempest, which has always been in my top five of arcade games. But I suppose I could just scratch that itch on a MIME platform somewhere.
David Fulton
2024-10-16 23:13:37 +0000 UTCI thought this video might help me with my insomnia but it’s left me questioning the very existence of life itself
Ant Wakefield
2024-10-16 18:00:25 +0000 UTCAhhhhh Matt, the ending killed me 🤣 I met a friend I’d not seen for about 30 years, and there was obviously a reason… I’d grown up and found respect for others… nope, he’d obviously never woke up with that same epiphany 😂 Yep, totally get this. I bought an original Grandstand Astro Wars game off eBay for £40 as spares and repairs. Fixed it, started playing it, and unlike my original Tetris game, I COULD put it down! And did. In the box. In the cupboard. Still looks amazing though, and one day it’ll go beside my original iMac and 1920s cameras on a large shelf, respecting the past. Cheers Matt Lee
Lee Coles
2024-10-16 10:32:15 +0000 UTCWarlords! Oh man, I used to love that game on the Atari 2600! Using the paddles with the splitter, I believe you could play with 4 human players. Such fond memories.
Don Eitner
2024-10-16 04:12:57 +0000 UTCI didn’t know about the emulator and headphone to parallel interface! On one hand I am delighted to learn of their existence but on the other hand I feel like I wasted the 80s not knowing all the cool stuff like them.
Raymond Nichols
2024-10-16 03:27:58 +0000 UTCGood video. Thorough review of a product that ... could not possibly have lived up to anyone's expectations. The power cable thing would have made me nuts, too, but probably not as much as the non-rubber feet. It's amazing how we all thought Pong was so amazing ~50 years ago. When I started 7th grade in 1975 (this was in Canada), I was amazed to see that there was a cocktail-table style Pong console in the "great hall" area of the high school. Right there - *in* the school! State of the art computerized entertainment! AMAZING! I *think* we're doing better now. Right?
Peter Laws
2024-10-15 23:42:38 +0000 UTCNot really connected, but I've had fun piping BBC Micro game emulators through a tiny 5" B/W CRT. Text based stuff that doesn't rely on colours, obviously!
Brad Jones
2024-10-15 22:33:46 +0000 UTCDepending on the screen connection and the controller connections, it might be a trivial swap to remove the old controller and swap in something more user friendly.
evilution
2024-10-15 17:10:05 +0000 UTCThis caught my interest, so I looked up videos of Atari STs emulating a ZX Spectrum. I found it interesting that even a stock ST had enough oomph to emulate a speccy at nearly full speed in many games. Granted, as soon as a lot of scrolling is involved, the limitations become apparent. Quite impressive, nonetheless.
Tunix
2024-10-15 15:45:29 +0000 UTCHmm let me think.....Pong......Cyberpunk 2077.....hard to choose.
AzoriusMage
2024-10-15 13:50:47 +0000 UTCThat's me too
Raul Ramos
2024-10-15 13:37:38 +0000 UTCFair enough, but if you ever need help getting stuff (even if it's a local pickup in central Florida) just reach out!
Chris Horry
2024-10-15 12:45:55 +0000 UTCI still fire up my Speccy emulator from time to time and end up having a couple of hours of fun nostalgia.
Chris Horry
2024-10-15 12:44:43 +0000 UTCThese Pong-on-a-chip systems were everywhere in the 1970s. Some TVs even came with it built-in. But they contributed to the first "video game crash" in the late '70s when everyone got tired of ball-and-paddle games, and this caused the first cartridge-based systems like the Atari 2600 to be slow to catch on until Space Invaders became a big hit. (Some people in the U.S. referred to Atari cartridges as "Atari tapes" due to their similarity in appearance to 8-track tapes.)
VWestlife
2024-10-15 12:43:58 +0000 UTCI used the g7000 until the zx81 and the spectrum came. The g7000 was so limited by it's hardware but the games were quite ok. Never had a C64 because the basic for programming was too bad.
Michael Wehr
2024-10-15 11:55:55 +0000 UTCI can't help but think it would be great to have a 2 spinner game custom written for this... Like Robotron but with spinners! Sadly, as it is, Tempest is the only attraction.
