Philadelphia gets ready to play Pong on a building

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Philadelphia is getting ready for a supersized game of Pong.

The classic Atari video game will come to life on the facade of a 29-story skyscraper. Hundreds of built-in LED lights at the Cira (SEAR'-ah) Centre will replicate the familiar paddles and ball.

The effort is the brainchild of Frank Lee, a Drexel University game-design professor.

Pong will be played April 19 and 24, to bookend an event called Philly Tech Week.

The black-and-white arcade game introduced in 1972 had no complicated graphics, just geometric shapes. Players controlled digital paddles and tried to hit the ball so their opponents could not return it. A home version paved the way for the game console industry.

In Philadelphia, gamers will control their paddles from afar, standing across the Schuylkill (SKOO'-kul) River from the building.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-04-04-Supersized%20Pong/id-95c3c53b4a7140678b796ca23a9a63eb

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