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Pong, Pac-Man and Space Invaders meet in mega mashup
We may have reached peak video game nostalgia. Mega-hybrid game Pacapong takes Pong, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders and crams them into a two-player mish-mash extravaganza. Players launch Pac-Man from Pong paddles through his maze hoping that he makes it to the other side without running into a ghost. If a player does launch the gobbling hero into a ghost, the other player gets to serve. Meanwhile, the players are also battling Space Invaders with the same paddles. It sounds confusing, but after few minutes, you'll be wondering when someone will build a mashup of Galaga, Joust, and Dig Dug.
The top tech gifts of holidays past
Remember the mad rush to secure a Teddy Ruxpin under the tree? Or how about how badly you begged your parents for the Nintendo DS as a year-end treat? As we head into another hectic, yet hopeful holiday season, we look back at some of the geeky gadgets and technological toys that stormed the charts (and stole young hearts) over the years.
Video game pioneer Ralph Baer dies aged 92
It's a sad day for gamers: Ralph Baer, one of the cornerstones of the early video game industry, has died at 92. Details of his passing aren't immediately available, but there's no question that gaming would be very different without him. He co-developed what would become the first home game console, the Magnavox Odyssey; he also helped make the memory game Simon, and came up with the gameplay concept that would ultimately lead to Nolan Bushnell's Pong. Importantly, he didn't stop inventing. He was still exploring electronics well past the usual retirement age, and had more than 150 patents under his belt. We'll miss you, Ralph. [Image credit: AP Photo]
More games for Xbox One: XBOXIE collects HTML5 controller games
Xbox One supports a controller, Internet Explorer and HTML5 games, but not all HTML5 games support a controller – and that's where XBOXIE comes in. Run by Reddit user CitadelSaint, XBOXIE lists HTML5 games you can play with a controller in IE on the Xbox One. So far the list includes Pac-Man, Bejeweled, Super Breakout, Pong, Contre Jour, Sketch Out and Solitaire, among others. "Even though the Xbox One can play HTML5 games, it doesn't mean developers are supporting the controller," XBOXIE's About page reads. "Most game are aimed at keyboard and mouse. So we at XBOXIE search and test each game to make sure it runs smooth and plays well on a controller. So to sum up, if it's on XBOXIE then you can play it on your Xbox One." That's right: Pong has entered the next generation. Take that, Tetris.
Atari Inc. seeks to generate $22M by auctioning assets in July
Atari Inc., the US branch of French parent company Atari S.A., filed for court approval this week to auction its assets in July. Those assets include the Atari logo, as well as the Test Drive, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Asteroids, and Pong franchises among others. As Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reports, Atari Inc., which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in a bid to sell its assets and separate itself from Atari S.A., has failed to secure a "stalking horse" or lead bidder since then. Atari Inc. approached more than 180 parties about purchasing assets, but only 15 came back with preliminary bids. Atari Inc. didn't deem a single bid acceptable to set the minimum price for the division's clearout. As it is, Atari Inc.'s own listed minimum bids for the July auction total "nearly $22.2 million." They include $15 million for the Atari brand, $3.5 million for the Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise, $1.5 million for Test Drive, and RTS franchise Total Annihilation at just $250,000. Atari Inc. has already secured $5 million through debtor-in-possession financing. While the auction is still pending court approval, Atari Inc aims to hold it between July 16 and July 19. While the Atari name is synonymous with the arcade's pioneering years, Atari Inc. traces its roots to a company called GT Interactive, founded in 1993. GT Interactive was eventually acquired by French company Infogrames Entertainment, and in 2001 Infogrames seized Atari Corporation and its Atari properties through the purchase of Hasbro Interactive. In 2009, Infrogrames renamed itself as Atari S.A., with what was GT Interactive by then renamed as Atari Inc. After some forty or so years that have seen the Atari brand transfer across several entities, if things go to plan then in two months time it'll find itself at a new home once more. What the ramifications of that sale would be for Atari S.A., financially and nominally, are unclear. In a financial statement published on May 15, Atari S.A. said, "Faced with the uncertainties relating to the proceedings that are underway in the US, where the Group's strategic assets and most of its business are located, the outcome of the Chapter 11 proceedings in the US will be decisive for all the stakeholders." The statement also reveals Atari S.A. recently sold the ownership of its Outcast franchise for a "nominal amount," and negotiations are underway at similar prices for its Desperados and Silver franchises.
