back to article Game over: Atari cofounder Ted Dabney dies aged 81

Atari cofounder and co-creator of the legendary Pong, Ted Dabney, has died aged 81 from esophageal cancer. His death was announced yesterday in a brief Facebook post by games historian Leonard Herman, author of the video game history series Phoenix. According to Eurogamer, Dabney was diagnosed with the cancer in late 2017, …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    :(

    And so the world of IT "professionals <cough, cough>" just keeps on rolling because most beancounters (that's all they are now) couldn't care less. And this is why I keep following El Reg because you guys never seem to lose focus on stuff which matters, stuff for nerds! Wait... (yes, that was a sneer).

    Best wishes to his family, and I wish them strength in these horrible times. My heart is out with you today guys...

    I still have an old TV console (dated: 1972) which featured Pong (and pong varients) as the main games. When I get back from work I'm going to try and hook it up in remembrance. No.. I do not know Mr. Dabney and I definitely don't want to pretend otherwise. So why? Because I can, that's all reasoning I need.

    Rest in peace Mr. Dabney, my thoughts will go out to you and your family, especially this evening when I'll be trying a game of Pong again myself. Thank you for all you've done.

  2. Anonymous South African Coward Bronze badge

    Seems all the icons of yesteryear is finally shuffling off to /dev/null

    Sad.

    RIP

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bip! Bip! Bip! Bip! Bip! Bip! Bip! Bip!

    ...

    Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

    .......

    ...

    .

  4. Anonymous South African Coward Bronze badge

    Any multiplayer Android Pong apps?

    Two player only, connected via Bluetooth or wifi.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Any pong...

      Just try throwing your samsung at each other. You can always buy another one.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Any pong...

        "Just try throwing your samsung at each other. You can always buy another one."

        I believe that is the best way to get Android updated these days and may even be in the manual somewhere,

  5. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Moon-walking Apollo 12 astronaut Al Bean of "Try SCE to Aux" fame too...

    Sad.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm the genius in this company!

    Just read up on Nolan Bushnell and how he screwed Dabney. Similar to Jobs and Woz. Are all commercial geniuses dancing on the souls of those tread down? Or is it just the tech industry?

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: I'm the genius in this company!

      It's the way it works.

      Also, that PDF interview is good reading.

  7. paulf
    Facepalm

    "Syzygy"

    FTA: "Bushnell founded a business called Syzygy. They could not incorporate under that name because another company used it,"

    Perhaps I'm not that well read when it comes to 1970s company names but what are the odds of picking a name like Syzygy and finding out someone else already grabbed it!

    1. Jeffrey Nonken

      Re: "Syzygy"

      It's an astronomy term about alignment. Also used in other disciplines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syzygy

      A bit obscure, but the odds aren't really that low. Even comic book writers have heard of it. (TBH that's where I first encountered it, in Dreadstar, where it was used as a character name.)

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