Skip to main content

Table Pong Casually Turns Your Living Room into an Arcade

Forget everything you learned from The Big Lebowski. It’s the coffee table that really ties the room together. Your entire home could be furnished in the finest mid-century modern or live-edge woodwork, but a bland coffee table takes all the impact out of your tasteful appointments. And by bland, we mean anything that blends in too well.

As the center of community and conversation in a space, the coffee table is an opportunity for disruption. It’s also an opportunity to look your guests in the eye and say, “Y’all don’t know me” in a way that makes them really, really want to.

We present for your consideration: Table Pong.

Recommended Videos

This work of engineering genius marries pop culture, nostalgia, artisanal know-how, and digital finesse. It’s a coffee table that also functions as a music player, a charging station, a clock, and — oh, almost forgot! — an Atari Pong game.

the pong project
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Built with classic arcade-style lines and adorned with stylish typography, Table Pong offers the ideal mix of throwback feels and forward-minded design. At 28 by 19 inches, the  table is an anchoring presence in a room of any size. (Those who prefer a toned-down version can order the table sans logo in flat black, white, or brown.) The center game board is protected by a clear panel and tightly sealed against spills. This is first and foremost a coffee table, folks.

In an unexpected twist, the Pong part of Table Pong isn’t digital. Instead, a real-life “ball” (the little white square) bounces back and forth between real-life “paddles” (little white rectangles) using a magnet rigged underneath the table and knobs on either side of the console.

Don’t worry —the big red plastic buttons have been preserved for that sense-satisfying click. So have all the original sound effects. It’s not Atari without the bleeps and bloops.

The console is flanked by LED lights that display the score while you’re playing, and function as a clock when you’re not. It offers both free play and coin-operation modes, making it perfect for hosting a rent party or a kegger with a cause. An embedded hard drive syncs with Bluetooth so you can jam out to your favorite Soft Cell tunes while playing the game. And since you’re pumping electricity through the table, anyway, the makers thoughtfully added some USB ports so that you can tweet and Instagram your glorious Table Pong victories in real time.

The idea for Table Pong began in 2016 with the founders built  a much clunkier prototype. Thanks to a ton of popular support and a very successful Kickstarter campaign, the creators were able to refine and design and debut the final iteration at CES 2018, one of the largest tech conventions in the world.

“Our biggest challenge was to find the right balance between the forces that re-create the 2D movement and illusion of the game,” co-founder Gerardo Orioli told our brother site, Digital Trends. “We had to deal with two different kinds of forces: magnetic and friction. In order to control them, we had to variate the motor’s speeds and accelerations to achieve the right balance; otherwise, the ‘ball’ would fly out of reach. A lot of research was put into trying different motors and different setups, and into choosing the right magnets and surfaces.”

To watch a new interview with the Table Pong team, head on over to Digital Trends. And if Pong was never your thing, check out these refurbished arcade tables or this beer pong golf game instead.

Article originally published on December 14, 2017. Last updated on January 12, 2018 to include details about the CES 2018 debut.

Chelsea Batten
Former Former Digital Trends Contributor, The Manual
Chelsea Batten is a writer, photographer, and Kerouac groupie. One of the original digital nomads, she was seduced from life…
Learn how to smoke a pipe the proper way with our guide for beginners
Let us show you the classy way to smoke a pipe
Packing a pipe

Pipe smoking is the most aesthetically distinguished way to enjoy tobacco, but you lose the classy effect if you don’t know how to smoke a pipe properly. Smoking a pipe has become a lost art, and these days, most people who engage in pipe smoking do so to achieve a sense of nostalgia. Perhaps your grandfather enjoyed a puff now and again paired with a good stiff whiskey, or maybe your goal is to emulate a pipe-smoking artist.

I know that I enjoy a good puff on a pipe now and then, and knowing the right way to enjoy a pipe has made the experience much more pleasurable for for me. Whatever the case, if you intend to take up the time-honored tradition of unwinding with a pipe like me, you should learn how to smoke a pipe the right way. And smoking a pipe is very different than smoking a cigar (except you shouldn't be inhaling either).

Read more
Don’t ruin your cigars: here’s how to properly season a new humidor
Seasoning secrets every cigar lover could use
faceless man presenting a cigar humidor with cigars inside with gloved hands

If you're a newcomer to the world of cigars or just bought a brand-new humidor, you'll need to season it. And no, I'm not saying to add salt and pepper to it. If you've never heard of it, you might ask, "What is seasoning for a humidor?"

Don't think you need to flavor the box or anything — seasoning is really about getting the wood inside your humidor so as not to rob your cigars of precious moisture. Easy to understand, and getting it done is relatively straightforward as well. The trick is figuring out the "why," and we'll get into that in a bit. But let's first discuss seasoning a humidor.

Read more
The NBA’s ultimate celebration tool: The victory cigar
A look at the players and coaches who smoke to celebrate
Jordan smoking a cigar image on a bag

Sports are synonymous with celebration. After winning the biggest trophy of their lives, athletes want to indulge in the payoff that comes with seeing their dreams realized. Teams go into the locker room, where a waterfall of champagne hits them in the eyes, and swimming goggles seem to be a requirement, lest you walk around on the best night of your life half blind. While drinking is often the activity of choice after winning a championship, the NBA has an alternative symbol of greatness that other sports don't use nearly enough: the victory cigar.

Basketball is a team game, but it's also an individual canvas for solo superstardom. After winning an NBA championship, the coaches and players who sit atop the throne have long smoked a cigar in the locker room, during the parade, or even on the bench before the clock has hit zero. There's nothing quite like a good stogie to signify the ultimate win over the rest of the league, but how did the victory cigar get so ingrained in NBA championship celebrations? We want to take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the historical moments and people who made the cigar what it is within the NBA today.
Red Auerbach's victory cigar on the bench
Red Auerbach: The Story Behind the Victory Cigar + His Disdain of NBA Officials - Red on Roundball

Read more