--- title: Atari PONG (Model C-100) categories: - Pongs origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1976' cpus: - Atari chipset params: name: PONG (Model C-100) image: /media/museum/photos/atari_c100_1s.jpg company: /companies/atari company_name: Atari specs: - label: NAME value: PONG (Model C-100) - label: MANUFACTURER value: Atari - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: '1976' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: Simple pong game (the original one!) - label: KEYBOARD value: Two built-in spinners - label: CPU value: Atari chipset - label: SPEED value: Start - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: Power on/off - label: RAM value: On screen - label: COLORS value: Black & white - label: SOUND value: Built-in speaker - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: Unknown - label: I/O PORTS value: RF TV video output - label: OS value: Unknown - label: POWER SUPPLY value: External power supply unit - label: PERIPHERALS value: 'No' - label: PRICE value: 55$ (USA) tabs: - photos - links - docs - videos photos: - title: ATARI PONG subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_c100_1.jpg - title: FRONT VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_c100_2.jpg - title: RIGHT SIDE subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_c100_r-side.jpg - title: DETAIL subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_pong-c100_detail.jpg - title: 'BOX #1' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_c100_box_1.jpg - title: 'BOX #2' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_c100_box_2.jpg - title: 'BOX #3' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_pong_box_3.jpg - title: 'BOX #4' subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/atari_pong_box_4.jpg links: - title: ATARI.ORG url: http://www.atari.org/ text: All Atari... :-) - title: PONG-STORY url: http://www.pong-story.com text: The source site for everything pong related docs: - title: OWNER'S MANUAL url: null cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/atari_pong-c100_user-manual.jpg text: |- **OWNER'S MANUAL**\ written by Atari  compiled/archived by Umpqua\  type of document : PDF\  size : 1 MB\  source : www.old-computers.com videos: - title: TV commercial url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X53eJ8AWQ9Y text: 'Length: 29 s' comments: - author: Big Tasty (England ) date: Thursday 18th January 2018 text: I would like to say.. You all succ - author: Brad date: Friday 25th October 2013 text: My Grandpa is Tom Quinn - author: linus (Viña del Mar/Chile) date: Friday 9th March 2012 text: Steven, i have a pong with the same model number that your pong (637.99716). - author: loodo848 date: Sunday 4th March 2012 text: My uncle and grandpa used to have a atari pong intill it got lost somewhere - author: fixman88 (Tyler, Texas) date: Tuesday 27th November 2007 text: I've owned one of these for a little over 10 years. I bought it at a Goodwill store for 7 dollars. It came with its' box and the instruction manual and warranty card (unfortunately since lost due to water damage). The unit itself however is in excellent condition and is sitting on top of my TV to this day! In the late 1990s my cousins actually preferred playing Pong to playing their Sony Playstation! - author: Steven Gerritzen (Ocala, FL) date: Tuesday 23rd August 2005 text: I am trying to learn a little about a Pong system I have. My parents bought it back around 1976, I believe. The model number is 637.99716 which from some of the sites I have found noone seems to have that Model NO listed. The S.N. is legabel and the games works perfectly. The only thing I am missing is the original 110v power cord but the battery power supply still works. The game is in exxcelent condition. All I am is curious to about how much it might be worth if it, if it is worth anything. - author: Primoduke (Argentina) date: Sunday 20th April 2003 text: Does anyone know how many units had been built of this little wonder? oc_id: 872 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230614010947/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=872 date: '2023-06-14' --- As early as 1974, Atari started to design a home version of PONG, originally proposed by Harold Lee in 1973. The system was designed by three engineers: Harold Lee, Alan Alcorn and Bob Brown. Because Magnavox Odyssey was already being left behind by customers (mostly due to their lack of satisfaction, and also the bad rumor that it would only work with a Magnavox TV set), sellers were not attracted by Atari's PONG game until Sears goes ahead and sells the system under their Tele-Games label for Christmas 1975. Following this huge success, Atari released its own version of PONG in 1976. The system had an important feature that most others didn't have in 1975: the use of a single chip that provided games with digital on-screen scoring and attractive sound. As a matter of fact, other systems were still using analog or digital circuits using discrete components. Digial on-screen scoring would have required more components in the circuits, hence an increase of the retail price. Because Atari designed a special PONG chip, the system could sell at normal price with advanced features. In 1975, Atari was rejected by toys and electronics manufacturers as most other PONG systems didn't sell much. One of Atari's directors decided to contact Tom Quinn, who worked at Sears/Roebuck. After several meetings with Bushnell, Sears ordered 150,000 PONG systems for Christmas. Assembled by Atari, the system sold under the Sears Tele-Games label ([Pong model 25796](/museum/sears-pong-model-25796/)). Some people still remember Christmas 1975 when they were going to the shops early in the morning and wait several hours to sign a list allowing them to receive a PONG system. Pong will be a huge success, and will be the cause of multiple imitations and several law suits. However, its popularity did not fall until more advanced systems came on the market. --- **Source :** [PONG-STORY.COM](http://www.pong-story.com)