Legendary Video Game PONG Auction Announcement

We are pleased to offer the legendary video game PONG, discovered after more than 50 years. This PONG was rumored to exist but had never been confirmed until recently. It includes unused parts containing significant semiconductors from the early IT industry, making its value immeasurable.

Product Details:

Condition: Brand new, unused

Included: Complete set in unopened condition maintained by a specialized dealer

Size: Pokémon card pictured is for size comparison only and is not included in the auction.

Seller: Individual seller (part of household business)

Transaction Conditions:

Returns: Not accepted

Shipping: Yamato delivery, 600 yen for mainland, 1400 yen for remote islands

End Time: During the 7 PM hour

Additional Notes

This family has been in the toy business for over 100 years, starting in Asakusa, Tokyo, and moving to rural areas during wartime, evolving alongside the toy industry's development. What has been discovered in our warehouse is a set of parts from the legendary video game PONG produced in Japan in the early 1970s. This PONG was designed not for home use but as a commercial arcade machine and was specifically sold to avoid lawsuits in the USA. This set of PONG parts contains electronic components from an era when Japan established itself as the 'Factory of the World,' and if assembled, will result in a complete home-use PONG from the early 1970s. However, due to its rarity, this set has never been opened, maintaining its completeness. Our family is a living testament to the history of Japan's toy industry and has understood and preserved the value of this PONG. This PONG is a significant discovery in video game history and is immensely valuable for collectors and researchers.

This is new material regarding the video game PONG, discovered in Japan after 50 years.

Let me introduce myself: My family has been in the old Japanese toy business for 100 years.

The founder started in Asakusa, Tokyo, and moved to a rural area just before the end of World War II.

In Japan, during times of low income, the toy industry was almost identical to the cheap candy industry and gradually took shape in line with economic development. Asakusa, Tokyo, is also the birthplace of TOMY and Bandai, and continues to be the center of Japan's toy industry. Despite relocating, my family has continued business since before the toy industry was established, and now we are consolidating our business as a toy store.

In the past, there was a type of commodity shop where garages were transformed into stores selling simple toys and candy. In the 1970s, when I was a child, elderly women running these shops as a life enjoyment would often meet children; their estimated daily sales would be less than 1000 yen. Before the gaming centers established as a business type, low-cost gaming devices were often played for ten yen, providing income for these elderly women, so my ancestors utilized connections in Asakusa to secure products and rented out ten-yen games. This is the background of my family business, and from someone in a now-defunct business, I acquired a remaining asset, which has led to the discovery of this new PONG. I bought it along with vintage restoration tools and spare parts. I must note as a preamble that those who handled products from this era are now retired, making it impossible to find testimonies. This PONG appears to have been sold as a set of electronic components packaged by electronic component trading companies in Japan, which was the factory of the world at that time, for practical educational purposes. Assembling it will result in the completion of the early 1970s home-use PONG. The true purpose of this PONG was to market it as commercial gaming equipment in a simplified form to prevent the lawsuits regarding the PONG that began in the USA from reaching Japan, which allowed small businesses with limited capital to operate small-scale production without detection from the legal representatives arriving from the USA. Thus, it remained as stock in businesses from that era.

Important Additional Explanation Regarding Transactions

The product page lists standard shipping at 600 yen, which is a basic choice. However, this basic delivery method has an insurance limit of 500,000 yen in the event of an accident, and once dispatched, the seller's responsibility ceases. Therefore, if unfortunate events occur such as non-delivery, the buyer will only receive insurance of 500,000 yen. To avoid this risk, at the transaction initiation, it is recommended to discuss a special shipping method appropriate for high-value art pieces, considering the buyer's circumstances. Yamato Transport is Japan's most reliable shipping company; if they cannot handle it, a major security company will be consulted for a quick estimate. Additionally, if the transaction is not completed within a week after the auction ends, cancellation is imminent; however, if both parties wish to continue the transaction after payment, the product can be stored in a bank safe while discussing the drop-off method. To enable overseas bidders, it is advised that the bidder arranges for an agent proficient in Japanese who can handle the transfer of the product. Of course, I welcome suggestions for better shipping methods. I have experience safely shipping collector items worth about 2 million yen both domestically and internationally, and I am prepared to respond quickly as the seller for high-value products.

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New Material Regarding the PONG Discovered in Japan After Over 50 Years

The reason I can understand the value of this parts set, even though I am not directly involved, is not only because my family has a century-long history but also for other reasons.

I have a cousin who was raised in a wealthy home and has been a leader in a design team for a digitalization project of Japan's communication infrastructure after becoming an adult. It just so happens that during middle school, he was given a PONG as teaching material, and he has seen low-cost business machines utilizing that PONG programming at a local candy shop. Another cousin of his age witnessed a completely different version of that same program but packed in a separate business machine. During family gatherings, I heard tales about selling Family Computers back then, not just from my relatives, but my family has been in the business long enough to accumulate many buried stories about the Japanese industry. Why is it that this truth can no longer be explored by anyone? Because regrettably, that brilliant cousin has already passed away. Therefore, I cannot even ask the parties involved for testimonials. In Japan, the PONG only became a topic after Nintendo released it for home use quite late, which means the only consolidated information exists afterward, and there is no existing data on this Japanese PONG from a previous era. Originally, it was marketed in such a way that its identity could not be revealed; had this parts set been exported, it might have become a core component for existing PONGs discovered in research-active foreign countries. This material holds no interest in Japan, as evidenced by the multifaceted existing information investigation requested from BING, which I published as research aimed at English-speaking audiences after completing it. I was astonished by BING's research capabilities.