Doctor Pong
Doctor Pong, also known as Puppy Pong, is an adaptation of the original arcade Pong for use in a non-coin-operated environment. It was conceptualized by Nolan Bushnell, Steve Bristow, and a marketing firm to move their arcade video games into a non-arcade environment—in this case, to help occupy children in pediatricians' waiting rooms. Originally designed to be a model of Snoopy's doghouse with Pong built into the side of it, when Charles Schulz declined Atari the use of Snoopy, the model was changed to a generic doghouse with a puppy looking over the top.
Doctor Pong
Steve Rainwater · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Date
- 1975
- Publisher
- Doctor Pong was published by Atari.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5287372 · wikipedia · Doctor Pong
In this article
The object
The object
Puppy Pong saw a limited production run and was tested at Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre's first two locations.
Key facts
Key facts
• Title — Doctor Pong • Publisher — Atari, Inc. • Developer — Atari, Inc. • Designer — Allan Alcorn Nolan Bushnell Steve Bristow • Series — Pong • Released — 1975-1977 (NA) • Genre — Sports • Platforms — Arcade
Development
Development
The original Snoopy Pong cabinet was designed by Regan Cheng of the Atari Industrial Design group. The follow-up Puppy Pong cabinet was designed by Regan's manager, Chas Grossman. Both cabinets consisted of a doghouse housing a Pong board modified to not use a coin drop as a start trigger. The original Pong automatically starts several seconds after a coin is inserted. In Doctor Pong and Puppy Pong, a "start button" was instead wired up to start the games, set under the vertically mounted television in the dog house "roof." Instead of a traditional control panel, spinners are mounted directly on the roof, as well.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Doctor Pong”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q5287372: Doctor Pong
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Doctor Pong, revision 1368698733 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
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References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 19 August 2026.
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