A "creative sequel" to Pong asks what happens when the ball escapes the paddles

[midian182]

In brief: Pong is one of the oldest old-school video games, having originally been released by Atari back in 1972 in its arcade form before helping establish the video game industry. There have been countless versions of the table tennis-themed title since then, but there's a limited amount of variation when it comes to bouncing a ball off paddles. With Qomp 2, however, you are the ball.

Atari says that Qomp 2 is a creative sequel to seminal classic Pong, one that asks the question: what if the ball escaped the paddles? Judging by the trailer, fight for its existence in a brutalist maze filled with spikes, puzzles, and floating T-Rex heads.

The game's Steam listing reveals that Qomp 2 offers cerebral puzzling across its 30 levels spread over four different worlds. The way players control the ball certainly sounds interesting. Just two buttons are used: one of them changes direction in 45-degree increments, while the other dashes the ball forward when you hold and release it.

Qomp 2 promises new features, mechanics, enemies, traps, and hazards, as well as changing gameplay aspects. There are also four different bosses to take on at the end of each world. Atari said the game has an enigmatic story of doubt, fear, and self-acceptance, which isn't something you'd normally associate with classic Pong.

If this is a creative sequel to Pong, then why is it called Qomp 2? The upcoming game is a sequel to 2021's Qomp. The predecessor follows the same concept of the Pong ball escaping the paddles, though it's a lot smaller at 1 – 3 hours of gameplay.

The first Qomp was developed by Stuffed Wombat, but the original creator seems pleased to see Atari take over the reins for this one. The studio posted that it was happy for its IP to find a home with one of the most famous gaming companies in the world.

Really excited to see how Atari is carrying our work forward!

It's been a wild ride, making qomp for so long and then finding a home for the IP with one of the most famous gaming companies in the world!

What a life :)) https://t.co/4ii4LzDdbd

– Stuffed Wombat (@wombatstuff) August 29, 2023

Qomp 2 will land on PC, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One & Series X|S, Atari VCS, and iOS & Android sometime next year.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/99978-creative-sequel-pong-asks-what-happens-when-ball.html

 

[MaXtor]

I played the original, very short but good game. I think I completed it within an hour or two. I'll definitely buy the sequel.

 

[BobHome]

I played the original, very short but good game. I think I completed it within an hour or two. I'll definitely buy the sequel.

I first played it on a Bally Arcade console. You had plastic overlays you put on the TV screen for several games that showed the boundaries--because there wasn't enough RAM to do it all internally.
Ah, the early days....

 

[MaXtor]

I first played it on a Bally Arcade console. You had plastic overlays you put on the TV screen for several games that showed the boundaries--because there wasn't enough RAM to do it all internally.
Ah, the early days....

Haha, that's wicked awesome. However, I was talking about the original Qomp game. My first console was a Super Nintendo.