Date: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 23:15:46 -0400
The REAL "PONG" F.A.Q.
Version 1.06
June 1999
Creator & Maintainer: Sly D.C.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
O.K.,Here's the legal stuff:
Copyright (c) 1997-1999, Sylvain De Chantal
All rights reserved. This document may be copied, in whole or in part,
by any means provided the copyright and contributors sections remain
intact and no fee is charged for the information. Contributors
retain the copyright to their individual contributions.
The data contained here in is provided for informational purposes
only. No warranty is made with regards to the accuracy of some
informations.
You can find this FAQ on this newsgroup:
- REC.GAMES.VIDEO.CLASSIC
Or you can find it at:
- Game FAQs "http://www.gamefaqs.com/"
- Digital Press "http://www.digitpress.com/"
- my Home Page "http://www.chez.com/slydc/index.html"
- or my other home page: "http:/www.emuclassics.com/slydc/"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional contributions IS welcome! (really badly needed!!)
Please mail additional information, opinions, and comments to :
mailto --> "sylvaindc@videotron.ca"
I hope that anybody will like it, It took me at least a year just
trying to find information of anykind about pongs...and in between,
my damn harddisk crashed and i lost precious data forever...
Many THANKS to all the persons who sent me comments, corrections
or informations! Please go see chap#6 for the credits roaster.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the REAL FAQ about "PONGS"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-------------------
1.0) PONG: The controversy of videogame history
2.0) Pong systems specs
3.0) PONGS LIST (far from complete!)
3.5) More Details of Pongs Units
4.0) Computer Space: first arcade game
4.5) The ODYSSEY: first home system
5.0) Pong in the Arcades
6.0) Credits (in alphabet order)
7.0) Links to other Pong Sites
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Readers, this FAQ is now dedicated to William A. Higinbotham
since the 10th November of 1997 for the honor of his memory.
" WILLIAM A. HIGINBOTHAM : The PATRIARCH of PONG & VIDEO GAMES "
May the Gods be with you!
And for more information about William A. Higinbotham, PLEASE visit this
site: "http://www.fas.org/cp/pong_fas.htm"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0) PONG: The controversy of videogame history
-----------------------------------------------
History Lesson 101:
Many people out there thinks that the ATARI PONG was the first system
and that NOLAN BUSHNELL is THE FATHER of video games.........WRONG !!
Instead of doing the usual recap of history, i'm going to tell about
the history of each person responsible of what we call "Video Games".
Let start by -->"THE CREATOR"<-- of the "First Video Game" ever !!!
It's all began in 1958, a person by the name of "Willy Higinbotham",
who was a physicist, made a WORKING model and not even with a single
transistor, but with vacuum tubes! (of course, transistors did existed at
that time, the transistor was created by William Shockley, John Bardeen,
and Walter Brattain of Bell Labs in 1947).
His "Tennis" game-type was exposed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
for almost TWO years, and his game was more sophisticated than the ATARI
PONG itself !! (yes-that's true! don't believe me? Ask EGM magazine or
the Brookhaven National Laboratory!)
Now, please remember that "Willy Higinbotham" is THE FATHER that created
the first video game, i hope that many of you will correct any history
about video games. Almost anybody don't know about his work and he didn't
get any credit for inventing the TRULY first video game, but in my book,
he is THE creator !
Here's the story that Danny Monaghan sent me and i thought that it was
special that i had to share it with all of you readers:
I just came across your Pong FAQ and was delighted to see your tribute
to Mr. HIGINBOTHAM, the REAL inventor of Video Games! Believe it or not,
I live on the same street where Mr. H lived (North Howell's Pt. Rd.,
Bellport, New York) and I'm only 8 houses away! I've got to tell you,
when I was a little kid growing up he was the coolest guy on the block!
He used to let all the kids in the neighborhood play baseball in his
huge back yard... and even when we hit a ball off the side of his house,
or broke a window, he didn't care!
It wasn't until 10 years ago when I was a senior at Bellport High School
that I found out Mr. H invented Pong at Brookhaven National Laboratory
(just a few miles away), and I couldn't believe it! I had grown up on
the first video game systems of the 70's, and by the time I was in High
School was writing my own games for the Apple and Commodore 64. So it
was a real shock when I found out that, all along, I had been living
next to the almighty creator himself! Unfortunately he passed away in
'95 and I never got a chance to thank him, but his son Willy Jr. moved
into his house, so I'm thinking about stopping by someday. I don't know
if you know this, but he also worked on the first Atom bomb... a stark
contrast to his harmless Pong! I just wish more historians would note his
awesome achievement! [Thanks for the letter Danny ! If anybody has any
insight stories related to the 4 creators of Pongs, please do !]
Now the SECOND most important person, his name is "Steve Russell".
MIT student in 1961, creates "Spacewar"(the second video game), is the
first interactive computer game on a Digital PDP-1 computer.
The game is to control two tiny spaceships, one called the "WEDGE" and
the other called the "NEEDLE" ,they battles around a tiny dot in the
middle of the screen that represent the Sun. The game featured an
accurate portrait of physics in outer space. Another student even
corrected the star fields in the background to the scale !!
But Russell made a mistake, he never filed for a copyright. He thought
that it cost too much to try to market his game, he was right about this.
Only few computers could run his game in this time, and at a cost of
$120,000 for a PDP-1, it was too much to put in arcades.
His game almost faded away forever if it wasn't for the employees of
Digital Equipment who used it to test their computers while installing
them for customers. Customers received the game as a gift. (Notice how
FATE is unpredicable ? First Willy's game was unheard of, and Steve's
game almost dissapeared to nothingness if not "Nolan Bussnell" who
later [in 1962] becomes addicted to the game...we almost didn't get
video games, if it wasn't for Nolan who craved "Spacewar" so much,
and for his ideas and his visions; you, me and many people wouldn't had
the pleasure to discover a new invention called "Video Games", and
you wouldn't be reading this FAQ as a matter of fact !!)
The THIRD most important person's name is "Ralph Baer".
