Pong-style assist trophy bounces into Smash Bros. 4

One of Nintendo’s first “characters” joins the all-star cast

There was a time when Pong was one of the most popular videogames in the world. This was a time when games were often freely copied by anyone who wanted to take a stab at the fragile, untested world of videogame publishing. Case in point — the Color TV Game 15, a Nintendo home console from 1978 that played 15 slightly different versions of Pong-like called Light Tennis.

The console will be making an appearance in the Wii U version of the next Smash Bros as an assist trophy that, like the Devil in Smash Bros. Brawl, transforms the entire screen into a recreation of a classic game. It sounds like Sakurai and the rest of the development team has worked particularly hard on keeping the paddle speed consistent with the original game. 

Stuff like this that shows that Smash Bros. is still a labor of love. Pong is not exactly hot with the 18-35 year-old male demographic that most of the videogame industry is tripping over itself to appease right now, but they’re still going for it.

Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS – May 15th screen [Gonintendo]