Jimmy Mounsey
2024-10-15 11:17:50 +0000 UTCI'm probably not the best person to ask, as I never really got into the newer Star Trek productions. For me, the franchise peaked with The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, even though some episodes haven't aged well. The first two seasons, in particular, can be tough to get through. What I love about TNG (and the early seasons of DS9) is the episodic storytelling, with the occasional two-parter. This format lets you skip episodes you don't enjoy, since there's no major overarching plot to follow. The episodes were typically centered around a moral dilemma set in a sci-fi context, mostly presented in a nuanced way that didn’t feel preachy. Voyager and Enterprise (2001) followed a similar structure and were solid productions, though by then the formula was starting to feel a bit dated. I tried watching the newer shows like Discovery and Picard, but they felt like they were aimed at a much younger audience. I gave up on Discovery after season 3 and struggled to finish the three seasons of Picard. I haven't seen Strange New Worlds yet. As for the original series from the 60s, its campy style was never really my thing, though I can enjoy the occasional episode.
Tunix
2024-10-15 09:37:51 +0000 UTCAnother "speaking of", you mentioned Midway's "Gun Fight" 1977, (8080 CPU, same as Space invaders) I had the Japanese Taito version from 1976 called "Gun Man" and I got it working, great condition. What happened later? I sold it back to JAPAN to a collector! :) Here's som pics: ( I also still have the marquee and control panel for the Midway version "somewhere"... and a complete Midways "Sea Wolf", hmmm...no I sold that one already :) ) https://i.postimg.cc/LXLY19Gv/image.png
Pin Swede
2024-10-15 09:37:19 +0000 UTCUnfortunately putting the text anywhere else would obscure the game.
Techmoan
2024-10-15 09:21:27 +0000 UTCI often see retro gaming systems and think "oh that would be cool to have". So instead go run up an emulator and generally realise after a couple of hours that the games are not as engaging as they used to be. I did buy one of those retro gaming handhelds which can emulate most things up to N64, PS1, PSP generation and that serves for a quick fix when I do want to.
AzoriusMage
2024-10-15 07:39:02 +0000 UTCWoooe that looks fantastic! Incidentally I am looking forward to get finally properly acquainted with Star Trek. Which series should I get?
Raul Ramos
2024-10-15 07:12:03 +0000 UTCIt's always interesting to hear you talk about these things from your usual anti-nostalgic, unromantic POV. 😅 At the risk of being nit-picky again, would you consider a suggestion of moving "of Nostalgia" in the thumbnail slightly further down or maybe under the "PONG"? I only ask because it took me a long second to register it something other than "The Mat of PONG Nostalgia".
Justin
2024-10-15 06:02:18 +0000 UTCKudos to you for being honest about your thoughts.
Justin
2024-10-15 05:47:41 +0000 UTCI bought the big 4-player bar table setup version of this since it was really cheap, mainly because I liked the way it looked. I had never played Warlord in the arcade, don't remember it, but that is quite a fun game. Tempest I also like, but their spinner isn't great for it - not bad, but it doesn't feel like an arcade. Anywho, as a piece of furniture that you can sit some drinks on, it's not too bad, so long as you have the space and catch it on sale for a deep discount.
Chris Munch
2024-10-15 00:10:24 +0000 UTCYou can always entertain your nostalgia by watching the DotKlok video: https://youtu.be/_bJWItcg_N0
Grace Robbins
2024-10-14 23:32:15 +0000 UTCThankyou Mat for taking me back to my childhood I had pong on a grandstand game as a kid, it had two settings, normal or crazily fast
Andrew Tomlinson
2024-10-14 23:22:27 +0000 UTCUnfortunately I'm a lot older and more worn out now, I do try my best but I don't always succeed. I'll keep trying.
Techmoan
2024-10-14 22:23:58 +0000 UTCFriends will love to see your console, and will play 10 minutes with it while you're preparing the cocktails. And then you can talk about Tefifone and Nixie tubes. I just bought myself a VU-22, a very nice analog Vu-meter from a brand you already featured, Douk Audio.
CheeseParis
2024-10-14 22:21:49 +0000 UTCI feel the same nostalgia for some of the old LED handheld games from the late 70s / early 80s. There's a particular one that I keep almost buying on ebay but there's that niggling feeling that nothing can live up to the memories of playing it over 40 years ago. It's like a pop-up window should appear that says "It looks like you're trying to buy a time machine. May I suggest some music and a stiff drink instead?"
Buckaroo Bunny Slippers
2024-10-14 22:19:58 +0000 UTCI'd love for someone to make a paddle controller for the PC, make it easy to use for emulators and such. I suppose you could use a USB adapter with one of the paddles made to go with the new Atari 2600 systems...