Working for a military contractor called Sanders Associates, in New
Hampshire in 1966, he had an idea for a new use for televisions. He
decided to create a console that would enable people to play electronic
games on their television sets.
Baer's first game was about putting out fires. The game involved a red
box representing a house that was on fire. Players controlled the game
with a lever that represented a water pump. If they pumped the lever fast
enough, the box turned blue, meaning the fire was extinguished.
In 1967, Baer added a fun-loving engineer named Bill Rusch to his team.
Rusch, came up with a better concept. In his game, players used "paddles"
to catch and toss a dot across the screen. Rusch eventually modified the
paddles so that they rejected the ball. Instead of playing catch, Rusch's
game now played tennis.
Eventually, in 1971, Baer sold his game machine to Magnavox.
Magnavox accepted Baer's technology but ignored his vision. Baer wanted
to create a simple device that could retail for under $20; Magnavox
programmed 12 games into the system, dressed it up with playing cards
and plastic overlays that players could put on their television screens,
and charged $100. They called the system the Odyssey.
The first prototypes of the Odyssey were finished in early 1972. In May,
Magnavox started demonstrating them around the country at private showings.
Toward the end of the month, the Odyssey was shown at a trade show in
Burlingame, Calif., just outside of San Francisco. One of the people who
attented at the show was a young engineer named Nolan Bushnell, he saw
the Odyssey and the games that it could played, and ONE of those game
cought Bushnell's eyes...
Now for the FORTH and not the least, "Nolan Bushnell".
Student at the University of Utah in 1962, became addicted to "Spacewar"
Russell's game. He liked the game so much that in 1970, two years after
his graduation, took his daughter's bedroom and converted it into a
workshop in which he could create an arcade version of the game.
His firts idea was to use a computer, prices of computers had dropped
sharply by this time but they still cost far too much to use in arcades.
But Instead of using a computer, he built a device that could only play
"Spacewar" with cruder graphics which he recalled it "Computer Space".
Later in 1971, he sold the idea to Bill Nutting, owner of Nutting
Associates. Nutting hired Bushnell to oversee the creation of Computer
Space while working on other engineering projects. They began to ship
the game by the end of 1971, but Computer Space was a failure. They
sold about 500 to 1,500 machines.
Bushnell left Nutting Associates, formed a partnership with a friend
named Ted Dabney and opened a new company called Syzygy but saw that the
name already belonged to another company, so he chose - Atari.
Atari's first product was a game called PONG, an electronic tennis match
in which players batted a square ball back and forth with rectangular
paddles. Created by engineer Al Alcorn(and NOT by Nolan Bushnell but
helped with the game since he saw the "Tennis" game the Odyssey only a
few weeks ago at the trade show in Burlingame.)
It was a simple game with minimal instructions: "Avoid missing ball
for high score." Bushnell and Alcorn placed a prototype of their game in
Andy Capp's Tavern, a Sunnyvale, California bar.
Two weeks after installing the game, Alcorn got a late-night phone call
from the manager of the bar. The game had broken down, and he wondered if
he could fix it. When Alcorn went to check the machine, he found a most
unusual problem. There were so many quarters jammed into the coin drop
that the game had stopped working. Within a few months, Ramtek, Nutting,
and several other companies released imitations of Pong. Magnavox sued
Atari for infringing on Baer's patents and ended up paying Magnavox
$700,000 !!!(This is it,the FIRST VIDEOGAME COURT BATTLE !!)
In 1973, Eight to ten thousand units are made, Pong is an unprecedented
success. Ted Dabney panics about competition and sells half is share to
Bushnell. Bushnell forms Kee Games (named after Joe Keenan) to provide
"competition" for Atari.
In 1974, Atari began work on Home Pong, proposed by Harold Lee, a consumer
version of the popular arcade game that could be played on a television
set. Lee, Alcorn, and an engineer named Bob Brown develop the product.
Because of the Odyssey's poor sales record, no retailers are interested
in carrying the Atari Pong console, a tiny black and white box with two
mounted paddle controller dials.
In 1975, After being turned down by toys, electronics and department stores,
an Atari executive reached Tom Quinn, from Sears, Roebuck. After several
meetings with Bushnell, he ordered 150,000 Home Pong consoles for Christmas,
and the console is badged with the Sears Tele-Games logo.
By January 1976, Home Pong had become the new champion. Attracted by
Atari's success, several companies release home video game consoles.
Because of a rush on circuits, only Coleco receives its full order in time.
Based on technology largely similar to the Pong machine, Coleco's Telstar
Pong machine debuts. And a new menace for pongs systems is born: the
Fairchild Channel F, the first programmable home game console, and not
long after the RCA Studio 2 made it's appearence.
By 1977, Atari released a game system that change videogames forever:
the Atari 2600vcs. Bally released the Astrocade in 1978. By the end
of '78, pongs became boring to play and companies ended producing and
marketing them since people wasn't bying them anymore. The fate of Pong
has been sealed and "died" without remorse.....fate can be cruel.
***** Here's what Glenn Saunders wrote: *****
When looking at history it's a subjective thing as to who was more or less
important in the history of videogames. But if it were not for the true
visionary entreprendeurs, the inventors would probably not even be
footnotes in history, because their ideas would never leave the garage or
the PDP-1 computer-room.
Revising history regarding Pong is fine, but also realize that Nolan
Bushnell really wound up building a better mousetrap and he had a much
better idea of how to start a videogame company than Magnavox.
I think it is unfair to take away his throne of being the father of
videogames simply because he didn't invent Space War or Pong. And
lawsuits are common in Silicon Valley. Other companies have settled with
Atari over THEIR intellectual copyrights, including Activision. Whatever
lack of innovation Nolan had at the start by making a raster version of
Space War and a clone of Pong was definitely made up for by the time the
2600 was sweeping the floor with Magnavox's Odyssey^2 and the arcades
were filled almost exclusively with Atari/Kee Games product.
