tennis for two

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  • Modder turns candy canisters into gaming console, retro Pong paddles (video)

    by 
    Dana Wollman
    Dana Wollman
    05.30.2011

    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.

  • Gaming's first-person history lesson: 1958 to 2008 edition (video)

    by 
    Ross Miller
    Ross Miller
    01.13.2011

    There's just so much to love about this video, described by co-creator Florian Smolka as a university video-project from Munich. In a little over four minutes, we're given a first-person tour of console gaming from 1958's Tennis for Two (played on an oscilloscope) through late 2008's Rock Band for Xbox 360 (using a Guitar Hero drum set, but hey, nobody's perfect). Not every console gets a mention -- apologies to Atari Jaguar and 3DO apologists -- and it unfortunately stops before new hotness Move and Kinect get a nod, but that should in no way deter you from setting aside a handful of minutes to watch. Be sure to note the passage of TVs, too, and remember fondly the CRTs of your youth. Unless you grew up with LCD flatscreens, you lawn-lounging whippersnapper, you. Video after the break.

  • Physicists rebuilding early video game from scratch

    by 
    Griffin McElroy
    Griffin McElroy
    12.18.2010

    Unsurprisingly, tenured physicists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory are capable of creating some pretty radical science projects. A group of lab technicians and physicists led by Dr. Peter Takacs are currently working to restore one of the first video games ever created: fellow Brookhaven physicist Dr. Willy Higinbotham's 1958, oscilloscope-based Tennis for Two. Sure, the project may lack the high-definition graphics and ... um, visible rackets of more modern tennis titles, but you can't help but respect its gumption. Check out the video after the jump to learn more about the physicists' pet project -- unless you want to continue operating under the assumption that, no matter what anyone says, Halo 2 was the first game ever made. Dummy.