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The Game Archaeologist: Maze War
It's hard to know how far back to go when chronicling the history of early MMOs and their ancestors. After all, the Game Archaeologist has looked at several titles (Air Warrior, Habitat, Neverwinter Nights) that do not fit the modern definition of an MMO yet were bound in blood to the genre nonetheless. So if today's game seems to be somewhat tenuously related to our favorite hobby, I beg your forgiveness in advance, but I do feel it's pertinent to our exploration of this wonderful genre. The game in question is Maze War, and it holds a general's uniform's worth of medals depicting firsts in the infant genre of video games. Most importantly for us, Maze War was the first graphical video game to be networked and allow players to interact and fight each other. You can see why that may tie in to our current situation. While the game itself certainly never attained the complexity of modern shooters or RPGs, its innovation and pioneering certainly make it worthy of examination. So let's dust it off and get to it!
Cornell students steer Pong using brain waves, can't quite play during naps (video)
We here at Engadget are always fans of brain wave experiments, and so we were delighted when two Cornell University electrical engineering students, Chuck Moyes and Mengxiang Jiang, wrapped up a final project using brain waves in the best way possible: playing Pong. Their experiment links a baseball cap full of EEG-scanning electrodes to a computer, letting the cap wearer control a paddle using Alpha or Mu waves. Depending on the waves you use, you can move the paddle either by changing your concentration level or by thinking about moving your feet. You won't rack up a high score while napping (or with a teammate narrating over your shoulder), but with a budget under $75, it's hard to find fault. You can grab the source code below, and check out a video of Jiang and Moyes' handiwork after the break. [Thanks, Chuck and Mengxiang]
Semi-finalists revealed in Atari's Pong Indie Developer Challenge
Atari's Developer Challenge has been taking submissions for possible Pong-inspired iOS games since late February (Disclaimer: I'm serving as a judge on the final panel for the contest, though I haven't done anything yet and am not being paid for my time), and the company has finally selected 20 semifinalists from more than 80 submissions. You can read through the list of the semifinalist studios on the link there. Quite a few of them, as some quick Google searches will show, already have their own apps in the App Store. The next step for the contest will be for these semifinalists to put together some demo videos of their proposed projects, which will be due in June. We judges will get a crack at the proposals then, and finalists will be announced on June 19, with the full winners list announced in August. The winners will get their apps published by Atari, with proceeds split between Atari and the original creators. It sounds like the contest is going well. I look forward to seeing what's been submitted!
Atari Pong review (1976)
Multiplayer gaming today has become an inherently and bewilderingly antisocial affair. You grab a controller, take up as much space as possible on your couch at home, then connect to some random game hosted by some random server filled with some random people with whom you do your damnedest to fill with some collection of lead thrown from some assortment of futuristic weaponry. Along the way, you'll be taunted, insulted and, if you're playing a Halo game, quite possibly physically shamed.Back in 1976, of course, things were a bit different. Pong was the height of at-home multiplayer gaming. Two dials, one button and one switch is all you had, and with your opponent sitting in extremely close proximity to you, chances are most of the heckling would be the good-natured variety. It is a vastly simplified experience versus what we have today, but in some ways a vastly superior one. Click on through to see why.
Atari updates rules and deadline, adds judge to Pong developer contest
(Disclaimer: I am serving as a judge in this contest for Atari, though I'm not getting paid or compensated in any way for contributing my time.) After Atari announced a recent contest to encourage iOS developers to come up with new ideas for a Pong-style remake, there was feedback among the iOS community in general that the terms for the new contest were a little too limiting. Specifically, Atari is basically offering a share of earnings from the final published app as prize money (in addition to a series of cash prizes, including $50,000 for first place), and some developers have said that's a bad deal to take. Now, Atari tells TUAW that it has updated the rules on the contest, and as Atari says, "are intended to offer developers larger incentives for participation and increase their potential revenue as a result of their winning Pong submission." The biggest change is that winning developers will now share revenue with Atari for a longer period of time, from one year up to three years. That should provide a extra revenue for devs who win, and maybe encourage anyone turned off by the initial rules to reconsider. Additionally, Atari will be putting all of the winners in a "Developer Spotlight" page on its official site, so everyone can see the fruits of the contest when they're announced in June. And finally, David Whatley (of Critical Thought Games, maker of Tiny Heroes and geoDefense) is going to join the judging panel, which also includes Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Pocket God's Dave Castelnuovo, and me, TUAW editor Mike Schramm. Entries are now going to be accepted until April 15, 2012, so if you have an idea for a new take on Pong, be sure to submit it over on the official site. Yes, for experienced developers who already have the experience and ability to publish and promote apps on the App Store, this might not be for you -- aside from the Pong trademark itself, why go through Atari when you can do it on your own? But for devs with a great Pong-centered idea and not a lot of resources to back it up, joining up with Atari in this way could be a real windfall. Good luck to everyone who enters.
