Soon, there will be an important videogame anniversary to celebrate.

It's not the GameCube's five-year anniversary. Well, it is the GameCube's five-year anniversary (it launched on November 18, 2001), but that's not what I'm going to reminisce about. Nor will I be discussing the Super Famicom's sweet sixteenth (released in Japan on November 21, 1990), so put that copy of Kirby Super Star away.

What I am here to talk about is a game system that was released far before the year 2001. When we arrive at our destination in time, 1990 will be but a speck in the DeLorean's rear-view mirror. No, for us to break out the party favors and champagne, we need to head back—way back—to November 29, 1972.

The original PONG cabinet that started it all

Pong was, without question, the game that got the world hooked on the form of entertainment we know and love today. 34 years ago this month, Atari began distributing Pong arcade cabinets across the United States. I'm sure you've heard how the legend goes: Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and engineer Al Alcorn decided to do a public test of the game at Andy Capp's in Sunnyvale, CA. The morning after Pong was installed there, people lined up at the bar's entrance before it opened to get first crack at playing the game. Not even a few days later, Alcorn was dispatched to the bar to fix the "broken" arcade machine; when he opened the service door of the unit, he discovered the cause of the problem: An overflow of quarters overwhelmed the coin repository and jammed the coin switch.

The game was nothing more than a simple recreation of tennis. Strictly a two-player affair, players used a control dial to move the paddle on their side of the court up and down the screen. The ball was beeped and booped back and forth between the players until one of them missed it. The game's monochrome graphics were as simple as the game's instructions:

For everyone who caught the Pong virus, what the game looked like was a non-issue. All they cared about was that there was an incredibly fun, addictive new experience awaiting them in their local gaming parlor. Soon, that experience could be brought home in the form of the Pong home machines. The frenzy was eventually quashed due to a flood of Pong knock-offs, but home game systems like the Magnavox Odessey and arcade companies like Bally/Midway were beginning to pick up steam thanks to the success of the original game. The rest, as they say, is history.

That brings us to this Sunday's Wii launch. The Nintendo faithful are excited about it, which is to be expected. What was unexpected is the reaction to the console from the soccer mom and business-person crowd. Non-gamers and hardcore gamers alike are planning to pick one up before Christmas. Some of the casuals are even considering standing in line overnight to get a Wii on launch day, if they hadn't already pre-ordered one. Mainstream publications like Time Magazine and Forbes are absolutely gushing with praise about how fun it was to play. There was even a mention of people (playfully) fighting over the Wii remote to get their turn at Wii Tennis.

And so, the 34th anniversary of Pong can be properly celebrated.

Is WiiSports Tennis the next PONG?

More than 30 years after its creation, most people will tell you that Pong is still good fun to play for nostalgia's sake. All the Pong variants that came after it, a recent one from Nintendo included, only kept the nostalgic (and therefore, somewhat dated) gameplay. What they all lacked was the phenomenon that accompanied it, bringing Pong to its legendary status. By all accounts the Wii has that phenomenon to go with its newest spin on Pong, and it might just hit the world with the same force gaming did in the 1970s.

I suppose it is ironic that Wii Tennis, one of the games in the Wii pack-in WiiSports five-pack, shares so many similarities with the original tennis videogame. The initial reaction to Pong in that California bar was astonishing. The initial reaction to people getting their hands on the Wii Sports games at E3 this year was astonishing in its own right. Pong was something anyone and everyone could understand, play, and have a lot of fun with. Wii Tennis is the same. Pong triggered a revolution in the home videogame market, which opened up people's eyes to the fun that interactive games could offer. Will Wii do to the common American as Pong did? Will WiiSports be the true reincarnation of Pong? That's up to history to decide.

Unfortunately for me, I was born in 1982 and missed the early days of gaming when Pong made a name for itself. I kind of wish I was able to live those moments. I only truly understood why when I first laid my eyes on an honest-to-gosh original Pong cabinet at E3 a few years ago. The yellow-emblazoned wooden cabinet with the black-and-white television inside was more than a novelty to me; I was looking at the reason why I loved videogames so damn much, and the reason why so many other people today do as well. As I see people talk about the Wii, they seem to be emanating that same joy and love for videogames that I can only imagine people must have felt when they plunked down a quarter and experienced Pong for the very first time. I consider myself fortunate, and honored, to be alive during a time where another social revolution in games may be taking place.

Happy anniversary, Pong. I hope the gift Nintendo gives you is as influential as the gift you gave to society 34 years ago.