In November 1972, Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn wheeled a strange apparatus into Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, Calif. Bushnell, the founder of a new company called Atari, and Alcorn, Atari's first engineer, set up the cube-like device on a barrel and switched it on. Two dials were set below glowing rectangles on a screen. The instructions read: "1. Insert quarter. 2. Ball will serve automatically. 3. Avoid missing ball for high score." Curious patrons began to follow step one.

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