---
title: Table Tennis
tags:
- ball and paddle
- ping pong
- sport
- table tennis
- tennis
years:
- '1972'
params:
  specs:
  - label: year of release
    value: '1972'
  - label: companies
    value: Magnavox
  - label: type
    value: game
  - label: media
    value: cartridge
  - label: systems
    value: Magnavox Odyssey
  - label: number of players
    value: 2 players (versus)
  - label: staff
    value: Ralph Baer, Bill Harrison, Bill Rusch
  screenshots:
  - title: ''
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: documentation
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  machines:
  - /museum/magnavox-odyssey
  company: /companies/magnavox
  oc_id: 65
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221204112710/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/software_detail.asp?id=65
    date: '2022-12-04'
---

This is the first table tennis video game ever, and also the first tennis game, and also the first pong game, etc... This is clearly the beginning of video games. This game also inspired Nolan Bushnell (later President of ATARI) to copy this game and produce his own version: Pong. The rest is history...

No score displayed on the screen here, you have to count yourself.

The game itself is pretty basic, but the Odyssey had something quite interesting: the English control. Indeed, in addition to vertical and horizontal movements, the Odyssey controlers featured an English control knob, a kind of spin effect controled by the player. This made Table Tennis and most of the Odyssey games more interesting than they look.