AtomicPurple64
2024-10-14 21:18:11 +0000 UTCI'd be happy if you did more old arcade stuff, Mat. Years ago, it was you doing something about a bootleg fightstick thing (with your nephew, iirc) that got me into the channel. If the idea appeals to you, you might want to have a look at the company X-Arcade. I bought one of their Tanksticks years ago (with a proper trackball) for MAME-related activities, but they've just brought out a strange standing device that claims to be the ultimate game controller for all systems. Just a thought.
Andrew Torrance
2024-10-14 21:11:56 +0000 UTCNice video as always. Nevertheless, YouTube proposed your „Minidisk - an appreciation“ video as next - and I cannot fail to notice how much more production value and background information you put into your videos back in 2017. Not to mention your videos about open reels, DAT and „the most expensive music format in the world“ - which I consider some of the finest documentaries ever made, not only on YT. Would be wonderful to experience something at that level again - who else but you could do it. Keep on, Mat.
Andreas Frank Werner
2024-10-14 21:10:14 +0000 UTCI'm a little too young to have experienced the Pong craze, but I remember being blown away the first time I saw an Atari 2600 at a friend's house in the late 80s. The fact that you could actually interact with things on the screen felt like pure magic to 8-year-old me. My first console was the Game Boy (the classic DMG-01) in 1990. I could still play Tetris for hours today, though I wouldn’t want to do it on that greenish screen with its terrible motion blur.
Tunix
2024-10-14 20:53:19 +0000 UTCVFD-type games were quite popular in the 80s. In fact, a Bandai Pair Match was even used as a prop on Star Trek - The Next Generation [1]. A few years ago, I imported one from the US [2] and had it signed by Brent Spiner himself at FedCon 2018 [3]. It's one of the few times I've made a silly purchase like that, but I have no regrets. Despite being 40 years old, the device still looks great and works perfectly. Even the battery compartment is in immaculate condition. [1] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Pair_Match [2] https://t.ctdo.de/scsk4/IMG_20180515_181050.jpg [3] https://t.ctdo.de/tgcga/IMG_20180519_144746.jpg
Tunix
2024-10-14 20:34:39 +0000 UTCI used a ZX81 with a Citizen 06TA borrowed from my father, where I had to awkwardly attach the RF cable to the telescopic aerial. Shortly afterwards I had to wear glasses...
Tunix
2024-10-14 20:14:28 +0000 UTCFunnily enough I was bought a black and white portable TV with my Atari which was ok but where possible I would jump on the colour TV in the lounge.
RobotOnline
2024-10-14 19:44:12 +0000 UTCIn the mid 1980s a friend turned up with the portable video game system you were dreaming of. A battery operated 1970s Pong Console connected to an battery operated Epson Pocket LCD TV. This was back when Pocket TVs were the latest technology and his setup beat the Gameboy by quite a few years. I recall admiring a pocket TV that they had operating in a glass cabinet in my local Carrefour. However there were many other things I would rather spend £100 on back then.
Duncan
2024-10-14 19:43:39 +0000 UTCCheck out https://www.pong-story.com/ There were literally dozens of different units nearly all using the same General Instruments IC. An amusing story behind video games is that despite their own console being a flop, Magnavox managed to get a patent on "Video Games". Atari soon payed for a licence. Years later even Nintendo had to pay up despite calling theirs an "Entertainment System"
Duncan
2024-10-14 19:34:54 +0000 UTCMy parents hired their TV from Visionhire. I was never allowed to plug anything into it "in case it breaks it and we have to pay for it to be repaired". Eventually my Father bought a 5" Black and White TV Radio which was what I had to use my ZX81 on. Trying to debug a program I realised it was impossible to see the difference between a B and an 8.
Duncan
2024-10-14 19:24:23 +0000 UTCExcellent as always, Mat. I still have my Atari 2600, Intellivision, and CollecoVision consoles and games, but I've been reluctant to power them up, judging from your honor stories about capacitors going bad. Based on your thoughts and reflections, it might be for the best anyway.
Bob Combs
2024-10-14 19:18:50 +0000 UTCYour written Patreon introduction describes my Christmas circa 1975 almost perfectly. I got a Tandy Tennis game, it was the best thing ever until about mid way through boxing day when everyone was fed up with it and wanted the telly back on.
