Atari seeks Walk of Game votes for Pong

Atari has announced that its 1972 classic title Pong has been officially nominated for a place on the Walk of Game at San Francisco's Metreon.

The 350,000 square foot entertainment centre hosts a collection of the San Francisco Bay Area's restaurants, shops and entertainment venues, and became a landmark destination for gamers in March, with the opening of the world's first Walk of Game.

Every year, six Walk of Game winners will receive a 24"x24" star, permanently installed inside Metreon in honour of both pioneers and icons of the gaming industry. 2005 winners include Nolan Bushnell, Shigeru Miyamoto, Halo, Link (The Legend of Zelda), Mario, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Pong, a videogame variation of table tennis, was originally created by Ralph Baer, and is widely regarded as the catalyst for the creation and rapid development of the home videogame industry. The game was released by Atari in 1972, becoming the first commercially successful videogame. Atari are seeking votes from gamers to secure its place on the Walk of Game, and daily voting is now open at www.walkofgame.com.

Voters have until October 31st to seal the fate of the 2006 nominees and Pong faces some fierce competition in the games/characters category. Additional nominees include Castlevania, Civilization, Donkey Kong, Doom, Double Dragon, EverQuest, Final Fantasy, Fox McCloud (Star Fox), Frogger, Grand Theft Auto, Half-Life, Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Madden NFL, Myst, Pac-Man, Pitfall Harry, Quake, Resident Evil, Samus Aran (Metroid), Space Invaders, StarCraft, Street Fighter II, Tetris and The Sims.

In the Lifetime achievement category, the nominees are: John Carmack (Doom), Peter Molyneux (Populous, Fable), Sid Meier (Civilization, Pirates!), Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man), Will Wright (Sims series). Votes will be counted at the end of October and the 2006 winners in each category will be announced in November.