Question
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What gaming company released both "Pong" and "Asteroids"?

Last updated: July 8, 2025

One company managed to create two absolute legends in gaming history. The first was a simple tennis-style game that basically invented the video game industry, and the second was a space shooter that had players frantically blasting rocks. What gaming company released both "Pong" and "Asteroids"?

Correct Answer: Atari

(Source)

Atari created both games, though "Pong" in 1972 was never supposed to be anything more than a training exercise. Co-founder Nolan Bushnell assigned engineer Allan Alcorn to build a simple tennis game just to get him familiar with their systems, but Alcorn's work turned out so well that they decided to manufacture it instead. The game became the first commercially successful video game and basically launched the entire industry. Seven years later, "Asteroids" hit arcades and became such a massive hit that Atari had to stop production on another game called "Lunar Lander" just to keep up with demand. They ended up shipping hundreds of "Asteroids" games in "Lunar Lander" cabinets because they couldn't build new ones fast enough. The game sold over 70,000 units and earned Atari around $150 million, making it their biggest arcade success ever. A training exercise that accidentally created an industry, followed by a space shooter that broke their own factory.

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