David Peaker
2024-10-14 19:17:47 +0000 UTCAs a slightly more senior citizen then yourself, I clearly remember when I first saw "Computer Space," I think it was the first arcade game introduced in the US. I was in high school and the game was in a small drug store I could walk to from my house, (I didn't have my driver's license then). I think I was still getting a small allowance from my folk, before I started working after school. It was always a tough decision: whether to spend your limited supply of quarters on a game that lasted only a few minutes, or buy another candy bar, (I'm pretty sure they were close to the same price). I did play it a few times, but I think I quickly preferred the sugar rush. Of course, that's the whole narcotic behind the nostalgia tech movement. How many things in the past have I looked at through those rose-coloured glasses? But you're right, sometimes you have to go out and visit them only to realize, as Thomas Wolfe said, "You can't go home again." Thanks for the memories, Matt
CrimsonPig808
2024-10-14 18:48:53 +0000 UTCWould any of these options make Pong fun again though.
Techmoan
2024-10-14 18:44:42 +0000 UTCWhen I had an Atari ST in the late 80s I had a Spectrum emulator for it as well as an earphone socket to parallel interface for loading my old Speccy games from tape. Even back then I definitely had more fun getting the games to load than I did playing them.
Techmoan
2024-10-14 18:44:18 +0000 UTCSpeaking of Tempest, I have a real Atari "Tempest" arcade project in parts, but it seems it will never come together "works...maybe soon" :) some pics here: https://i.postimg.cc/63yxPN2C/image.png
Pin Swede
2024-10-14 18:24:59 +0000 UTCNot quite pong but I have the same sort of feeling with spectrum games and although I haven't played a game in years my memories are of a lot of fun times playing these games, I'm sure if I revisit these games now I would be quite horrified. They are games of their time and sometimes it's best to leave them there...
andreas wheeler
2024-10-14 18:21:00 +0000 UTCI'm sure that screen would be a lot easier to see from the side with an IPS panel. I'd be curious what some of the options in the menu do and whether the "difficulty" setting controls the size of the paddle or the speed of the ball. Judging by your comment later in the video, I'd assume the latter.
Zoroark
2024-10-14 18:19:13 +0000 UTCI believe it’s a massive hassle to try and alter the games on this - that’s if it’s even possible with this later one. Serial ports and computers are involved - way more trouble than it would be worth.
Techmoan
2024-10-14 18:15:13 +0000 UTCI’ve just had a look and it was $37.98 for MyUS to ship this big heavy thing. The last time an individual sent me something from the US it cost me about 3x that and it was a lot smaller and lighter.
Techmoan
2024-10-14 18:11:07 +0000 UTCI do remember some of these earlier systems as my dad (who worked for Visionhire) used to bring home various tech to try out for a few days. My first console was the Atari 2600 back in Christmas of 1979. I was thrilled to bits, it was without doubt my best Xmas present to this day. My old broken console got chucked out many years ago, however, I did pick up another one off eBay around 15 years ago but like you say the games don't compare or feel as fun as they did 45 years ago - still it's nice to have one for nostalgia. I did pick up a Star Wars arcade machine from Arcade 1up and this fairs much better, it's a solid game and quite fun for 15-20 minutes while my dinner is cooking. Kevin.
RobotOnline
2024-10-14 17:54:28 +0000 UTCThe dangly barel plug out the back, seems to be a thing on Arcade 1up machines, got one of their pacman arcade machines thats exactly the same.
Tim Barker
2024-10-14 17:52:29 +0000 UTCH.E.R.O. , C64.
Jørn Rosengren
2024-10-14 17:50:44 +0000 UTCI think the advantage of hindsight is quite a thing and I believe you're right, being a child had it's advantages and of course, selective memories.
Raul Ramos
2024-10-14 17:35:27 +0000 UTCThat would be hilarious to me if I was in one of those hotel rooms.
Grace Robbins
2024-10-14 17:34:02 +0000 UTCI remember the Philips Videopac G7000 I think it was. It was nice for its time till the C64 came in the 80s.
Carsten Junge
2024-10-14 17:32:28 +0000 UTCI'm still struggling to understand how/why VAT exists and postal carriers asking for payment.
Grace Robbins
2024-10-14 17:31:16 +0000 UTCYeah they probably get discounted business rates. Just wasn't sure if they charged exorbitant fees like some of the Japanese services do.
Danny Forche
2024-10-14 17:27:39 +0000 UTCWhatever you do, don't take to school and ask the kids if they want to play with your "Portable Pong."
