One of the first video games ever created, Pong was released in November 1972 and is considered by many to be the spark that ignited the video game industry. The game is based on ping-pong or table tennis, and allows two players to face off in a top-down, two-dimensional virtual game space.
Pong² is an interactive three-player networked video game based on its classic namesake. It was developed in Processing, and runs on Java, requiring either three networked Apple notebook computers (with built-in tilt sensors) for multi-player, or alternatively, a single one.
The game space is directly controlled by tilting the laptop onto which it is installed. This is facilitated by a see-saw like acrylic device to which the computer is securely fastened—thus by grabbing the sides of the laptop and tilting, the player can smoothly and effortlessly control the game.
A grid of tiny squares forms the background, which always stays level with the physical ground. At the bottom of the playing area, a rectangle slides left or right as the device is tilted side to side. Leaving a blue trail in its wake, a ball crosses from one player’s space to another via the top of the screen. When the ball is successfully hit by a player’s rectangular paddle, that player’s paddle color (blue, red, and orange) is transferred to the ball, which then travels to one of the other players depending on its direction. If the ball hits the bottom of the playing area, the grid backgrounds of all connected players change to the ball’s color effectively announcing a goal has taken place. The ball bounces back to one of the other players and the game continues.