Atari files for bankruptcy, hopes to survive by selling off Pong and other assets
Atari Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection, looking to separate from its not-so-profitable French owners and pitch for independent funding. In the process, the elder statesman of gaming has secured $5.25 million of debtor-in-possession financing and will aim to sell assets, including its famous logo (which is already licensed out) and games like Pong, Asteroid and Tempest, in the next 90 to 120 days. In the last few years, Atari Inc. has shifted its focus from traditional retail gaming to digital titles and licensing, with mobile platforms proving especially lucrative for the parent company, Atari SA. The gaming arm is aiming for a return to former glory and, it hopes, the chance to go another 40 years. [Photo Credit: Marc Grimm]
Dutchman celebrates Pong's 40th birthday with a global, augmented reality edition
Don't think the festivities surrounding Pong's 40th are limited to official channels. Sander Veenhof of the Netherlands is marking the occasion in his own way with an augmented reality version built as a Layar plugin. Instead of batting the ball across a TV screen, players play across whole continents: anyone who's been online recently is fair game as a fresh target, and the camera's field of view gives a sense of where opponents reside in real life. Games won't be nearly as fast-paced as you might remember from that classic system from the arcade or living room. However, they'll still be reminders that people worldwide have a soft spot for the Nolan Bushnell title that arguably started the video game industry -- and global Pong sure beats a game of global thermonuclear war.
Pong World paddles out into iOS App Store
Pong World is not the Atari take on McWorld (hey, it could happen). It's the winning entry in Atari's Pong Challenge, which has just been officially released on iOS. It's the "first-ever official new PONG game for smartphones and tablet devices," at the cost of all those unofficial ones.Pong World by zGames is a version of the ancient game with upgradeable (animal) paddles, special bonus abilities, and varying stages full of environmental hazards. You can see the game for yourself with no risk, except for the risk of extreme irritation after playing against the first AI opponent, who can curve the ball mid-flight. Pong World is free-to-play.
Daily iPhone App: Pong World is Atari's first indie Pong winner
Way back in February, Atari announced a contest (which, full disclosure, I served as a volunteer judge for) to find some indie developers' takes on its classic Pong game to release on iOS. All summer long, a few different indie devs worked on pitches for their games, which were then voted on by the public, us judges, and then Atari for the final decision, and the winners were announced back in August. And now, today, the first winner has arrived on the App Store: Pong World, by zGames, won the grand prize in Atari's contest. As you can see in the video below, it's a fun and colorful take on Pong -- maybe a little too colorful for fans of the retro title, but especially as a free download, it's worth a try. The idea is that each paddle you use is actually a little (somewhat creepy) creature, and you can earn coins to power them up for better upgrades and more different powers. There are a few different ways to play each stage, and the game is a fun take on the simple and enduring idea of Pong. The app's freemium elements are worth a mention, in that they are pretty terrible. Ads pop up in between almost every game, and the coins themselves aren't worth very much -- if you want to unlock everything without spending any money, you'll need to play a whole lot. These elements weren't in the original game I judged, and I expect we'll see some tweaks to them in the future. Of course Atari wants to make some money on this freemium title, but what's in there now is a bit too annoying. At any rate, Pong World is the first fruits of this long contest, so it's your first chance to see what came out of all that work these indie devs put in. It's available for free on the App Store right now.
Atari celebrates 40 years of Pong with new, free iOS Pong game, custom portable Xbox 360
Atari's celebrating 40 years of arcade classic Pong today by releasing ... another version of Pong. Pong World is being dubbed "the first-ever official new Pong game on iOS" (despite our search of the App Store dictating the contrary), but more importantly, it's totally free and it's already available on the iOS App Store (see gameplay below the break). The iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch game started life as one of many entries in Atari's "Pong Indie Developer Challenge," which pitted devs against each other for $50K and lead representation on the big four-zero celebration. Should the free game not be enough for you, you could always vie for one of the crazy sweet portable Xbox 360s (seen above) on Atari's Facebook page. Why yes, that is a custom LCD screen attached to a modded Xbox 360, which also happens to resemble a classic Atari console. And yes, we agree, it is totally sweet.
