Play PONG For Money
Posted by: kmikeym | From: November 30, 2004
It's strange when you realize that people are building machines designed to take your money. And it's especially strange when those machines are so good at doing it. I'm not a big fan of the slot machines, and I feel like the slot-machine owners know this, and they don't like it. So they have peered deep into my soul and created a slot machine designed to steal my poker money.
In a truly brilliant move to target young male gamblers, Alliance Gaming Corp (makers of fine slot machines) have a licensing deal with Atari to make slots based on classic Atari games like PONG, Asteroids, Centipede and Breakout. "There is a huge population that grew up with these Atari games and that audience is still clamoring for ways to recapture the fun of their first gaming experience," said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Atari in a press release. He defends his position well, "Atari is committed to ensuring that fans of our classic games have access to them wherever and however they seek entertainment. By joining forces with Alliance and Bally [a division of Alliance Gaming Corp], we know that we'll reach a large audience of gaming devotees."
He stops short of saying that they plan on essentially robbing these large audiences blind by taking advantage of their love of these games, but I'm glad to see that PONG is still going to be cutting edge: Bally Gaming's display of the Atari PONG slot machine at the Global Gaming Expo will mark the debut of Bally's new dual-screen M9000 cabinet powered by the company's next-generation Game Maker® II operating system. The PONG slot machine will include a skill element that will allow players to use a traditional game paddle to play a game of PONG against the computer during the bonus round.
I looked for coverage of the PONG game at GGE but everyone was much more excited about Clint Eastwood being there to unveil his signature slot machine (also, there was the Elizabeth Taylor diamond machine, where you play for actual jewelry). I suppose this means that the gaming folks know it's still old people playing slots, but the licensing deal with Atari makes me wonder what is next. While PONG and these games were just a tiny bit before my time, everyone knows and loves Mario, and those games even featured slot machines in them!
I heard Nintendo is holding out licensing to a slot machine until they find a way to magically bestow these powers on the winner.
Posted by: Mikey at November 30, 2004 4:02 PM
"While PONG and these games were just a tiny bit before my time, everyone knows and loves Mario, and those games even featured slot machines in them!"
So if Nintendo ever licenses Mario to a gaming company, will the winnings be Invincibility Stars, Power Shrooms and Fire Flowers?
Posted by: curt at November 30, 2004 3:53 PM