After the first Pong cabinet was placed in Andy Capp’s Cavern in 1972, video games exploded, reaching their full stride by the late ’70s. Here are some of the notable games/systems you played (or would have played) back then:
If a red tie is considered to exude power and authority at some business lunch, then an Asteroids tie must allude to nothing less than intergalactic domination.
Using a cyclopean webcam mounted on a telescoping neck and two solenoid fingers, this robot will dutifully and adorably Pong you into oblivion.
Giz reader and beer pong enthusiast Dan Dayon constructed a beer pong table with glowing LEDs, cup sensors, and a wireless module. It’s one of the most advanced tables you could ever puke on.
In 1958, Dr. William Higinbotham was working at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on a simulation of bouncing balls and missile trajectories that could predict the paths objects could take. Suddenly, it hit him: why not apply this to tennis? He created Tennis for Two, which depending on your definition could be considered the world’s first videogame, in October of that year. Video after the jump.
Pong exerts a vicious grip on the minds of designers—it pops up in hundreds of reincarnations. But this one is sweet: a live “drawing on whiteboard” version, mixing electronics with the joy of drawing on, wiping off and repositioning your playing bat. Check it out, thrill to the high-speed action and grin at the ultimate use of a whiteboard: so much better than the usual business drivel that gets drawn on them. There’s no more info apart from it’s a live demo of a “physics based engine responding to it’s real life surroundings,” so we’re imagining it’s powered by frantic behind-the scenes action by Dilbert and Dogbert. [Electronicmiracles]
Well, yes, it probably could, but as yet it’s only there for picking the interior colour for your new BMW and the like. So for now, this DIY coffee table with a matrix of 4,092 LEDs is what I want in my living room. Using 65 microcontrollers and four Atari 2600 joysticks, the circuit wizards at Sparkfun have loaded their LED table with four-way cooperative Pong, which actually looks like a lot of fun in action.
The game that started a phenomenon in the 70′s is back (albeit in slightly different form) thanks to the design work of one Moritz Waldemeyer. This new version takes the classic game and embeds it into a fairly plain looking dining table using 2400 LEDs and 2 trackpads. When the table is on, the trackpads allow users to take full control of the paddles. When the table is off, the game completely disappears.
A group of electrical engineering students at West Virginia University has built the most insane beer pong table ever. It’s got lights all around that react to the music playing as well as a pair of built-in swirling ball washers. It’s incredible. They’re taking orders for them now if you want one of your own, but be warned: this first one cost them US$1,000 and 400 hours of work to complete, so it won’t be cheap. Hit the jump for a video of it in action, and be sure to skip to 2:30 unless you think still photos of electrical engineering majors and circuit boards are suddenly cool when set to Linkin Park.
The arduino platform has been the basis for a lot of bizarre gadgetry over the years, and the audio ping pong project by Mike McCracken certainly stands up to the best of them. The game is essentially the classic Pong with one major alteration—instead of using your hands and eyes, the game is controlled with audio cues and head movements.