Atari announces iOS lineup for the rest of the year and beyond
Atari has dropped a press release announcing its mobile game lineup for the rest of 2012 and first part of 2013, and there are some really interesting titles in there. Here's the full list, for your viewing pleasure: RollerCoaster Tycoon (Q1 2013, iOS and Android) Dungeons & Dragons: Warbands (December, iPad) Atari Casino (Q4 2012, iOS) Outlaw (November, iOS) RollerCoaster Tycoon should be a fun addition to mobile platforms. Dungeons and Dragons Warbands is a D&D-themed game that sounds nice and tactical, and Outlaw is presumably either a port or an update of the old Atari game from back in 1976. Atari Casino is another old Atari title, but given how popular poker and other casino games have been on iOS, it's more likely that Atari is working on its own freemium gambling simulation rather than remaking the old classic. One thing you might not notice on this list is any of the Pong variants that won Atari's developers challenge earlier this year (for which I was a judge). Atari's reps have confirmed to us that those games are still under development, and not yet ready for a release announcement. But even without those Atari-published indie titles on the slate, this seems like a nice lineup for the company. We'll keep a lookout for the first two especially, and let you know when they drop.
Atari classics go HTML5 for Windows 8 tablets and browsers
A new platform means a new chance for Atari to sell its classics. For Windows 8 tablets, it's partnered with Microsoft for a browser-based "Atari Arcade," featuring updated, remade games like Pong, Missile Command, and Centipede, done in HTML5.They're designed to work in all "modern" browsers, but have extra features on multitouch Windows 8 devices. Extra features ... and no ads. In addition, the Atari Arcade allows devs to create and publish their own Atari Arcade games through Atari's interface.Pong seems like an odd way to emphasize the future-tech of your tablet, but hey, free Pong! Plus, a new development environment!
Pong World wins Pong Indie Developer Challenge
Atari has chosen the winners of its Pong Indie Developer Challenge, and – surprise – the top honor goes to Pong! Well, okay, it's not just Pong. zGames' Pong World features multiple paddle "creatures" in various worlds with powerups and environmental hazards, and it earned $50,000 and a publishing deal with Atari.Second place goes to MadRuse's 3D Pong Tournament, and third place goes to Eppy Games' Fong, a cartoony Pong in a circular arena. These two also get cash awards and publishing deals; Atari will announce specifics of those publishing deals (as in, when they will result in games you can play) soon. Check out trailers for all the finalists at Atari's site.
Winners revealed for Atari's Pong Dev challenge, Pong World earns first place
The winners have finally been announced in the long-running Atari/Pong Indie Dev Challenge, and the three winning entries have been revealed prior to their eventual release on the App Store. Atari's contest sought out modern versions of Pong for the App Store, and offered cash prizes and revenue sharing for the top contestants. Before we go through the winners, please note that I served as a volunteer, unpaid judge on this contest, along with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, developer David Whatley, and Pocket God's Dave Castelnuovo. That means I got to play through all of the finalists and deliver scores based on my impressions of the games. According to those scores (as well as Atari's input and a popular vote), zGames' Pong World came out in first place -- it's a very colorful take on the old school game, with furry creatures as paddles and lots of ball tweaks and fun twists. Mad Ruse's Pong Tournament picked up second place, featuring a very wild 3D version of Pong, with high level tournament play and quite a few powerups and extra items to try and protect your wall while a ball is passed back and forth between two players. And Eppy Games' Fong variant got third place -- it's a really crazy circular version of Pong, with some strange rotational controls and some really frantic action elements. Each of those winners will get a cash prize for winning and a three-year revenue share agreement, enabling them to use the Pong name for their titles as well as earn money alongside the commercial releases. There's more information on those coming soon, so hopefully you'll be able to play some of these titles when they arrive.
Researchers use off-the-shelf parts to let you write emails with your eyes (video)
There's a lot of research to help the spinal cord or stroke-injured become more self-sufficient, but it often takes some exotic paraphernalia. To buck that trend, scientists from Imperial College London showed that subjects could perform relatively hard tasks like writing messages and playing Pong using eye movement -- with a mere $35-worth of parts. They even showed how well the system worked, with subjects scoring within 20 percent of an able-bodied person after a scant 10 minutes of practice. The tracker works with two video console cameras and a pair of eyeglasses that, after calibration, can precisely track the pupils -- allowing them to control a cursor or move a paddle. The researchers also figured out how to "click" the eye-mouse by winking, and can even use more precise adjustments to calculate gaze depth -- meaning subjects will be able to perform more complex tasks in the future, like guide a motorized wheelchair. While by no means the first eye-tracking system we've seen, it's by far the most economical. Check the video after the break to see how it works.