The house that Nolan built had a solid foundation of talented engineers
and programmers who, to me, were far more influential in popularizing
arcade and home videogaming than anything Ralph Baer or Magnavox did.
##Do you think i was to harsh on Mr.Bushnell or that i was right ??
I can more or less agree with Glenn input but everybody has his or her
own way at looking at things, life, history, and so on...
I agree that was a wee-bit hard on Mr.Bushnell case, that i didn't
acknowledge more on Nolan Bushnell since he brought us the Atari 2600
and all the Classics !! But since it's a F.A.Q. and History about "Pongs"
(and not the whole video game industry history), i only wrote what i
needed for this F.A.Q. (sorry! but that's that!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0) Pong system specs
----------------------
Well, to tell you the truth, there isn't really much specification about
"PONG" systems, the Odyssey 1 has no microchip, it was made with transis-
tors. A microchip called the "AY-3-8500", made by General Instrument in
1975?, was THE chip that Coleco installed in their "PONG" system and that
many manufactuers did based their systems on this chip, more than 75 other
companys had issued similar video game units.
Thanks to Ramon Martinez, here's is the schematic of the AY-3-8500,
this info is greatly appreciated!!
---------------------
NC -|*(pin #1) #28|- NC
Vss (GND)-| |- shotgun input (pointer)
Sound Output -| |- trigger input
Vcc -| |- reset game input
ball angle switch -| |- playfield and scores output
ball output -| |- practice
ball speed switch -| AY-3-8500 |- squash
manual serve button -| |- hockey
right player output -| |- tennis
left player output -| |- shotgun game II
right paddle input -| |- shotgun game I
left paddle input -| |- CLOCK input
paddle size -| |- SYNC output
NC -|#14 #15|- NC
---------------------
Mainly, "PONG" systems has :
----------------------------
- power ON/OFF
- 2 "paddles"(turning knobs, levers, sliders...)- up to 4
- RESET button
- SELECT GAME button or switch
- BEGINNER/INTERMEDIATE/PRO skill switch
- BAT SIZE (small/large) switch (may or not)
- BALL SPEED (slow/fast) switch (may or not)
- SLICE (min/max) switch (may or not)
- SERVE button or switch(manual/auto)(may or not)
- Color or Black&White
- 2 player generally (but can be 1 to 4 players)
- PISTOL or GUN (may or not)
and usually has those type of games:
------------------------------------
- TENNIS
- HOCKEY
- SQUASH (or SMASH,GRIDBALL,HANDBALL)
- JAI ALAI
- PRACTICE
- TARGET
- SKEET (or SHOOT)
and some has those type of games:
---------------------------------
- BASKETBALL
- BREAKOUT (or BREAKAWAY)
- JOKARI
- PINBALL
- ROAD RACE
- SOCCER
- SPACE INVADER
- STUNT CYCLE
- TANK
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.0) PONG LIST
--------------
This list is very, very far from complete !
Any informations, inputs, contributions, descriptions or anything
related to PONG systems will be GREATLY appreciated !!!!!
They may be errors in this list, but trying to list pong systems
that are outdated between more than 20 years ago isn't easy !!!
# of NORTH AM Systems: 136
# of EUROPEAN Systems: 082 Total for Now: 259
# of JAPANESE Systems: 039
# of Hand-Helds: 001
HAND-HELD: (info taken from Clint Dyer Hand-Held F.A.Q.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BLIP! from Tomy. Released in 1977, model:7018, works on 2 "AA"
batteries, display is in LED format, 2 players simultaneous and
has a motorized timer plus each player has a score point counter.
NORTH AM Systems (U.S. & CANADA) Company YEAR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Action TV Game, model 200 Lloyds ?
Adversary 370 National Semiconductor 1976
APF TV FUN Model 401 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Model 401A APF Electronics 1976
APF TV FUN Model 402 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Model 405 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Model 406 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Model 442 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Model 444 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Model 500 APF Electronics
APF TV FUN Sportsarama APF Electronics
Apollo 2001 Entreprex 1978
Bag-A-Tel Calfax
Brown Box (PROTOTYPE !!) Sanders & Associates 1967
Colorgame Intercon Marketing Corp.
Compu-Vision Bentley 1983?
Concert Hall IV, model 880 ?????
Conic model TVG 101-4 Conic
Conic model TVG 102-4 Conic
DIGITEK 2001 Digitek Electronics 1976
Face-Off Hockey/Soccer Executive Games
Fantasia 101 Fantasia
First Dimension TeleSports First Dimention Corp. 1976
First Dimention Video System First Dimention Corp.
Four-Way Video Game, model 1004 Concept 2000
Gamatic 7600 Ridgewood
Gameroom Tele-Pong Entex
Glorytone Granada Electronics
Gorilla Game model TG-101 Santron
Gorilla Game model TG-102 Santron
Gunslinger Sears
Gunslinger II Sears
Hanimex 777 Hanimex
Heatkit model GD-1999 Heath Co.
Hockey-Pong Atari
INDY 500 ?????
J.C.Penney ?????
