Happy Throwback Thursday! Today’s throwback year is 1972 – the year the world was introduced to Pong! Pong was the first game developed by Atari and it was one of the earliest arcade video games. The prototype was installed in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California in August 1972. It became super popular, with people going to the bar just to play the game. Atari officially announced Pong in November 1972. It consistently earned 4 times more than other coin-operated machines. Atari estimated it earned $35-$40 per day. By 1974, the company had sold more than 8,000 units. In 1975, Atari released a home version of Pong in the Sears Catalog. It became the hottest Christmas gift that year, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Pong was the first commercially successful video game and helped establish the video game industry (along with the Magnavox Odyssey). Today, it’s part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and it was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play in 2015. Learn more in the audio below.