Puppy Pong

Manufacturer: Atari
Year: 1974
Class: Prototype
Genre: Ball and Paddle
Type: Videogame
Sub:
Conversion Class: unique
Number of Simultaneous Players: 2
Maximum number of Players: 2
Gameplay: Competitive
Control Panel Layout: Multiple Player
Controls:

Rotary: Analog

Sound: Amplified Mono (one channel)

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Puppy Pong Description

This is the original game packaged in a cute yellow dog house. Before building Puppy Pong, Atari built a prototype ‘Snoopy Pong’ game. Animator Charles Schultz threatened a lawsuit, and only one Snoopy Pong was developed. In or about August of 1974, Snoopy Pong was redesigned with a generic puppy that didn’t look like the famous Snoopy cartoon character. The game made its big debut at Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurants (aka Pizza Time Theatre) in Sunnyvale, California. It is relevant to note that Chuck E. Cheese was founded by Nolan Bushnell, who also founded Atari. It is a table top game, and as a ‘free play’ machine does not contain a coin mechanism. The best estimates of the collecting community are that somewhere between 35 and 100 Puppy Pong machines were built. While we don’t know how many have survived, we have run into several different collectors that incorrectly believe they have the only one. Legend has it that even after the game was changed to Puppy Pong, Shultz the creator of Peanuts still complained about the similarity of the cartoon and game and asked them not to make any more of them. As a result, the game never went into wide production.

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Cabinet Information

The game is housed in a table top yellow dog house with Puppy Pong labeled along the bottom. A puppys head and paws stick out of the top. There is no coin slot since the player simply pushes the start button to begin a game.

Game Introduction

The object is to keep the ball in play and hope your opponent misses.

Game Play

A ball is launched onto the playing field. Using a flat paddle, you deflect the ball towards your opponent. Your opponent also with a flat paddle, does the same. Points are scored when the opposing player missed and the ball gets past him/her. The first player to ten points, wins.

Miscellaneous

Was only tested in Chuck E. Cheeses Pizza Time Theatres in California.

VAPS Arcade Census

GAMES OWNED, WANTED, or FOR SALE BY MEMBERS OF THE VIDEO ARCADE PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Very Rare - There is one known instance of Puppy Pong owned by one of our 900 members. It is an original dedicated machine (not another machine converted with a kit).

Of the 57,098 video games (3,420 unique) tracked by the Video Game Preservation Society, this game ranks a 2 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most commonly seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on ownership records.

Wanted - We currently do not know of any VAPS members that have gotten around to adding this game to their wish list. The wish-list system is fairly new (not all VAPS members have filled one out) and there are probably a number of collectors who might purchase this game if offered one at the right price.

Rarity is NOT necessarily an indication of value. Some common games show up as very rare here because collectors don't want them (they are common because arcade operators might be sitting on tons of them in warehouses), while some fairly scarce games are grabbed by collectors every time they show up. Additionally, some games made in the last 5 years are still making money for operators and are thus not yet affordable to the typical collector. For a clue to value, compare how many people have this game vs. how many people want this game and then click on the eBay links to help determine an accurate price range.

Trivia

The following text is found at httpwww.atarihistory.comarcadepuppypong.html BLOCKQUOTEThis is a very rare and rather unknown Atari coinop game. Basically it was Atari Pong without a coin box packaged into a very cute little table top wooden cabinet. According to Regan Cheng formerly of Ataris Industrial Design group Regan is the man responsible for the ominous Atari 5200 look and he also created Ataris all new hightech XL computer line styling. The Puppy Pong was originally conceptualized by Nolan Bushnell, Steve Bristow, and various marketing guys. The original idea was Snoopy Pong for which I designed a red dog house cabinet with Snoopy on top as you see in the comics. The original concept was called Doctor Pong, a unit for pediatrician office waiting rooms to keep children occupied. Regan also mentioned It was originally designed by Chas Grossman, Industrial Designer. He was the design manager for Pete Tachaichi and myself I believe for about 1 year 1975. The puppy house was left over from the Snoopy Pong, but painted yellow instead of red. It was the perfect game for small children and so simple to play all it took was a push of the button located in the center of the game under the main screen that would reset the game to play up to a winning 10 point score. The reason very few people have ever heard of this version of Pong in a Dog House cabinet is that the dog house had a similar look to another more famous dog house belonging to a rather popular beagle from the 70s.... Snoopy, according to Dennis Gregory who was the original owner of this Puppy Pong, apparently Schulz contacted Atari and requested that Atari not produce a game that too closely resembled his Snoopy Dog House So Ataris Puppy Pongs only spotlight in public was during its testing phase in the Chuck E. Cheese Pizza Time Theater in California where it was placed on table tops in the restaurant for people to play while waiting for their pizza. This Puppy Pong has made its way to the Atari Historical Society courtesy of Dennis Gregory a former Atari employee and former Pizza Time employee.BLOCKQUOTE

eBay Listings

Click here to automatically search eBay's Arcade, Jukebox, and Pinball categories for the Puppy Pong Videogame machine and items related to it.

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