By Andrew Liszewski
I don’t think anyone’s ever lamented the lack of physical activity required for playing a game of Pong, that’s what tennis is for, but someone, somewhere, felt that the classic video game could use a bit more physical interaction, and hence Sportpong was born. Setup appears to be a little complicated since the game requires overhead projectors to be mounted and a decent sized area (the minimal dimensions are 4 meters wide by 7 meters long) but playing Sportpong looks to be as easy as it was with the original Pong.
Virtual paddles appear to be connected to each player’s foot thanks to a simple reflector they attach to their shoe, and the goal, as always, is to bounce the ‘dot’ past your opponents’ goal line. While Sportpong isn’t available for sale, the system can be rented out for special events by contacting the creators in Switzerland, and while it’s not posted on their site, the cost is probably mostly dependent on where they need to bring it.