Pong is one of the oldest and most influential video games of all time. Released in 1972, Pong was a smash hit that helped establish the entire video game industry. Not bad considering all you had to do was knock a square block back and forth.
Fast forward to 2020 and Pong is back in the newly announced Pong quest. It’s back, with a difference.
Pong Quest is an RPG where players adventure as a young paddle across various dungeons and it also takes inspiration from a number of other Atari hits, including Asteroids and Centipede.
Atari COO, Jean-Marcel Nicolai had this to say regarding this new interaction:
“PONG as an RPG is something completely unexpected, but wonderful in execution. We are thrilled to bring PONG Quest to life to honor the classic IP and bring the beloved gameplay to a new generation of players and RPG fans. Atari has a rich portfolio of titles and exploring new ways to breathe new life into those franchises yields exciting results.”
It all sounds quite bizarre, have a look at the trailer for yourselves:
The full game will let you customize your paddle avatar with various looks and items of clothing. There will be over 50 types of Pong ball that each affect the gameplay, some of which you could see in the trailer. Not only that, but the different balls can also be used in multiplayer modes and are sure to make things more interesting.
As someone who owned (and still does) Pong on the Atari 2600, I’m looking forward to seeing how this all plays out. It won’t quite be the same without the paddle controller, but it could be a lot of fun.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Will you be getting this or is it just to niche for your tastes?
Pong Quest will release on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this spring with a retail price of $14.99.
