They had to write code pixel by pixel, timing the beam generation as the TV signal swept across the screen. My buddy Howard wrote one in just a few weeks, but

They had to write code pixel by pixel, timing the beam generation as the TV signal swept across the screen. My buddy Howard wrote one in just a few weeks, but normally it took months to finish a title. He did it as a challenge to meet a movie debut deadline. Not a great game, but it had a display and controls and moves and scores.