Oops, all Pong: Console Gen 1 [1975]

A history of the first games you could hook up to your television. / @michaelcoorlim
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Michael Coorlim is a science fiction author and game developer.
You can find my work here: www.mcoorlim.com
If you're interested in supporting my creative output and want access to early releases and the like, consider becoming a channel member:
/ @michaelcoorlim
Sources: Sources:
Alexander Smith, They Create Worlds, CRC Press, 2019
Howard Warshaw, Once Upon Atari, Scott West Productions, 2022
Jamie Lendino, Attract Mode, Steel Gear Press, 2020
Steven Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games, Crown, 2001
The Digital Antiquarian: www.filfre.net/

[@marafolse8347]

I love gen 1 stuff, not enough coverage out there

[@davel231]

I had a home Pong clone when I was a kid, but it's so long ago and I was so young that I don't remember what brand or model it was. I do remember it was possible to get the ball stuck in a pattern where it bounced back and forth out of reach of any of the paddles effectively soft-locking the console.

[@MichaelCoorlim]

Yeah that sounds about right.

[@paulm.8660]

Thank you for producing these videos! I find this sort of history fascinating and your attention to the relationships between the players makes me feel like an insider in the early days of video game development. Great work, I hope yo keep them coming!

[@freemanacount5609]

Love your stuff, Michael! Early computing is such an interesting topic and you present it very well

[@FEEDMEKITTENS]

Hell yeah! Stoked to see another upload from you.

[@MichaelCoorlim]

Glad you appreciate what I'm putting out!

[@kemikemi756]

Thank you for all this . I'm too young to have experienced any of these and tbh didn't even know about most until your history lesson 🙂

[@MichaelCoorlim]

That's half the reason why I do these videos.

[@mootootwo]

Thanks for sharing these histories, Michael. I had a bit of exposure to this stuff as a child, but obviously no perspective on the broader industry trends or what they meant.
My older siblings had one of those Magnavox systems with the screen overlays, but it was gone by the time I came around. Grew up with an Atari 400 instead.

[@MichaelCoorlim]

Did some of my first coding on the Atari 400, with the BASIC cartridge.

[@mootootwo]

@@MichaelCoorlim Same! Of course I was just copying the code from a magazine and didn't know what it meant.

[@Cowables]

Loving these videos about interesting topics from far before I was born, thanks!

[@b.crawford4023]

Nice! This was such a funny era.

[@wacotablet1055]

I'm really enjoying these videos, very informative and thorough. The only criticism here is that you could work on your enunciation a bit.