I’m also 50 this year, and Pong was my first game as well!
So funny to think that it took an entire console to play one black and white game with primitive graphics and like 4 options… and now we have 3D rendered racing sims we can run on our phones!
My dad is a couple of years older than you and he’s the one who introduced me to gaming on his Atari back in the 80s. We play Battle for Wesnoth semi-regularly together.
There was a space of about a decade where we didn’t and honestly I regret that. We don’t live close to each other but it’s how we stay in touch.
Honestly, that and grilling (and eventually motorcycles, but I was already on my way out of rural nowhere when that happened) are the only things we bonded over. I have always had hobbies that kept me at arms length from “normal” people and my dad is the guy you’d think of if you thought of a regular dude born in the 60s. I’m still pretty weird (and happy about it), but it’s nice that I can be close to him through gaming.
61 in about 3 weeks. I’m older than Pong, and I game every day.
I’m 50 and pong was my first video game. I had to play it on amateur with the bigger paddles because the small ones were insanely small.
Alright, we have enough to run a tournament. Who’s streaming!
I’m also 50 this year, and Pong was my first game as well!
So funny to think that it took an entire console to play one black and white game with primitive graphics and like 4 options… and now we have 3D rendered racing sims we can run on our phones!
Dude, that was my first game too! I kind of wish I still had it (and a screen it would play on).
I was 9 or 10 3 first time I saw a Pong arcade machine in a hotel in San Diego.
This was me (figuratively)
Gaming has been serious since
Then I wrote my first game
Now I seek my fortune in glory and plunder
I love this so much!
My dad is a couple of years older than you and he’s the one who introduced me to gaming on his Atari back in the 80s. We play Battle for Wesnoth semi-regularly together.
There was a space of about a decade where we didn’t and honestly I regret that. We don’t live close to each other but it’s how we stay in touch.
Honestly, that and grilling (and eventually motorcycles, but I was already on my way out of rural nowhere when that happened) are the only things we bonded over. I have always had hobbies that kept me at arms length from “normal” people and my dad is the guy you’d think of if you thought of a regular dude born in the 60s. I’m still pretty weird (and happy about it), but it’s nice that I can be close to him through gaming.
My oldest and (he’s 31 today) have copies of this on our office walls https://kagi.com/proxy/2434767_orig.png?c=Ux_Oi49zwrz_XQu8syTDi7pdjUAc4KO_wcuIYxcLBYVVdaF_ts2tNMrrB1335mt_48KAUH2poQelymJ7a7PDGRjG4y4c-aoE0yr1F9vp67s7qwBYQtyX4UprxCe0g5r5
My best gaming time ever is when my sons and I make up a 4-man fire team in any game.
That is so cool! Tell your son I said happy birthday from another gamer son!
55 here, and I got to play lunar lander on my dad’s lab PDP-8 even before my grandparents got Pong.
Currently working my way through Fallout London.