Atari's Pong Indie Developer Challenge is a real coin opportunity
Atari's legendary Pong has captured plenty of hearts and minds over the years. Now, to celebrate its fortieth birthday, the gaming stalwart is offering up $100,000 for you to re-invent it for iOS as part of its Indie Developer Challenge. To be in with a chance of winning the cash, developers are being asked to recreate the time-honored classic in a new and original way. Then, simply submit your idea, or playable demo and keep your paddles crossed. Those creations that make it to the final will get published under the Atari brand as an official release, and you get eternal bragging rights (and the cash). The competition is open now, and you've got until March 31st to be in the game. Feel like a winner? Then bat your eyes down to that source link for the full deets.
McDonald's interactive Pong billboard brings big-screen elation, tomorrow's lunch
You could enjoy that Big Mac in the peace and artery-clogging quiet of your local McDonald's, or you could just catch the next flight to Stockholm, where Ronald apparently serves his meals with a side of interactive, outdoor gaming. It's all part of something called Pick n' Play -- a new (and pretty ingenious) ad campaign that invites pedestrians to play a game of Pong on a giant Mickey D's billboard, using only their smartphones. All you have to do is stand in front of the display, log on to Pick n' Play's site from your handheld, and wait for your phone to verify your location. From there, you'll have to manipulate an onscreen paddle using your device's touchscreen, while doing battle with a game that gets increasingly more difficult. Last thirty seconds, though, and you'll get a free, lipid-drenched treat of your choice, courtesy of the Golden Arches. Best of all, you won't even have to download an app to get your Pong on -- putting you one step closer to that coronary you've always wanted. Trot past the break to see it for yourself.
Modder turns candy canisters into gaming console, retro Pong paddles (video)
This is the second time this week we've covered a modder getting an old-school game to run with the help of some unexpected hardware. And arguably, it's the simpler of the two tales. A fellow named John Graham-Cumming fashioned a game console out of little more than a pair of metal canisters, an Arduino Pro board, and a potentiometer -- all so he could play Pong on his TV. The rig (cutely dubbed the Cansole) actually consists of two controllers, with the secondary one housing just a potentiometer. The first has one, too, but also houses the Arduino Pro, along with a battery, A/V controls, and a button for selecting and firing in the game. Et voilà! 1970s arcade-style tennis for two. For a 90-second nostalgia break, head on past the break to see these vintage-looking paddles in action.
'Atari's Greatest Hits' app brings 100 new old games to iOS
A new universal iOS app from Atari is making the standard App Store rounds today, starting in New Zealand and propagating worldwide throughout the day. The Atari's Greatest Hits app is a free download that provides paid access to 100 games from Atari's arcade and 2600 library, including classics like Yars Revenge, Haunted House and Asteroids, weird games like Circus Atari, and even rarities like Quadrun. The app comes bundled with Pong, with additional titles available in four-game packs for $1 each, or $15 for the whole collection. Some of the games, including the whole RealSports series, Warlords and Breakout, have been updated with Bluetooth multiplayer. This is the latest in a recent Atari effort to repackage its classics once again. Atari's Greatest Hits: Volume 1 was released as a retail cartridge on DS in November 2010.
Super Pong Table serves up four-way retro play, whole lot of awesome (video)
Sure it's just sliding sticks and bouncing balls, but anyone who grew up playing Atari can tell you that Pong rules. Unfortunately, its earliest incarnation only supported enough 2D fun for two, which is why our eyes just about popped out of our heads when we saw this. The folks over at Instructables are showing off another awesome retro gaming project that makes everyone's favorite game a party pleaser -- it's also a pretty good fix for an old coffee table. The Super Pong Table allows for up to four players and fives balls per game, and enlists 900 LEDs and four Atari paddle controllers to make the thing work. Each player controls his or her own stick and gains or loses a point depending on whether they hit or miss a ball -- the first player to reach 20 points gets their very own "YOU WIN" light up display. Looks like we just found something to do with our weekend. You can check out a video of the table in action after the break or follow the source link for instructions on making your own.
