Atari's first big success was Pong in 1972, and the home version followed in 1975. Engineers realized that a console built on custom circuits could only play one game. A programmable microprocessor would be far more flexible, but its chips cost too much. In 1975 MOS Technology offered the 6502 for $25, and it negotiated a cheaper 6507 processor and a RIOT chip at $12 a pair for the console. Designers used a custom graphics chip, the TIA, to send video and sound to a TV. The console had no frame buffer, so programmers had to produce each picture line in time with the electron beam of the television as it scanned. They had to 'race the beam', doing other work in the blank time between lines. The Atari Video Computer System launched in 1977 for $199 with a swappable cartridge.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.