Where Has All The Pong Gone?

Pong was created as an electronic form of table-tennis back in 1972. (I can't believe electronic games are that old, but according to Wikipedia, the first electronic games date back to the late 1950's.) Then came Atari's Breakout (1976), Super Breakout (1978), Megaball, and 3 decades of clones, sequels, and shareware. If you're really into classic games you probably have every emulator and a extra bedroom full of old computers that you can turn on for a quick arcade game fix... OR, you can do it the easy way and get this free game, DX-Ball, which is a clone of Megaball. It's a very fun game that works instantly in XP, just download and play.

DX-Ball has bricks that do way more than just sit there -- some explode. Also, your paddle does way more than just sit there -- it can shoot back. Having a tough time getting that last brick? Don't worry, a lightning bolt will turn it into ether. DX-Ball also has an option for in-game music, which you can turn on by pressing F5. However, I don't recommend pressing F5 unless you actually like corny midi-style jazz-pop-elevator-muzak-wannabe noise. The game is a lot of fun and rarely frustrating. Unfortunately, when you reach the end of the 50 levels, you will have a very Myst-like experience when the game just ends without congratulating you or showing you a victory screen.

(Below:) Screenshot of DX-Ball's first level. The orange-glowy bricks will explode.