Nexus Q repurposed to play Pong, games with your heart (video)
Google's mysterious, if not ominous Nexus Q has already been hacked to launch apps of varied origins, but there's one particular app that stands above all: Pong. Or, Brick Defender -- you know, what's a generic title amongst friends? BrickSimple managed to hack the Q for Pong playback, using the spinning top (read: volume wheel) to move the lower bar in the game. We'll let you get right to the action; the video's embedded after the break, and the code snippet necessary to duplicate it is there in the source below.
'Pong Tournament' among finalists in Atari Pong development challenge
The finalists in Atari's iOS Pong Indie Developer Challenge have been announced, and all seven game submissions look suspiciously like variations of Pong. The finalists in the competition are PegPeg's Retro Pong, Delusions' Pong Tournament 2012, Island Officials' Pong EVO, Fishbowl Productions' Pong 4033, zGames' Pong World, Eppy Games' Fong, and Mad Ruse Games' Pong Tournament.The first-place team wins $50,000, the second-place team gets $37,500, third place gets $15,000, and the rest of the finalists automatically win $5,000 and a long-term publishing agreement with Atari to split revenue on the finished apps.In January, Atari claimed copyright infringement on "hundreds" of games on the iOS App Store, as part of the company's plan to "vigorously protect its intellectual property."Final submissions to the challenge are now being put to a public vote, with the winning game set to be announced on August 2. One of the submissions, Pong Tournament by Mad Ruse Games, can be viewed above.
Atari: celebrating 40 years of gaming history
Forty years. That's a long time in the tech industry and Atari knows it. Today it celebrates four decades in the game, and quite the tale it is. Highs, lows and everything in between, Atari has been there. As one of the most influential brands both in gaming and technology, it only seems right to take a look over the company's history and chart some of the more significant twists in its less than straightforward journey. After the break we speak to the man that started it all and the one currently at the helm, as well as some of the many people whose lives were irreversibly changed by its influence. Happy birthday to you, Atari!
Atari Dev Challenge finalists announced, voting now open
Atari has announced the finalists in its ongoing dev challenge contest, in which developers from around the Internet have pitched updates to the classic Pong game for the iOS and Android App Stores, with the winners to be published and rev-shared by Atari itself. All of those finalists look pretty interesting -- they almost all have gone with a relatively classic take on the game (which is what Atari told us they were looking for), although all of them have updated the old ball-and-paddle gameplay to be a little more complicated. These finalists are all guaranteed a revenue share agreement with Atari to have their titles published, but we still need to decide who's getting the cash prizes for the best entry. And by we, I mean both you and me. You get to vote on Atari's page (over on the side, you can put a star rating up for each different finalist in the contest), and I, Mike Schramm, am serving as a judge in the competition along with Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Pocket God creator Dave Castelnuovo, developer David Whatley, and a few other folks selected by Atari. The judge's ratings and user ratings are all being thrown into one big pot, and then the winners of the various cash prizes will be announced on August 2nd. It's cool to finally see some actual games coming out of this competition after so long. I'm hoping we judges will get a chance to play all of the finalists soon, and then we'll see the final results in a little over a month.
15 indie developers re-imagine Pong for iOS, hope to win Atari contract
As far as video games go, it doesn't get much simpler than Pong -- two paddles, one ball, no complications. A classic, to be sure, but definitely not the flashiest game when pitted against the average smartphone title -- maybe that's why Atari is asking indie developers to jazz it up. Yes, the Pong Indie Developer Challenge is in full swing, and Atari has pared down some 90-odd submissions to mere 15. Not familiar with the contest? Here's a quick refresh: Atari is looking for indie developers to re-imagine Pong for iOS as a fun, original, visually interesting and overtly marketable title. The stakes? Winners can score up to $100,000 and a publishing contract with Atari. Many of the semi-finalists' redesigns are as simple as adding multitouch gestures or bending the traditionally square playing field into a more circular court, but a few ambitious developers mixed it up with 3D playing fields, anthropomorphic paddles or augmented reality multiplayer. Check out Mashable's collection of contestant trailers at the link below for a look at the Pong of tomorrow. As for us? We're still pretty pleased with yesterday's model.
