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Broadcast Date: Dec. 12, 1976

The video game industry is taking an exciting turn as Pong and other popular arcade games make their way from the arcades into Canadian homes. As it does, the market is filling up with all the hottest new technology for gamers. CBC-TV's Marketplace looks at what's available for consumers, and has a panel of Pong players decide which consoles are the best.

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• The first home video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which went on sale in 1972. The brown and white console and controllers came with overlays that fit over the TV screen to show a football field, tennis court, hockey arena or other venue, depending on the game. It was battery-powered and lacked any sound capability. The system did not sell well, mostly due to poor marketing, which confused customers into thinking the system worked exclusively with Magnavox televisions.

• The hit video game Pong birthed an entire genre of "ball-and-paddle" games, including tennis, hockey and handball, all of which were slight variations on the basic Pong design.

• Atari first sold a home Pong system in 1976. The first model, the C-100, played just the one game.

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Medium: Television

Program: Marketplace

Broadcast Date: Dec. 12, 1976

Host: George Finstad, Joan Watson

Duration: 5:52

This clip was edited for copyright reasons.

Music from the album Kids Party by Thierry Durbet and Laurent Thierry-Mieg.

Last updated:
Dec. 29, 2009