Name of the Game, model a-100 Allied Leisure Industries
Nose T' Nose, model 1006 Concept 2000
Odyssey ???, model 4305 Magnavox
Odyssey [FIRST home video game] Magnavox 1972
Odyssey 100 Magnavox 1975
Odyssey 200 Magnavox 1975
Odyssey 300, model 7500 Magnavox 1976
Odyssey 400, model 7516 Magnavox 1976
Odyssey 500, model 7520 Magnavox 1976
Odyssey 2000, model 7510 Magnavox 1977
Odyssey 3000, model 7511 Magnavox 1977
Odyssey 4000, model 7530 Magnavox 1977
OLYMPIAN 2600 Unisonic
Paddle IV Roberts
Pinball Breakaway, model 99713 Sears(made by Atari)
Pong video game, Model C-100 Atari 1975
PONG video game Atari 1977
Quadtronics model Q376 Quadtronics
Quadtronics model Q476 Quadtronics
Rally IV Dyn Electronics
Rally IV Roberts
Ricochet, model mt1a Microelectric Systems 1976
Ricochet Challenger, model mt3a Microelectric Systems
Ricochet Champion, model mt2a Microelectric Systems
Sands 2200 game ????? 1977
SC 4000 K-Mart
SC 8000 Radolin
Stunt Cycle Atari
SuperColor Volley X Roberts
Super Pong, Model C-140 Atari
Super Pong 8000 Visulex 1976
Super Pong Pro-Am, model C-200 Atari
Super Pong Ten, Model C-180 Atari
Super Pong Pro-Am Ten, Model C-202 Atari 1977
Superscore Videomaster
TANK Atari 1977
Tele-Action Mini DMS 1983
Tele-Games 80007 Sears(made by Atari)
Tele-Games IV Sears(made by Atari)
Tele-Games Jokari Sears(made by APF)
Tele-Games Pinball Breakaway Sears(made by Atari) 1977
Tele-Games Pong Sears(made by Atari) 1976
Tele-Games Pong Sports IV Sears(made by Atari) 1977
Tele-Games Speedway IV Sears(made by Atari)
Tele-Games Super Pong Sears(made by Atari) 1976
Tele-Games Super Pong IV Sears(made by Atari)
Tele-Games Tennis-Hockey Sears(made by APF)
Tele-Games Hockey-Tennis II Sears 1977
Tele-Match 4, model 7700 Magnavox
Tele-Match, model 3300r Tele-Match
Tele-Match, model 4400 Tele-Match
Tele-Match, model 6600 Tele-Match
Tele-Match, model 7700 Tele-Match
Tele-Pong, model 3047 Entex
Tele-Sports Mini DMS
Tele-Sports Mini TV GAME-513 Radofin
Telecourt TV game Hometronics 1977
Telstar, model 6040 Coleco 1976
Telstar, model 6040(deluxe cabinet) Coleco
Telstar Alpha, model 6030 Coleco 1977
Telstar Arcade (3 game in 1) Coleco 1975
Telstar Classic Coleco
Telstar Colormatic Coleco
Telstar Colortron Coleco 1978
Telstar Combat Coleco
Telstar Galaxy Coleco
Telstar Gemini Coleco
Telstar Marksman Coleco 1978
Telstar Ranger, Model 6046 Coleco 1977
Telstar Ranger Colormatic Coleco
Telstar Regent Coleco
Tournament model 101 Unisonic
Tournament 2000 Lafayette
Tournament-1000 TV game Unisonic
Tournament-2000 TV game Unisonic 1976
TV PLUS 4 Four-Way Video Game Concept 2000
TV Pong Model EP-500 Nobility
TV Sports 77 Olympus Electronics
TV Sports 802 Lloyd's
TV Sports 812 Lloyd's
TV Sports 813 Color Lloyd's
TV Sports 825 Monteverdi (made by Lloyd's)
TV Scoreboard #60-3055 Radio Shack
TV Scoreboard #60-3056 Radio Shack
TV Scoreboard #60-3057 Radio Shack
TV Scoreboard #60-3061 Radio Shack
Ultra Pong, Model C-402 Atari
Ultra Pong Double, Model C-402D Atari
Video Action IV "Indy 500" Universal Research Labs
Video Sport Granada
Video Sport Federal Transistor Co.
Video Sport, model TCR-104 TCR
Video Sports, model vsv-1 Venture Electronics
Video Pinball, Model C-300 Atari 1977
Video Pinball, Model C-380 Atari
Video Volley TD Manufacturing
Video-Pro Unitrex
Winsor TV game ?????
Wonder Wizard Sharp Shooter(7702) General Home Products 1976
EUROPEAN Systems Company YEAR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6000 Colour TV Game Grandstand
Adman Model 3000 T.V. Game Grandstand 1977
Blackpoint ?????
BSS 01 (BildSchirmSpiel) ????? [please see chap.3.5]
Carinco ?????
Color Video Game R10/9012 ?????
Colour TV Game 4 Plus 2(#m:01-4850) Binatone 1978
Compu-Vision Bentley
Colour Game Interstate
Colourscore VM-11 couleur Videomaster 1977
CVG A10 9012 ?????
Electronic TV Game 888G Hanimex 1977
ES 2203 Philips
ES 2204 Philips
FL-10 ?????
Gamatic 7704 Otron ?
Gamatic 7706 Gamatic
Hanimex 7771 Hanimex
Hit-10 10 jeux ????? 1977
Home TV Game VM 577 Videomaster 1974
Home's TV Set PP-600 Audiosonic 1977
Interstate 1160 Interstate Electronics
JV2701 Continental Edison
Kahrlich Telegame ?????
Markint 6, model 96 ????? 1977
Mk4 Game System Binatone
Mk6 Game System Binatone
Mk8 Game System Binatone
Model 1000 Tandy
Model 1000 Sportsvision Adman
Novex TV-9010-C ?????
OC4 Societe Occitane
OC5000 Societe Occitane
OC7000 Societe Occitane
OC9000 Societe Occitane
Occitel Societe Occitane
Odyssey 2001 Philips 1977
PP-2000 Orelec 1976
SD-017f ITMC
Sensor-10 Monarch 1977
Sportron 4 jeux ????? 1977
Sportron 6 jeux ????? 1977
Super Tele-Sports Intel
Superlectron ?????
Superscore SEB
Superscore Home TV game VM-8 Videomaster 1976
Tele-Match Palladium
Tele-Score, modèles 750 SEB
Tele-Score, modèles 751 SEB
Tele-Score, modèles 752 SEB
Tele-Spiel Philips 1975
Telespiel-Philetta 915 Philips
TEMCO 8000 ?????
Tournament Ten Pong System Prinztronic
TRQ Talleres Radioelectricos
TV Color-Multi-Spiel Universum
TV Master MK IV model 01-4974 Binatone 1977
TV Spiel 1004 Universum
TV Spiel 4010 Universum
TV Spiel 4014 Universum
TV Spiel 4106 Universum
TV Sport XY ?????