Quadrocopters juggle balls cooperatively, mesmerize with their lethal accuracy (video)
You've seen one quadrocopter juggle a ball autonomously while gliding through the air, but how's about a pair of them working cooperatively? Yeah, we've got your attention now. The Zurich-based lab that brought us the piano-playing and ball-bouncing quadrocopter is back with a simply breathtaking display of robotic dexterity and teamwork. Like all mad scientists, they call their Flying Machine Arena research "an experiment," though we see it a lot more as a Pong-inspired dance of our future overlords. We all know how far video games have come since two paddles batted a ball between one another, right?
Researchers pit microorganisms in deadly game of 'PAC-mecium'
At first glance, the so-called "biotic games" research conducted by a Stanford University team that's installed microorganisms into crude, real-life video games merely raises the question: Wow -- that's a job? A summary of the team's experimentation on living organisms (red flag!) in this month's Lab on a Chip journal suggests that biotic games could "have significant conceptual and cost-reducing effects on biotechnology and eventually health care," not to mention that they could also "educate society at large to support personal medical decisions and the public discourse on bio-related issues." Those sure sound like complicatedly-worded, yet noble goals -- or at least good cover for playing video games all day -- but we sense a distressing undertone in the work here. Just watch the clip (after the break) of the researchers' Pac-Man prototype clone, "PAC-mecium," wherein, ostensibly, a player would "guide" unwitting paramecia to happy-face yeast pellets and attempt to keep the poor protozoa from being devoured by a giant zebrafish larvae, or not. It's pretty clear to us that the next "guinea pigs" in this diabolical plan will be mice, and then probably monkeys. The final stage? Gerard Butler.
Casemate's iPhone 4 Bounce case protects your noodle from inevitable radiation baking
As the everlasting debate rages on, and brains continue to / not to melt with every passing phone call, Casemate's taking no chances whatsoever. By collaborating with Pong -- a company that makes its ends by "protecting users of cellular telephones from the potentially harmful effects of radiation exposure" -- the Bounce was born. For all intents and purposes, it's a simplistic form-fitting iPhone 4 case (BlackBerry models are en route), available in a foursome of hues and tested to reduce normal cellphone radiation (SAR) by at least 60 percent. Purportedly, the case can redirect your phone's electromagnetic energy away from your head... right into the brain of some lucky chap sitting next to you on the subway. But hey, at least it serves another purpose: solving that blasted iPhone 4 reception issue. Two birds, one $49.99 dent in your credit card. Propaganda vid is just past the break.
iPhone-controlled 3D display, via ping pong balls and air pumps
I'm not quite 100% sure what this is -- it's supposed to be a "floating forecaster," some sort of 3D display for weather information, but to me it looks more like 30 air guns with ping pong balls sitting in them. I don't really see how the "weather" part of the display works, but what's really cool is that the whole thing is controlled by an iPhone. It looks like you touch whichever part of the grid you want to raise or lower, and then move your thumb up or down to set the ball at a certain level. With a little more software work, there's probably a lot more that could be done here, just creating patterns by swiping across the screen, or even running a game like Pong as the balls raise and lower across the grid in sequence. But as an art installation, it's pretty neat as is. Check out the full video after the break. Thanks, William!
