Pong turns 50

Helsinki Hacklab Lab Camera / CC

The multi-billion dollar video games industry began 50 years ago this week with table tennis in black and white. The classic video game Pong, one of the first to reach mainstream popularity, was released on November 29, 1972. It was not the first commercial coin-operated video game — that accolade belongs to Computer Space. But it was the first to really take off with the paying public, spawning a host of imitators.