The power toggle is a big, mushy switch that oozes from side to side without positively engaging on either side. Even so, the plastic burrs left on the edges from the injection molding process that nobody bothered to file off are a strong indicator that this thing was made to a cost.Īnother hint is the bargain-basement switchgear. Each knob is made of cheap, hard plastic, a surface that will chafe against the hands of younger gamers whose digits have known nothing but high-quality polymers and soft-touch coatings. These are the only real controls the system has, and naturally the only real controls the game needs.
It's these two raised panels that present the most important aspects of this console: the dual knobs. No, there isn't any actual hide (nor pleather for that matter), but the black plastic on the left and right sides of the top has a distinctive texture obviously imitating something that came off of a cow and went through a tannery. There's no faux-woodgrain here (as would later make an appearance on consoles like the Atari 2600) but parts of this system have been inspired by another organic surface: leather. It's only the very top that's actually brown, slightly lighter plastics capping and wrapping around the black. It sits up on a large base of black plastic, elevating it up off of a table or lap while a little rubber nub at each corner keeps the whole unit from sliding around too much in frantic two-player matches.
Other than different colored plastics and labeling, the two units are identical.Īs would become something of a trademark for Atari, this edition of Pong sports a brown and black color combination that clearly establishes its pedigree as a '70s icon.And what color are the plastics? As would become something of a trademark for Atari, this edition of Pong sports a brown and black color combination that clearly establishes its pedigree as a '70s icon. This is actually the second-generation of Pong hardware made available to consumers (aka Home Pong or the C-100), though the first iteration, released in 1975, was sold exclusively through Sears Sporting Goods. New, it cost just under $100 (enough to buy an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii by today's dollars), but the bargain-hunting first owner of the unit we reviewed paid just $79.95, according to the price tag that's still stuck on here. Stepping back in time 36 years, one would expect for things to be rather simpler than they are today, and in that regard this Atari-made Pong console does not disappoint.
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