Two paddles, one ball, and the birth certificate of an entire industry.

On the criteria of this platform, built for attachment, emotion, art direction or soundtrack, Pong lands at the very bottom, on nearly every line. Its art style sits ahead of barely 4% of games, its sound and attachment only slightly higher, rediscovery just as low. The one criterion that floats a little is the feel of the controller, and even then in the lower tier, on a single vote, so handle it with care. No surprise here. What makes Pong great is simply not what these questions measure. It is a game of pure mechanics, the absolute ground zero of video games, and we do not ask it to move us or dazzle the eye.

Against modern frescoes full of music and characters, it loses the emotional duel before it starts. But Pong does not really play in that arena, it founded it.

So, who is it for? For you if you respect the history of the medium and want to touch its very first brick. Much less so if you are after a game that grabs you by the gut or floods your eyes, because that is not, and never was, the point.