LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Activision Tennis
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Activision Tennis is a 1981 Atari 2600 video game by Activision. It was one of a series of sports games by Activision, which ... included 1980's Activision Boxing. Activision Tennis was designed by Activision co-founder, Alan Miller.
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In 1985, Activision merged with struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom. Jim Levy was a big fan of Infocom's titles and wanted Infocom to remain solvent. However, about six months after the "InfoWedding", Bruce Davis took over as CEO of Activision. Davis was against the merger from the start and was heavy-handed in management of them. He ... forced marketing changes on Infocom which caused sales of their games to plummet. Eventually, in 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to Activision's headquarters in Silicon Valley; five did.
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Atari released their own version of tennis (RealSports Tennis) two years after Activision. Amazingly the games are almost identical with only minor enhancements to the graphics (very minor). It's interesting to see how far ahead of most companies Activision was when it came to programming. Activision's Tennis was and will always remain one of the most popular sports games on the 2600.
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ACTIVISION (TM) TENNIS INSTRUCTIONS Now, you'll never have to wait for a court again. With Tennis by ACTIVISION (TM), you can enjoy the challenge and excitement of tennis right on your home TV. But before you start, take a minute and read these important instructions. They'll help you to really enjoy all the special features of the game. In no time you'll be playing like a pro! ACTIVISION (TM) TENNIS BASICS 1.
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Back in the "gaming stone age" (AKA the year 1982) Activision offered free cloth patches if you achieved a high score in any one of their games. Users were instructed to photograph their TV with the high score showing and mail it in and then Activision would send back a patch. Quite a bit of work in order to receive a piece of colored fabric, but it does mark the very first true "achievement" system for video games. In total there were 43 patches for 33 different games and the patch designs were quite varied and pretty damn cool.
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In 1982, Activision released Pitfall!, which is considered by many to be the first platform game as well as the best selling title on the 2600. Although the team's technical prowess had already been proven, it was Pitfall! that turned them into a huge success. This not only resulted in a legion of clones, including stand-up arcade games, but can be said to have launched the entire platform genre which became a major part of video games through the 1980s.
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