Pong was one of the first arcade video games. It was released by Atari in 1972 and was the first commercially successful video game. It helped to establish the video game industry.
It was a basic two-dimensional table-tennis-style game involving two paddles and a ball. The paddles could both be controlled by players, or the computer could control one for single-player gameplay.
From a modern video gaming perspective, every publisher is looking for the next “Pong.” We’ve had several breakout games, such as Angry Birds and Candy Crush, on mobile devices, but we could say that these are merely modern interpretations of that classic Pong methodology.
In the gaming and technology markets, this methodology has been and will be used over and over again because it’s time-tested and works. More involved games and genres have come and gone, but the simple formula of Pong has endured.
That is the lesson for us here: it’s all well and good to invent something new, but the old favorites still have weight and purpose and can be updated to appeal to more modern audiences. One could say once a game – or anything – has perennial quality, everything after it is just an extension. Therefore, when we’re looking at our product sets and the markets and trends, it isn’t always necessary to be at the cutting edge all the time.
Sometimes more outstanding successes can be found in revitalizing an old trend or simply putting a new twist on it. Innovation is not always a guarantee of success, and we need to balance both the existing and the new.
After all, it’s 2021 now, and Pong is still going 49 years later. Apple and Facebook are perfect examples of two technologies that are based on older ones. Essentially- they are just marketed better and updated. More has been put into their experience for the user. Some could say they are not even the best apps or products out there regarding functionality, quality, or advancement.
That is not the point, however. It will take longer to succeed if you decide to start from scratch with all of your launches. Sometimes, the answer is modeling the best of what’s out there and putting a spin on it that is unique to you.