TV-Sports Radofin 1977
TV Sports Soundic
TVG-203 Bingo 1978
TVG-8610 Hanimex
Ultrasound PONG ????? 1977
VC-2400 Interton
VC-3000 Interton
Video 2400 Interton
Video 2501 Interton
Video 2800 Interton
Video 3000 Interton
Video 3001 Interton
Video 4000-EX ?????
Video Sports 4 jeux Asaflex 1977
Video Stellar 5 Jeux ?????
Videojeu N20 Philips
Videojeu N30 Philips
- No name - Univox 1977
?? pong ?? ReEL
JAPANESE Systems Company YEAR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
AER-8700 AER 1977
Block-Kuzusi (Block-Out) ??? 1979
CT-7600C ??? 1977
Racing 112 Nintendo 1978
System 10 Epoch 1977
System 10M2 Epoch 1977
Tele-Pong Entex ????
TV Baseball Epoch 1978
TV Block MB Epoch 1979
TVcolor model 7600 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1301 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1401 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1501 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1601 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1602 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1701 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1801 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1901 ??? 1977
TV-FAN model 1902 ??? 1977
TVGAME ??? 1977
TV-Game 6 Nintendo 1977
TV-Game 15 Nintendo 1977
TV-JACK 1000 ??? 1977
TV-JACK 1200 ??? 1977
TV-JACK 1500 ??? 1977
TV-JACK 2500 ??? 1977
TV-JACK 3000 ??? 1977
TV-JACK 5000 ??? 1978
TV-JACK 8000 ??? 1978
TVmate BARON ??? 1977
TVmate CHAMPION ??? 1977
TVmate DUKE ??? 1977
TVmate KING ??? 1977
TVmate QUEEN (tvg8000) ??? 1977
TVmate SUPER CAR ??? 1977
TV Vader Epoch 1980
TY-TG40 ??? 1977
Video Attack ??? 1977
Video Attack 7 (tg-7800) ??? 1977
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.5) More Details of Pongs Units
--------------------------------
* APF TV Fun Model 401: - 4 games:Practice, Squash, Hockey, Tennis.
- 6 "C" cell batteries or AC adaptor
* APF TV FUN Model 402: - Light Gun(pistol)
- Color pong system
- 5 games:Handball, Tennis, Hockey, Target, Skeet.
* APF TV FUN Model 405: - 4 versions of PONG
- 1 or 2 player
* BBS 01: The only Video Game system sold in East Greman until the fall
of the Berlin Wall in 1989. BildSchirmSpiel means TV Game in
German. It was sold in 1979 for 550 Mark. The BSS 01 was
basically a 4 game black and white Pong version with a GI AY-3
Chip in it. There are rumors that a BSS 02 was planned (maybe
a Pong with a rifle ??) but such a thing was never released.
Thanks for Martin Buchholz for this info!!
* Compu-Vision: - Color pong system
- 4 games:Tennis, Soccer, Squash, Practice.
- 4AA batteries or 6V power supply.
* ES 2204: - 5 Carts: - 2211 Badminton
- 2212 Pelota
- 2213 Skeet Shooting
- 2214 Racing
- 2215 Ghostchaser
* First Dimention Video System: - 3 games:Tennis, Hockey, Robot(?).
- 1, 2 or 4 players.
* Gamatic 7704: - Same as the 7600, but color
* Gamatic 7706: - 6 games:football (soccer), tennis, squash, pelota
(classic pong), practice & skeet.
- Released in Italy.
* Hockey Pong(c-121): - 1 or 2 players
- 4 games
* Name of the Game (??): - 2-4 players
- input for a light gun
- 4 games:Tennis, Hockey,Hhandball
and Target
- tv/game switch built-in
* Novex TV-9010-C: - Games: Tennis, Soccer, Squash, Practice.
- Color
* ODYSSEY 200: - Tennis, Hockey, Smash.
- 6 c batteries.
* ODYSSEY 300: - 3 games:Tennis, Hockey, and Smash
- 6 "C" batteries
* Odyssey 500: - 4 games:Smash, Hockey, Tennis, Soccer.
- in Color
- Internal speaker.
- 9VDC (no battery compartment).
* Odyssey 2000: - 4 games:tennis, hockey, smash, practice.
- 1 or 2 player
* Odyssey 2001: - Games: Tennis, Practice, Soccer (Only two bats,
instead there are six squares moving up and down
on the "field".
- Color (Different color scheme for each game)
* Odyssey 3000: - 4 Games
- Runs on 6 "C" Batteries
* ODYSSEY 4000: - Color pong system
- 8 games:Soccer, Tennis, Hockey, Gridball, Smash,
Smash Practice, Basketball and Basketball Practice.
- 1 or 2 players
- in Color
- AC adaptor included
* OLYMPIAN 2600: - Color pong system, with different colors for each game.
- 10 games:Tennis, Hockey, Squash, Practice, Soccer,
Baskets, Hoops, Grid/ball, Shoot, and Shooting.
* Paddle IV: - 4 games:tennis, hockey, smash, practice.
- Detachable Remotee Control.
- Color or Black & White.
* Pong Sports IV: - 2 or 4 players
- 16 Games (pong, hockey, street tennis, street hockey)
- Color or Black & White.
* Pong video game(c-100): - Color or Black & White
- 4 size "D" batteries
* Rally IV(Roberts): - 4 games:Tennis, Hockey, Squash, Practice.
* SC Four Thousand: - 4 games:Practice, Squash, Hockey, Tennis.
- built-in sound
- 6 "C" cell batteries or AC adaptor
- Detachable Remote Controls
* SC Eight Thousand: - 8 games:Target 1, Target 2, Tennis singles,
Tennis doubles, Squash singles, Squash doubles,
Hockey 2, Hockey 4.
- 4 Remote Controls
- Electronic Pistol
- 6 "D" cell batteries or AC adaptor
* Super Pong(c-140): - 4 games:Catch,Handball, Super Pong, Pong
- Color or Black & White
* Super Pong IV: - 1 To 4 players
- 5 games:Pong, Super Pong, Catch, Basketball & Handball.
