Pong is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcorn as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, but Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney were surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work and decided to manufacture the game. Bushnell based the game's concept on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console. In response, Magnavox later sued Atari for patent infringement.
A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than personal computers, designed to have advanced graphics abilities but limited memory and storage space to keep the units affordable. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few games fixed into the electronic circuits of the system, most consoles since support the use of swappable game media, either through game cartridges, optical discs, or through digital distribution to internal storage.
1975 had new titles such as Western Gun, Dungeon and dnd. The year's best-selling arcade game was Taito's Speed Race, released as Wheels and Wheels II in North America.
The IntertonVideo Computer 4000 is an early 8-bit ROM cartridge-based second-generation home video game console that was released in Germany, England, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and Australia in 1978 by German hearing aid manufacturer Interton. The console is quite obscure outside Germany, but many software-compatible systems can be found in numerous European countries. The console is the successor of the Interton Video 3001 and was sold for 298 Deutsche Mark and discontinued in 1983.
The 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System is a second-generation home video game console released by European company Audiosonic in 1978. It is part of a group of software-compatible consoles which include the Interton VC 4000 and the Voltmace Database. The 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System included its power pack inside the console instead of an exterior power pack.
In the history of video games, the first-generation era refers to the video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1972 to 1983. Notable consoles of the first generation include the Odyssey series, the Atari Home Pong, the Coleco Telstar series and the Color TV-Game series. The generation ended with the Computer TV-Game in 1980, but many manufacturers had left the market prior due to the market decline in 1977 and the start of the second generation of video game consoles.
The TV Scoreboard is a Pong-like dedicated home video game console manufactured in Hong Kong from 1976 through the early '80s and made by Tandy. Distribution was handled exclusively by RadioShack.
Unisonic Products Corporation was an American manufacturer and distributor of consumer electronics from the 1970s to the 1990s. Although headquartered in New York City, Unisonic outsourced its manufacturing operations to various facilities in East Asia. Unisonic developed a variety of electronics, including calculators, CRT television sets, video game consoles, digital watches, telephones, answering machines, and digital alarm clocks.
Grandstand is a video game console and electronic game manufacturer and distributor. It was based in the United Kingdom and New Zealand and was active in the 1970s and 1980s.
Magnavox Odyssey is the general brand name of Magnavox's complete line of home video game consoles released from 1972 through 1978. The line includes the original Magnavox Odyssey console, the Magnavox Odyssey series of dedicated home video game consoles, and the Magnavox Odyssey 2 ROM cartridge-based video game console released in 1978. Philips Odyssey is the brand name that includes the Philips Odyssey series of dedicated home video game consoles.
The Ping-O-Tronic is a dedicated first-generation home video game console produced by Zanussi, an Italian home appliance company, and released under their Sèleco brand in late-1974 only in Italy. It was the first Italian video game console, excluding Magnavox Odyssey imports and clones.
The Philips Tele-Game series was a series of six dedicated first-generation home video game consoles manufactured, released and marketed between 1975 to 1978 by Dutch company Philips.
The Bildschirmspiel 01 is the only game console that was developed and manufactured in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It is based on the integrated circuit AY-3-8500 by General Instrument. The gameplay, controls and audiovisual presentation of the four individually selectable games are similar to Pong. The BSS 01 was designed and produced by VEB Halbleiterwerk Frankfurt an der Oder (HFO). Its sales were started in 1979 under the RFT brand at a price of 550 East German marks. Due to a lack of profitability, production was discontinued after just two years. A successor device with more game options and additional colored image output did not pass the prototype stage.
The Interton Video 2000 is a relatively rare dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released in 1975 by Interton in Germany. The console turns itself on automatically when a cartridge is inserted. This console was also one of the first cartridge-based consoles ever released in Europe.
The history of video gaming in Spain dates back to the 1970s, and by 2014 the country was the 10th-highest-grossing market for video games worldwide. In 2018, the Spanish video game market posted a revenue of €1.53 billion, up from €1.35 billion in 2017. The country's audience of game players was 16.8 million that year; demographically, it was 59% male and 41% female. Reportedly 80% of people aged 6-to-10 played video games, while 24% of those in the 45–64 age range did so.
The Interton Video 3001 is a dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released in 1978 by Interton. It is a Pong clone console and the successor to the Interton Video 3000 and the predecessor of the Interton Video Computer 4000. It could output games in color.
The Interton Video 2501 is a dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released by Interton in 1977. It is the successor of the Interton Video 2400 and the predecessor of the Interton Video 2800. It can output the games in color.
The Interton Video 2400 is a dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released in 1975 by Interton. It is the successor of the Interton Video 2000 and the predecessor of the Interton Video 2501. It could output only black and white. The consoles uses the AY-3-8500 chipset. The sound is played through an internal speaker, rather than the TV set.
The Palladium Tele-Cassetten Game is a home video game console which was released by Neckermann's technology and multimedia home brand Palladium in 1978 only in Germany. Some sources claim that the system is a third-generation console, even though it is often considered a console of the second generation.
