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PONG
 
"AVOID MISSING BALL FOR HIGH SCORE"
 

In 1974 Atari released the first home version of its popular arcade game, Pong. The home version of Pong was designed by Bob Brown.     While it wasn't the first home video game (Magnavox had released the Odyssey in 1972, but had abandoned the product one year later), it was certainly the first successful home video game. Pong had better graphics resolution than Odyssey, was capable of displaying color, had more responsive controls, and was less expensive.     In January of 1975, a sporting goods buyer from Sears offered to buy 150,000 units of Pong from Atari.     In exchange for handling all of the financing, advertising, and distribution, Sears would get exclusive rights to Pong throughout 1975. With help from Sears, Atari sold $40 million worth of Pongs in 1975 and Pong became the hottest selling game for the 1975 holiday season.     The home video game craze had been born. With the success of Pong, many companies were hurrying to release their own video game systems and Pong clones.

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