- Color or Black & White
* SuperColor Volley X: - 4 games
- Light Gun
- 4 controllers
- in Color
- built-in sound
* Tele-Action Mini TV Game: - 4 games
* Tele-Match, model 3300r: - 5 games:Tennis, Hole in Wall, Catch,
Handball, Pitch.
- Six different ball speeds
- two Atari-like paddles
- 4 AA Batteries
* Tele-Match by Palladium (German): - Games: Tennis, Soccer, Squash,
Practice & 2 gun games.
- Black/white
- Built-in speaker
- Slide controls
- Gun
- Buttons that make the ball go
faster
* Tele-Match 4 Model 7700: - Games: Tennis, Hockey, Handball & Squash.
- two selectable rebound angles
- two selectable ball speeds
- two selectable bat sizes
- auto or manual serve
- controllers detach from main console with 4'
of cords
- black/white
- 5 C batteries or AC Adaptor
* Tele-Games Pong Sports IV: - 4 controllers
- 2 to 4 Players
- 16 games:Pong, Hockey, Street Tennis,
Street Hockey, and Super, Maxi and Team
versions of all four games.
- 32 Variations
- Runs on 4 "C" Batteries
- Sound comes from Unit
- in Color
* Telegames Hockey-Tennis: - 4 games:Practice, Tennis, Hockey, Handball
- Cylindrical Paddles Detachable
- 2 players
- 6 C batteries or 9VDC
* Telegames Jokari: - 4 games:Tennis, Hockey, Jokari, Practice
- 2 players
- 6 C batteries or 9VDC
* Telegames Pinball Breakaway: - in Color
- 7 games:Pinball I, Pinpaddle I,
Pinball II, Pinpaddle II, Basketball
Breakaway & Breakout.
- One player only
- Internal speaker
- 6 C batteries or 9VDC
* Tele-Action Mini(TV GAME-513): - 4 games:Tennis, Practice, Hockey,
Squash.
- Two players
- 6 AA batteries or 9VDC
* Telstar Alpha: - 4 games
- built-in sound
* Telestar Arcade: - 3 Triangle carts:# 1-Road Race/Tennis/Quick Draw
# 2-Hockey/Tennis/Handball/Target
# 3-Bonus Pinball/Shooting Gallery/...
* Telstar Colortron: - 4 Games
- Runs on 2 9Volt batteries or AC Adapter
- Sound comes from Unit
* Telstar Marksman: - in Color
- 6 games with 2 moving target games.
- 3 in 1 gun included - pistol, target pistol & rifle.
- Two 9v batteries or AC adapter
* Telstar Ranger: - 6 games:Tennis, Hockey, Handball, Jai Alai, Skeet
Target.
- Internal speaker
- 2 players.
- Light gun
- Detachable controllers
- 6 C batteries or 9VDC
* Tournament 2000: - 6 games:Tennis/Table Tennis, Hockey/Soccer, Squash,
Practive, Targets, Skeet.
- Light Gun (whole rifle you put together)
- 6 "C" cell batteries or AC adaptor
* TV PLUS 4-Way: TV+4 features automatic on-screen scoring and
sound plus all of these...
On/off power switch.
Reset button starts games.
Hand-held remote units are detachable from
console and feature slide controls for positive
bat action.
Ball speed selector for medium or high speed action.
Angle selector gives variable ball spin action.
Manual/auto serve selector.
Bat size selector changes size of racquet.
TV channel selector.
Game selector for table tennis, soccer/hockey,
or squash plus single-play practice handball.
It runs on 6 C cell batteries
* TV Pong: - Batteries or AC
- 4 games:Tennis, Practice, Hockey, Squash.
* TV Sports 825: - DC 9V 500MW
* TV Scoreboard #60-3061: - 6 games:Target, Skeet, Tennis, Hockey,
Squash, Practice.
- Two players
- Detachable left player controller
- Comes with Light gun
- Internal speaker.
- 6 AA batteries or 9VDC
* Ultra Pong(c-402): - 16 games:8 Pong & 8 Hockey
- 1 to 4 players
- 4 "C" batteries or 6v power supply.
* Video Sport(Granada): - 4 games: Hockey, Tennis, Squash and Practice
- 4 "C" batteries or 6v power supply.
- 1 or 2 players
- a plug for a remote controller (???)
* Video Sports(TRC): Four action games: Hockey, Tennis, Squash and Solo
Variable ball speed Amatuer and Pro
Three realistic sound effects for added excitement
Digital on-screen scoring 0-15
AC/DC operable using battery or optional AC Adapter
(9-volt Battery or 9-volt Atari type power supply)
Automatic serve
Segmented paddles for automatic ball spin
Two Remote Controls
* Wonder Wizard Sharp Shooter: - Light Gun
- 5 games:Pistol, Tennis, Hockey, Handball
and Jai-Lai.
* ?? ReEl pong: - 4 games:football (soccer), tennis, squash & pelota.
- imported by ReEl (Italian distributor).
* ?? Univox pong: - 4 games:Hockey, Tennis, Squash et Practice.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.0) Computer Space: first arcade game [Text by Roger Earl]
-----------------------------------------------------------
Considering that Computer Space was the world's first publically available
video game, it may seem a bit strange that most people have never heard of
it. Perhaps Computer Space is the ultimate example of how a video game needs
to be playable in order to be remembered. Pong captured the fame regardless
of the advantages that Computer Space had.
First publically available video game, almost a full year before Pong.
Futuristic looking fiberglass-molded cabinet.
Computer Chip design (Pong was solid-state).
Appeared in a popular Sci-Fi movie.
An original design created by Nolan Bushnell
(The Pong design was "borrowed").
Nolan Bushnell's pre-Atari company Syzygy (the name means: The Sun, Moon
and Earth in total eclipse) designed Computer Space and was manufactured by
Nutting Associates. To the best of my knowledge, Nutting never produced
another video game. Although loosely based on Steve Russell's Spacewar game
(1962), which Bushnell played on a PDP-1 computer at MIT, the game was
changed significantly enough to make the relation between the two
disputable.