Preview: 3DS 'Paddle Ball' tech demo
I know, I know -- a preview of a tech demo? In fairness, this one kind of blew my mind. Here's the skinny: outside of games we're assigned to play, there's rarely extra time while covering the controlled madness of E3 for Joystiq writers to check out something they're personally interested in ... other than the last day, that is. So, last Thursday, several of us who had yet to check out the Nintendo 3DS sneaked in a few personal moments with the device everyone was buzzing about. Upon first entering the 3DS area of Nintendo's E3 2010 booth, Nintendogs + Cats was available to pet, and an array of 3DSes with 3D trailers weren't too far away -- these featured everything from Mario Kart 64, which looked stunning, to a new Pilotwings title (hooray!). What impressed me the most, though, didn't star Mario or Chris Redfield or Solid Snake -- it was Pong. Alright, so, the Nintendo rep walking around the area with a 3DS chained to her waist (no joke) referred to it as "Paddle Ball," but for all intents and purposes, it was 3D Pong. %Gallery-95697%
Ralph Baer inducted into Inventors Hall of Fame
[SteveO526] At 88 years young, Ralph Baer is one of our favorite adults (or super adults, as we like to call those over the age of 70 among us). After inventing Pong (and resultantly, the Magnavox Odyssey), Baer went on to create the rage-inducing electronic board game Simon, and just this past week was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame for his work. He was the first game developer to have earned the award. According to the event's fact sheet (warning: download link), inductees need to meet two specific criteria before being considered: "[One] The inventor must hold a US patent, and [Two] the invention must have contributed to the welfare of mankind and have promoted the progress of science and the useful arts." The National Selection Committee (representing "various scientific, industry, and professional groups along with a Blue Ribbon Panel of experts") then chooses said inductees. In his bio, the committee specifically notes Baer's accolades in the game industry, calling him "a pioneer in the field of interactive video games" -- an assessment we tend to agree with. We've already got a suggestion for next year, though, guys: Shinji Mikami. Obviously for bringing the world the "What're ya buyin' / sellin'?" guy in Resident Evil 4, forever changing the way we conduct business. Come on, NSC! Aren't we buddies? [Via GameCulture]
We would like to own this clock which plays Pong, please
We admit it -- we're suckers for a stylish timepiece. A surprising portion of our income goes towards purchasing new, fancy clocks, turning our living quarters into a slightly less melty version of Salvador Dali's "The Persistence of Memory." The latest object of our affection? Adafruit's Pong-playing MONOCHRON clock, in which two AI opponents compete in pixelated table tennis, and the players' scores denote the current time. Check out a video after the jump to see the chronometer in action. Sure, it's not the first Pong-clock we've ever laid eyes on, but with a slim $80 price tag, it is the first we've ever considered actually purchasing. Sadly, you have to assemble the clock yourself, a process which requires "some basic soldering & hand tools." Curses! We knew our decision to take home economics instead of shop class would come back to bite us one day. [Thanks, PT!]
Review: Emotiv EPOC, tough thoughts on the new mind-reading controller
We live in exciting times. You can, today, right now, actually buy in real life the kind of sci-fi gear you only expect to find in a video game. Controlling things -- anything but your own body, really -- with just your thoughts is a fantasy and sci-fi staple, whether it be Darth Vader force-choking some mouthy Imperial admiral or Professor Xavier commanding the X-Men from the comfort of his wheelchair, finger pressed to temple in grim concentration. But that fantasy is now reality, and you can control things (well, a thing) with just the power of your mind. Think it and your computer does it, no more pesky mice or keyboards or even voice commands. Or so the people at Emotiv would have us believe. Being the kind of guy who absolutely cannot wait for the day when, as Jonathan Coulton sings, "the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away," I pre-orded Emotiv's thought-controlled EPOC mind-computer interface device as soon as I thought I had $299 to spare. As it turned out, being the first on your block with the new toy comes with a real risk: you might end up buying a frustrating experimental prototype for the cost of five new video games. %Gallery-83470%
Allotment bar in Glasgow pays homage to Pong
You know, the United Kingdom isn't a great place to go if you enjoy drinking. The folks there, they just aren't big drinkers. It's difficult for them to find reasons to partake in the time-traveling powers of alcohol. Enter: Allotment, a new bar in the Glasgow area that offers thirsty patrons live performance art, music and a bit of the in-between.Right about now, you're probably wondering what this has to do with games. Well, this Saturday, the bar will be transformed into a living dedication to retro gaming, with a central theme of "gaming and morality." There'll be roulette and karaoke, some arcade gaming. But, more importantly, coordinators will envision a real-life Pong tribute in the space, allowing attendees to participate at any time in the recreation by simply walking up and changing it. If you're looking for more information on Allotment, or tickets to attend, then head on over to the National Theatre of Scotland. If after reading this, you're in the mood to watch that awesome video of Japanese Matrix ping-pong, well ... you aren't the only one.[Via GamePolitics]
Scientists set lasers on cells, end up playing Pong
Researchers have devised plenty of innovative ways of viewing living cells, but their options are a bit more limited when it comes to actually manipulating cells without, you know, destroying them. Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have now come up with one promising new possibility, however, using lasers instead of the fixed electrodes more commonly used today. Those, as you might expect, don't hit the cells directly, but are rather used to shine light on a "high-tech Petri dish," which has a grid of light detectors built into its floor and sets of transparent electrodes on the top and bottom. When lit up in a pattern of a circle or square, the cells can then be isolated and moved about at will or, conceivably, even be used for a game of Pong. Check out the video after the break to see for yourself.
