It might be hard to believe that consumers have been playing video games at home for fifty years, but a striking new photo, and the story behind it, puts this time span into perspective. By juxtaposing a modern console with a classic, it becomes striking just how drastically gaming has advanced.
Many gamers asked about the early days of at-home gaming would likely point to the Nintendo Entertainment System, or if they are older, to the Atari 2600. While both of these systems were hugely influential, they didn’t represent the first chance to play video games at home. This honor would the first generation of gaming consoles, simpler machines that could not exchange cartridges, like the Magnavox Odyssey and the Atari Pong home console. These early systems could only display simple dots and shapes, but through clever design and players’ imaginations, it was still possible to have fun.
In the photo shared by Reddit user MarcusGOTY, Atari’s Pong home console sits on the same shelf as a brand-new PlayStation 5. While the Pong console definitely looks a bit worn, it appears to be fully functional and plugged in. This means that MarcusGOTY could switch between a game of Pong and a PlayStation 5 showcase like Astro’s Playroom at a moment’s notice. Connecting the Pong console to a modern TV takes a bit of effort and some equipment not included with either the Pong console or modern TVs.
It’s impressive that MarcusGOTY has been playing games for so long, but even more impressive that this appears to be the photographer’s original Pong console. It goes without saying that keeping track of an old console across 50 years of life events and technology changes would be too much of a challenge for most people, and yet MarcusGOTY made it work. That said, the Pong console is not especially expensive to buy secondhand online, unlike the pricey collectors’ market for some Atari games, suggesting that a good number of people have held onto the system over time.
Granted, some gamers might view the photo with jealousy, rather than awe. Four months after its release, in spite of its highly successful launch, the PlayStation 5 remains elusive for millions of would-be owners. Demand is so high that even fleeting PlayStation 5 restocks feature as breaking news across the Internet. While the sight of a PlayStation 5 will eventually become unremarkable, for now, it rubs salt in the wound for many collectors who want to follow in MarcusGOTY’s steps.
On a lighter note, juxtaposing the Pong console with the PlayStation 5 shows just how big the PS5 really is. It’s been the target of countless jokes and memes, but the PlayStation 5’s considerable size appears to be co-opting the Pong console’s space on MarcusGOTY’s shelf. The console may not be as tall as a skyscraper, but it will demand an alarming amount of space on gamers’ shelves. If the size increase from the Pong console to the PlayStation 5 is the start of a trend, perhaps consoles 50 years in the future will be truly gigantic.
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