Pong

The first successful computer game was a video version of ping-pong, whose "ball" was a blip that bounced back and forth on screen between two paddles. The 'paddles' were moved up and down by two knobs on the console, which was designed to be plugged into an ordinary TV set.

Those who tired of Pong could shell out for the Odyssey - Nothing more than your basic pong machine with plastic overlays for your TV screen (which stuck  thanks to static). There were overlays that looked like a soccer field and a football field . . . but underneath it was still pong.

Pong was invented by a Californian named Nolan Bushnell in 1971, his company, Atari, was selling a home version by 1975. The next year Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications for $28 million.