1976
- Atari’s PONG - Atari released a home version of PONG in 1976. Unfortunately, the violence inherent in this "children's game" ended up directly influencing countless adolescents to attack and murder anyone or anything that crossed their paths, be it unsuspecting parents, oblivious school friends or tiny innocent pets. PONG manufacturing was immediately discontinued and all existing games were confiscated and buried in giant landfills.
Then came "tAnk battle." Or was it "Battle Tanks?"
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a man with a history.
ReplyDeleteImpeccably realised too.
Tim- As long as the Tanks were Battlin', any name would work!
ReplyDeleteSimon,
ReplyDeleteYes, if it weren't for Atari Pong, my entire family would still be alive today!
I WONDERED why the gaming industry tapered off between the late 70's and mid 80's. Seems those mass murders weren't widely televised.
ReplyDeleteSteve- Yeah, they kept it kinda quiet. Most of the bodies were secretly dumped into the giant land fill, too (along with any reporters who happened across the story and threatened to expose it.)
ReplyDeleteFunny you keep mentioning land fills.
ReplyDeleteI saw a show about video games once that
said the "ET Atari game" was so bad they did bury
many unsold copies in a land fill.
You didn't mention how this was tied into the PacMan cannibalism craze a few years later.
ReplyDeleteTim- I had no idea about the "ET Atari game" land fill. I want to dig them up and sell them on eBay!
ReplyDeleteGeorge- Yes, I remember that stores stopped selling yellow spray paint to children, to dissuade them from painting themselves yellow and embarking on cannibalistic murder sprees.
ReplyDeleteIt's still chilling to watch the horrific news footage!
Unfortunately, the effects of the video game replacement "solution", Ms. Pac-Man, was no less tragic.
Word:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_%28video_game%29