Doctor Pong, also known as Puppy Pong, is an adaption of the original arcade Pong for use in a non-coin-operated environment. It was conceptualized by Nolan Bushnell, Steve Bristow, and a marketing firm to move their arcade video games into a non-arcade environment—in this case, to help occupy children in pediatricians' waiting rooms. Originally designed to be a model of Snoopy's doghouse with Pong built into the side of it, when Charles Schulz declined Atari the use of Snoopy, the model was changed to a generic doghouse with a puppy looking over the top. Puppy Pong saw a limited production run and was tested at Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre's first two locations.[1]
Development
The original Snoopy Pong cabinet was designed by Regan Cheng of the Atari Industrial Design group. The follow-up Puppy Pong cabinet was designed by Regan's manager, Chas Grossman.[1]
Both cabinets consisted of a doghouse housing a Pong board modified to not use a coin drop as a start trigger.