The arcade game released by Atari in 1972 as one of the first commercially successful video games was Pong.
Pong is a simple two-dimensional table-tennis simulation in which players move paddles vertically to return a square ball. Atari engineer Allan Alcorn created the prototype as a training exercise assigned by company co-founder Nolan Bushnell, but the finished machine proved much more successful than expected.
Atari placed an early Pong cabinet in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, in 1972. The machine became so popular that its coin mechanism eventually filled with quarters and stopped working. Pong was not the first electronic game or even the first arcade video game; Computer Space appeared earlier. Its importance was its accessible design, reliable hardware, and strong public response, which helped establish the coin-operated video-game industry. Atari later released a home version in 1975.