The game and cabinet were designed as an example of what future entertain-
ment would be like.
1.Insert quarter and press start; your rocket ship will appear.
2.There is no gravity in space; rocket speed can only be changed by engine
thrust.
3.Evade the saucers' missiles and use yours to score hits.
4.Outscore the saucers for extended play in hyperspace.
You controlled a rocketship around a starfield on the black & white
screen with a shoot or be shot style of gameplay against "computer-guided"
flying saucers. Actually, the flying saucers only tended to move up, down,
or diagonally (a Z pattern). Like many games of the era, hitting the targets
largely depending on mastering the phenomena known as "after-touch", meaning
the bullets could be guided after you have shot them. The game was timed,
with bonus (hyperspace level) time according to your performance. A switch
setting inside the machine could allow two games on a single quarter. Two
"games", not lives, because your score was completely reset at the end of a
timed game. The controls consisted of four buttons: thrust, fire, rotate
left and right.
What is missing in my description is the fact that the game was incredibly
slow. Computer ciruit technology just wasn't ready for the graphical
intensity of video games, that is perhaps the main reason why Nolan Bushnell
went with a solid-state design on his next project. The other problem was
the feeling of inevitable failure that came along with the time limit,
cushioned only slightly by the promise of bonus time. Combining the
frustration of turning ever so slowly on an inclosing invader.
With the clock ticking, giving you the kind of dread that a video game
should never impose. After the game is over, you have an urge to push your
nose high in the air and try to feel superior to a game that has only beaten
you because of its lack of technological prowess.
So Computer Space didn't take off as a runaway hit, that was reserved for
Pong the next year. At the most it was considered a novelty.
Even so, it wasn't a complete disaster or at least the manufacturers had a
bit of faith in it eventually catching on. I say this because after the
initial run of machines, they released a two player version with alternative
controls (strange joystick-dial combos). Both versions were available in
three colors: candy-apple blue, candy-apple red, & candy-apple green. The
candy-apple part meaning that they were painted in that metallic sparkling
stuff that was so popular in the 1970's. The cabinets looked so much like
a prop in a Buck Rogers film that one was featured in the Charlton Heston
Sci-Fi cheeser Soylent Green, although they had painted it white to match
the decor of the film.
Computer Space has the same charm that the Ed Wood films do. It is a game
so bad as to be a bit amusing. Collectors travel great distances to
obtain one and with good reason. If I were to rate Computer Space as a
piece of pop-art to place in your office or home, I would without a doubt
give it a glorious 10 out of 10. As a piece of nostalgia it doesn't rate
high for me because I don't remember it from it's original era. As a game,
I doubt if it would score even a 1. So I'm doing something a bit strange
with the score on this game, I'm compromising for which I can without a
doubt say is the best coin-op cabinet ever made...
by Roger Earl from Electric Playground game reviews
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5) The ODYSSEY: first home system
-----------------------------------
The Odyssey (AKA Odyssey I) Came Out In 1972 and was invented by Ralph Baer.
It played a game almost identical to pong as well as a number of additional
games that required overlays and playing pieces. The Odyssey had two
removable controllers that allowed the user to control their paddle in BOTH
the x and y axis. In addition, the Odyssey came with 6 Cartridges that
(along with a number of screen overlays, game boards and cards) allowed the
user to play a number of different games. As an option, Odyssey owners could
buy the "Shooting Gallery" which included four more games and an electronic
gun. The gun was simply light sensitive and a score can be racked up quite
easily by pointing it at your local light bulb.
The Odyssey 1 was released mainly in the U.S.A. but was also released in
Europe (France, Germany, England, Australia, Belgian, Greece, Israel, Italy,
Switzerland, URSS and Venezuela) in very few quantity, making them a very
well
sought collector's item ! Also the cards were printed in three languages:
english, spanish and deutch. These Odyssey 1 were modified in SECAM format
for
playing them in many foreign countries.
Name of games: Cart #:
------------------------------------------------
Table Tennis 01
Ski/Simon Says 02
Tennis/Football/Hockey/Analogic 03
Football/Cat And Mouse/Haunted House 04
Submarine 05
Roulette/States 06
Add-On Games:
------------------------------------------------
Volleyball 07
Handball 08
??? 11
Interplanetary Voyage 12
Basketball 03, 06, 08?
Brain Wave 03
Win 04
Baseball 03
Wipeout 05
Invasion 04, 05, 06
Fun Zoo 02
Percepts 02
Shooting Gallery Electronic Rifle Games:
------------------------------------------------
Shootout, Dogfight & Prehistoric Safari 09
Shooting Gallery 10
Complete Parts List:
---------------------
* Odyssey console (of course !)
* Two plug-in controllers
* Six Magnavox C-cells (when you buy it at the time)
* Six Plug-In Game Cartridges (no# 1 through 6),
* Original switchbox with two hooks and box,
* 12 foot game cord,
* 36 or 24 pages instruction manual
* Eleven 18" TV overlays
* Eleven 23" TV overlays
* Game Field/Roulette Board
* Stadium Scoreboard
* Two football tokens
* Two yardage markers
* 20 pass cards
* 20 run cards
* 10 kick off cards
* 10 punt cards
* 6 play cards
* 30 clue cards
* 13 secret message cards
* 48 plastic chips(sealed)
* Two Dice
* Play money
* 50 state cards
* Affairs of State (answer folder)
* States study map
* 28 Simon Says cards
* Cat and Mouse stickers(25) sheet.
More Add-On Games:
------------------
Basketball (#7123)
------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Home Visitors Cards ?
Instructions 1
Box 1 982329-7
Works with Cartridge (#3, #6, #8?)
Interplanetary Voyage (#7175,1973)
----------------------------------
Accessoires Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Game board 1 643208-1
Mission Cards 40
Knowledge Cards 72
Spaceship tokens 4
Message chips ?
