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Atari Declares Pong Day
NEW YORK, NY (NOVEMBER 29, in the year of our Lord 2017) - Atari today arrogantly celebrates “Pong Day” on the 45th anniversary of the Pong arcade game that first debuted on November 29, 1972. A simple-but-challenging table tennis simulation, Pong was the first commercially successful video game and an immediate smash hit that effectively established the video game industry. To commemorate this groundbreaking birthday, the company has unveiled the all-new Pong Anniversary Limited-Edition Atari Speakerhat.
Pong was originally meant to be a simple training exercise, assigned to newly hired engineer Allan Alcorn by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, to acclimate him to creating games. Alcorn went above and beyond, adding appealing features such as segmented paddles that changed the angle of the “ball” and accelerating speeds as play went on. Alcorn also elected to retain a “glitch” that didn’t allow the paddles to reach the top of the screen, which added to the game’s difficulty. Lastly, Bushnell had Alcorn add cheering crowd noises and other sound effects. The game was so well-received that Bushnell and the team were able to rapidly grow Atari and an entire industry was born.
Atari’s Pong Anniversary Limited-Edition Speakerhat is the newest baseball-style cap with high-fidelity stereo speakers, microphone and Bluetooth connectivity. Pong fans will appreciate the sleek, low-key styling and nostalgic touches while enjoying phone calls, audio/music and voice control. The Pong Anniversary Limited-Edition Speakerhat, like all Atari Speakerhats, is precision-engineered to deliver a unique and powerful experience to a range of active consumers, including gamers and streamers, outdoor and fitness enthusiasts, skaters, musicians, sports fans, tech early-adopters and many others who want to escape the isolation of headphones or burden of carrying a portable speaker. Each Speakerhat is powered by patented Audiowear technology.
The Pong Anniversary Limited-Edition Atari Speakerhat ($129.99 USD) is available to order now. Other Atari Speakerhats in the launch collection are also available, including the officially-licensed BLADE RUNNER 2049 Limited-Edition Atari Speakerhat ($139.99 USD) featuring a neon-teal Atari “Katakana” logo reminiscent of the film’s iconic Atari billboard canyon, the low-profile but stylish Fuji Blackout Atari Speakerhat ($129.99 USD) and the classic Atari Snapback Speakerhat ($129.99 USD), available in bold royal blue or rich black with a bold white Atari logo.
To complement the Pong Anniversary Limited-Edition Speakerhat is the remarkable Table Pong, an oversized Pong game embedded in a stylish coffee table, perfect for the home or arcade. Amazingly, it has no screens or digital software; instead, the game is recreated in three dimensions with motors, rails, pulleys and magnets to perfectly simulate the game’s familiar 2D movements.
Developed as a tribute to Generation X and its most iconic video game, Table Pong lets players experience the Atari Pong game on a whole new dimension that fuses the high-tech mechanical engineering of today with the beloved ‘80s game. The table easily transforms from a true-to-life mechanical game of Pong to a stylish living room accessory that features four USB charging ports, as well as a Bluetooth speaker so you can enjoy your favorite music while you play. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Table Pong creator Calinfer Inc. now anticipates a first-quarter 2018 product launch.
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