I created these pages with notepad using raw html and css code with the help of 'cut and paste'. The more I learn these codes, the more I like using notepad instead of the 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' editor. The editor is pretty messy with tags, making it hard to add cool content by script/code. Coding takes a little longer in notepad, but the payoff is worth it! I mean, just look at that cool floating menu over there... (However, when I don't update my site I tend to forget it all and have to start over and learn everything again. *sigh*)

HayMan HighLight
Always found at the bottom of the HomeFront page.

PONG - My First Game Console

It seems I've become long-winded in my young, middle-age. Oh well.

Let's take a walk down memory lane....

Believe it or not, my first game was Pong. I can't remember exactly, but I was probably about 8 years old (woulda been 1979) and the Atari 2600 was pretty new on the market. All the rich and spoiled kids were getting it and my dad found an old, used pong game and brought it home for us to play with. I remember my older brother and I were so excited. Thinking back on it now, I remember my dad being pretty excited about it, too, as he set forth to hook it up to the TV. Wow, we couldn't wait! Those big, twisty knobs called 'paddles' were the controllers and we couldn't stop messing with them.

But things were different back then.

You couldn't just plug it in to the TV. Remember, this was 1979. Plus, our TV was an older model and wasn't made cable ready. It only had hookups for antennas. The antennas had two wires to attach to the back of the TV. You had to get a screwdriver and loosen a couple of screws on the back of the TV to attach the wires. If you wanted cable service, you had to get a cable-to-antenna adapter (about the size of a AA battery) to connect it to your TV. We had cable, so the coaxial line (which hasn't changed at all since 1979) screwed onto the adapter, and then the adapter was attached to the antenna screws on the back of the TV.

My brother and I noticed switchable settings on the Pong console for difficulty, speed, 1 or 2 players, and such. This was going to be so cool!

Now as it was, the used Pong game my dad had acquired came with an adapter of it's own. It was a silver color and about the size of a pack of cigarettes with a black slider switch on the front. It had the same two wires as the cable-to-antenna adapter (to connect to the antenna screws on the TV) coming out one end, the male fitting for the coaxial cable poking out the other end, two antenna screws on one side to attach to an antenna, and a black wire coming out the other side that pluged into the Pong unit. The switch was labeled something like, "Cable <-----> Game <----->Antenna," so you could switch between the three.

If you've ever watched old people try to figure out cellphones or hook up a DVD player these days, you can probably imagine what this long, Pong process was like for my dad 30 years ago (and for us as we over-anxiously waited to play Pong!!). Yes, it was grueling. Thank god this was before cable boxes, VCRs, and home entertainment stereo systems. That would've been a nightmare!

Finally, the TV and TV stand were pushed back into place, the screwdriver and old adapter were sitting on top of the TV, the Pong console unit was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, and my brother and I got to watch as my mom and dad played Pong in our home for the very first time. Don't worry, it didn't take long for us to get our turn.... .... .... "Can I play next?" "Is it my turn?" "Can I do it?" "Can I try now?" "Can I play?"

But, I'm not sure if that was the first game I ever played, or if the first game I ever played was a stand-up quarter machine of some sort like Space Invaders. Pong was definitely my first in-home, free video game.... and we played the heck out of it.

Pong. What a dumb game, by today's standards. Here's a list of features that I can remember.....

-- One sound effect. --No start screen or game menu. You had to throw a switch on the game console to reset the game and score. -- No High Score table, or splash screens of any kind. No Intros... No logos... not even a company name. --No music. --No winner congradulations. And whatever you do, don't leave the game on and running because it burned lines into your TV screen that would remain visible when you tried to watch TV.

We really have come a long way.