'Home Pong' Atari prototype auctioned for more than $270,000

March 21 (UPI) -- An original prototype for Atari's Home Pong video game system was auctioned for more than $270,000 and came from the collection of the landmark game's creator.

RR Auction, based in Boston, said the Home Pong prototype, which featured a finished Pong chip in a prototype circuit board in the base and a hand-carved wooden mockup of the Pong system on top, sold for $270,910.

The design was in the Sears Tele-Games version of Pong in 1975 and Atari Pong Model C-100 in 1976.

The prototype came from the collection of Allan Alcorn, who created Pong, one of the first video arcade games, in the 1970s. The auction included a letter of provenance signed by Alcorn.

"In 1975, Atari had managed to become dominant in the coin-operated entertainment business and moved on to build video games for the home market. We had to get Pong running on a single chip of silicon so a product could be built at a price a consumer could afford," Alcorn wrote.