Feature: 5 Alternative Ways to Play Pong

A gamepad isn’t the only accessory you can use to play Pong. These five examples have taken creativity to a whole new level. Which one do you like best?

The Pong Dress

File this under: “Strange Pong Creations” Max Moswitze has created a Pong Dress that “dissolute[s] the boundaries between body and screen.” Here’s how it works:

White LEDs shine through the dress’s black front, and players play on a 5×7 LED screen woven right into the dress. Apparently, two pixels go up and down as rackets to the left and right along the waist. The score is then displayed at chest level

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Wii Pong

One of our readers (Jake) sent in a video clip of him and a friend playing a custom-programmed Flash game, called Wii Pong, on his GlovePie-enabled PC w/IR sensor bar — using two Wiimotes.

Wii-motes are used to play a custom Flash-based Pong game on a PC. The angle of pitch determines the direction and speed of the paddle

NETPong

“SOPMACsl” gives us a short demonstration of NETPong (custom version) running on his two MacBook’s. Download NETPong here.

The game is based upon the classic game of Pong. The oject is to keep a ball in the playing field by blocking it with your paddle. NetPong has expanded the original by alowing up to four player to play in a single game. Each player kit must be built using digital logic. The four players kits are connected via serial connections to a central hub (which the students also build)

Atari’s Pong Wall

Atari demonstrated this nifty touch-sensitive “Pong Wall” at Nextfest 2006. This interactive installation uses embedded sensors to detect hand movements and LEDs for displaying the score/information.

Flashlight Pong

Display22 puts a new twist on the classic game of Pong by adding a new level of interactivity — using flashlights to control the paddles. The entire surface of the screen was fitted with light-tracking sensors to follow movement.

Concretely, Flashlight Pong should be playable in the input area on the display installed