Pong is a video game released originally as a coin-operated arcade game by Atari Inc. on November 29, 1972. Pong is based on the sport of table tennis (or "ping pong"), and named after the sound generated by the circuitry when the ball is hit.
The word Pong is a registered trademark of Atari Interactive, while the term "pong" is used to describe the genre of "bat and ball" video games.

Pong is often regarded as the world's first video arcade game, but Computer Space by Nutting Associates had been launched a year earlier in 1971(See our page on this subject).
Pong was the first video game to achieve widespread popularity in both arcade and home console versions, and launched the initial boom in the video game industry. The popularity of Pong led to a successful patent infringement lawsuit from the makers of an earlier video game for the Magnavox Odyssey. Pong is a first generation video game, a term used to describe the video game industry between 1972 and 1977.