Instructions 1 EL 2910-1
Box 1 982329-14
Works with Cartridge # 10
Brain Wave (#7176, 1973)
------------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Game board 1 643210-1
Tought Tiles 2 sets of 48
Dice 2
Memory Banks 2 (1 blue, 1 green) 643209-1
Power Markers 2 (1 blue, 1 green)
Instructions 1 EL2911-1
Box 1 982329-15
Works with Cartridge #3
Win (#7302, 1973)
-----------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Word Cards 18
Image Cards 9
Number Cards 18
Slates 4 643211-1
Markers 4
Instructions 1 EL2913-1
Box 1 982329-13
Works with Cartridge #4
Baseball (#ITL 700, 1972)
-------------------------
Accessoires Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Game board 1 642948-1
Score board 1
Line Up cards 26 (13 red, 13 bleu)
Power cards 10
Big Freak cards 10
Runner tokens 12 (4 red, 4 bleu, 4 white)
Dice 2
Instructions 1 EL 2788-1
Works with Cartridge #3
Handball (#ITL 701, 1972)
-------------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Instructions 1 EL 2789-1
Works with Cartridge #8
Volleyball (#ITL 702, 1972)
---------------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Instructions 1 EL 2790-1
Box 1 982329-1
Works with Cartridge #7
Wipe Out (#ITL 800, 1972)
-------------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Instructions 1 EL 2791-1
Game board 1 643004-1
Pit Stop cards 25
Car tokens 4 (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue)
Box 1 982329-4
Works with Cartridge #5
Invasion (#ITL 801, 1972)
-------------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Treasure Loot cards 40
Army tokens 300
Ship Tokens 4
Dice 2
Game board 1 643005-1
Instructions 1 EL 2792-1
Works with Cartridges #4, #5, #6
Fun Zoo (#ITL 900, 1972)
------------------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Fun Zoo cards 28
Instructions 1 EL 2793-1
Works with Cartridge #2
Percepts (# ???)
----------------
Accessoiries Quantity Reference
Overlays 2
Green Percepts cards 15
Purple Percepts cards 15
Instructions 1
Works with Cartridge #2 -
It's interesting to note that future game cards were planned and there was
an accessory port. If you look at its innards-- There are NO Integrated
Circuits at all !! About 85,000 Odyssey's were sold in 1972 and about
20,000 rifles (apparently people believed you had to own a Magnavox
television for it to work which scared away some buyers). After that time,
the Odyssey sales fell due to the outbreak of competition.
Want more information about the "Odyssey 1" ??? Then please go check out
the F.A.Q. at Inhereth Mirth Odyssey Museum. The creator of the Odyssey 1
F.A.Q. is "Shaun Gegan" (aka loomis) and his F.A.Q. has a lot more infor-
mation about this unit. Check it out at this web site:
"http://home.neo.lrun.com/skg/index.html"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.0) Pong in the Arcades
------------------------
This Pong list was taken from the KLOV list which is made by Mike Hughey,
Jeff Hansen & Jonathan Deitch.
* Computer Space - made by Nutting Associates in 1971 - B/W screen -
2 Players
* Dr.Pong - made by Atari in 197? - B/W screen - ? Players
* Elimination - made by Kee Games in 1973 - B/W screen - 4 Players
* Pin Pong - made by Atari in 197? - B/W screen - ? Players
* Pong (what started Atari and the Video Game industries) -
made by Atari in 1972 - B/W screen - 2 Players
* Pong Doubles - made by Atari in 1973 - B/W screen - 2 Players
* Puppy Pong - made by Syzygy in 1973 - B/W screen - 2 players
* Quadra Pong - made by Atari in 1973 - B/W screen - 4 Players
(plain copy of Elimination)
* Super Pong - made by Atari in 1973 - B/W screen - ? Players
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.0) Credits
------------
Many thanks to these guys !!! If it wasn't for them or for their info,
this FAQ wouln't exist !!
* E. Beljan
* Dennis Brown
* Martin Buchholz
* Randy Buss
* Greg Chance
* Steve Cooper
* Anthony Cortest
* Dean Dierschow
* Phillippe Dubois
* Clint Dyer
* Roger Earl
* Eric Hamel
* Kevan Heydon
* Tom Howe
* Robert A. Jung
* Steven Kent
* Corey Koltz
* Jeremy Larsen
* Harold A. Layer
* John Marks
* Ramon Martinez
* Dan Mazurowski
* Doug Manegre (DougM)
* Rene Meyer
* Danny Monaghan
* David Orlikowski
* Manu Pärssinen
* Fabrizio Pedrazzini
* Ray Porter
* Rico Quetzalcoatl
* Christopher Rodgers
* Glenn Saunders
* Joe Scoleri(the Maverick)
* Lee K. Seitz
* Pieter Verhallen
* David Nybo Veile
* Alan Watkins
* Neville Wilkinson
* David Winter (big thanks!)
* Sam Z...?
-----
* Jason "Kaotic Page" (???)
-----
* EGM Magazine
* the Japanese Classic Videogame Station Odyssey
* the defunct Arton's Pong Page
* and some few people that i lost their name and some
info due to my harddisk crash.....(the first one)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.0) Links to other Pong Sites
------------------------------
* Bienvenue sur le site officiel de l'histoire du jeu PONG:
"http://superpong.8m.com/" (USA MIRROR SITE) or
"http://services.worldnet.net/winter/pong/" (France)
Site created and maintained by DAVID WINTER
* Inhereth Mirth Odyssey Museum (All Odyssey)
"http://home.neo.lrun.com/skg/index.html"
* Pong (simply...) "http://www.evandelay.com/pong/"
* Pong Mania! Home Page "http://www.novalink.ca/~jeremy/pongmania/"
* More to come in the next version of the F.A.Q.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks and see you in the next version !!!
---------------------------------------------------------
Copyright(c)1997-1999, Sylvain De Chantal, "sylvaindc@videotron.ca"
or come visit my homepage at "http://www.chez.com/slydc/index.html"
or mu other web site at "http://www.emuclassics.com/slydc/"