Alec
2024-10-14 17:27:28 +0000 UTCThis already cracked me up and I haven't seen the video yet. I do indeed remember the first videogame I ever saw, shown to me by a teen neighbor. Must have been 85 or 86. It was a handheld he got from a relative in the us. It was space invaders. To be honest, more than awe I remember the strangeness of it all. My father hat a vfd calculator and I believe the screen was the same technology. Our first proper tv was a tiny Trinitron and I could only play with the super Nintendo when no one was watching telly. And I was not allowed to leave it connected
Raul Ramos
2024-10-14 17:22:56 +0000 UTCI remember that a friend had some kind of Pong device, although in the late 1980s (or maybe even early 1990s) it was already old-fashioned... But yeah, we didn't have much money for new stuff back then, so, just play with the old stuff you could get for (almost) free ;-)
MrHammond
2024-10-14 17:22:25 +0000 UTCOddly enough they work out cheaper than getting an individual to ship things - I think they must do it in bulk or have a special agreement.
Techmoan
2024-10-14 17:22:23 +0000 UTCSame, I'm sure we could set up a rota of people to ship from across the pond!
Chris Horry
2024-10-14 17:22:21 +0000 UTCArcade1UP make pretty decent cabinets if you're looking for an off the shelf solution, I personally prefer going the DIY route with RetroPie.
Chris Horry
2024-10-14 17:11:55 +0000 UTCHi Mat, US viewer here who does quite a lot of international shipping - if you ever want to order more stuff from America and don't want to deal with some website charging you commission fees, I'm happy to relay packages to you at cost. I've got a buddy in the UK who does the same for me.
Danny Forche
2024-10-14 17:06:30 +0000 UTCI had a Tandy TV Scoreboard console. A Christmas present around 79. 10 games including versions of pong plus a shooting game with included light gun. Also a kind of Evil Knievil sim where you had to control a motorbike to jump over an increasing amount of barrels. I remember by number 26 they could no longer fit all the barrels on screen. You just had to hope you landed ok.
Anthony Cleary
2024-10-14 16:56:14 +0000 UTCNice video! Our first (and only) console was a unit made by Sears (!) -- it not only had ping-pong and tennis (very different, I'm sure), but also a shooting game which used a gun attached by wire to the console. Unfortunately we quickly determined that it used a simple light detector in the barrel, so by pointing it at the chandelier we were assured a perfect game. My favorite game of that era was Space Wars -- amazing that in the arcade version you could change the parameters of each game. I still think that's one of the best all-time games, but never hear about it or see it on these retro revival units these days. Maybe because it didn't come from a company like Atari.
MM
2024-10-14 16:54:41 +0000 UTCThe pang of nostalgia. Yes, what I wouldn't do for it to suddenly be the late 80's, but as an adult instead of a child. It seems like it would be wonderful, but I forget that those people had problems of the times. As a kid you're footloose and fancy free, few cares in the world, and as Pink Floyd said, "Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town," while wasting time and such. Now looking at this thing I immediately thought, damn, today's kids will complain of neck and back pain and go back to hunkering over their mobile phones. What was my point - I think I lost it? Nonetheless, I think there should have been an option to cast the play to a television. Perhaps the manufacturer thought headbutting would be a tactical move in the game play. I like this video. Obviously it made me think about things. Take care 🤍.
Grace Robbins
2024-10-14 16:54:09 +0000 UTCPutting spin on a pong ball - retro memory unlocked.
Gareth R
2024-10-14 16:51:19 +0000 UTCWe had a Prinztronic Tournament one in the house when I was growing up in the 90s. My dad had bought it in the late 70s to keep himself entertained while he was working abroad. Apparently one night he plugged it into the hotel TV and soon got a knock at the door from the manager. It was somehow broadcasting pong to EVERY room in the hotel. Later around 2001 I found a Binatone one in a charity shop and we had it set up in our sixth form common room for about a day until everyone got bored of it. Good times.
Taras Young
2024-10-14 16:44:15 +0000 UTCHad never heard of the three other, "consoles," you mentioned. The Binatone seems (from the 1m TikTok I watched) to be impressively complex for the time.
Randall Jennings
2024-10-14 16:42:09 +0000 UTCWhen I'm more entertained by your video than actually wanting to play it 🤣
BlueChainsawMan
2024-10-14 16:36:02 +0000 UTCI have to agree. I don't know what it is, maybe something depressing in my childhood but, whenever I see Pong, it really brings me down. I wonder however if the unit is just an Arduino or similar running a standard emulator with a custom selection screen. If so, whip the SD card out and set up MAME on a new SD card with Arkanoid etc on it.
evilution
2024-10-14 16:32:27 +0000 UTCWithout having watched the video yet, just the thumbnail alone of the video makes me want one.
Michael Wehr
2024-10-14 16:18:24 +0000 UTC
