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The system was also released in Germany under the name Universum Multispiel [3] in 1977. nother very similar console is the 677 released in 1978 by Hanimex. [4]
| Also known as | RadioShack TV Scoreboard |
|---|---|
| Developer | Tandy |
| Manufacturer | Radio Shack |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console |
| Generation | First generation |
| Release date | 1976 |
| CPU | General Instruments AY-3-8500 |
| Power | AC adapter or 6 x 1.5v AA battery |
The TV Scoreboard (sometimes called RadioShack 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. [1] [2] Distribution was handled exclusively by Radio Shack.
The TV Scoreboard consisted of a left and right player, with dials or paddles on the hand held piece, and had multiple Pong era games. A variant also included a revolver-type light gun, which was used for a clay pigeon shooting game. Using additional cosmetic attachments to the light gun, the user could change its appearance to be that of a rifle. The games included but were not restricted to tennis, squash, hockey and practice. Games and game modes, including difficulty settings and serving settings, could be adjusted with switches. It ran on either an AC adapter, or six 1.5 V AA batteries. [2]
The console belongs to the first generation of video game console and is based on one single chip, the General Instrument AY-3-8500.[ citation needed ]
The system was also released in Germany under the name Universum Multispiel [3] in 1977. nother very similar console is the 677 released in 1978 by Hanimex. [4]
The following ten games are playable with the system: [2]
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. The hardware was designed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates, while Magnavox completed development and released it in the United States in September 1972 and overseas the following year. The Odyssey consists of a white, black, and brown box that connects to a television set, and two rectangular controllers attached by wires. It is capable of displaying three square dots and one line of varying height on the screen in monochrome black and white, with differing behavior for the dots depending on the game played. Players place plastic overlays on the screen to display additional visual elements for each game, and the one or two players for each game control their dots with the knobs and buttons on the controller in accordance with the rules given for the game. The console cannot generate audio or track scores. The Odyssey console came packaged with dice, paper money, and other board game paraphernalia to accompany the games, while a peripheral controller—the first video game light gun—was sold separately.
A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol. In aviation and shipping, it can also be a directional signal lamp.
1977 has several new titles such as Space Wars.
The ColecoTelstar Marksman, commonly abbreviated as Telstar Marksman, is a first-generation home video game console that featured a light gun. It was released by Coleco in 1978. Because it had a manufacturer-set number of games, it is considered a dedicated console. It was part of the Coleco Telstar series Pong-based home video game consoles; it is essentially a Coleco Telstar Colortron bundled with a "3 in 1" light gun and two shooting games. The Marksman light gun is a pistol that features an attachable stock and barrel. It is similar in this regard to the later-released Stack Light Rifle and the Sega Menacer. The elongated barrel included a simple aiming sight. In addition to the light gun, the system featured two paddle controllers built directly into the console. Its reported features included "on-screen digital scoring" and three different difficulty settings. It required two nine-volt batteries or Coleco's Perma Power AC adaptor to power the system.
The RCA Studio II is a home video game console made by RCA that debuted in January 1977. The graphics of Studio II games were black and white and resembled those of earlier Pong consoles and their clones. The Studio II also did not have joysticks or similar game controllers but instead used two ten-button keypads that were built into the console itself. The console was capable of making simple beep sounds with slight variations in tone and length. The Studio II included five built-in games.
The APF TV Fun brand is a series of dedicated home video game consoles manufactured by APF Electronics Inc. and built in Japan starting in 1976. The systems were among the first built on the General Instrument "Pong-on-a-chip", the AY-3-8500, that allowed many manufacturers to compete against the Atari Home Pong. The APF TV Fun consoles were one of the earliest pong clone consoles.
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 AY-3-8500 "Ball & Paddle" integrated circuit was the first in a series of ICs from General Instrument designed for the consumer video game market. These chips were designed to output video to an RF modulator, which would then display the game on a domestic television set. The AY-3-8500 contained six selectable games — tennis, soccer, squash, practice, and two rifle shooting games. The AY-3-8500 was the 625-line PAL version and the AY-3-8500-1 was the 525-line NTSC version. It was introduced in 1976, Coleco becoming the first customer having been introduced to the IC development by Ralph H. Baer. A minimum number of external components were needed to build a complete system.
The Gameroom Tele-Pong is a dedicated first-generation home video game console developed, published and marketed by Entex Industries starting in 1976. The Gameroom Tele-Pong displays the games in black and white. The score is built in the console. It has no sound. The Gameroom Tele-Pong is similar to the first Japanese video game console, Epoch's TV Tennis Electrotennis, released a year prior.
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.
Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific or engineering-oriented computers of the time such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were playing video games, but they were also regularly used for word processing, doing homework, and programming.
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 BSS 01, also known as RFT TV-Spiel or simply TV-Spiel, is a dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released in 1980 or 1981 only in East Germany. It was manufactured between 1979 and 1980 by VEB Halbleiterwerk Frankfurt (Oder) and is credited the only video game console that was released in East Germany. Due to its high price, it rarely succeeded in private households and mostly delivered to youth centers, leisure and educational institutions.
The Telescore 750 is a dedicated first-generation home video game console manufactured and released by Groupe SEB in 1977, only in France for 100 Franc. Two revisions were released afterwards; the Telescore 751 in 1978, identical to the Telescore 750 but with two detachable game controllers and support for a lightgun sold separately, and the Telescore 752 in 1979, which was almost identical to the Telescore 751 but could also display games in color and had the lightgun included.
The Interton Video 3000 is a dedicated first-generation home video game console that was released in Germany in 1976 by German manufacturer Interton and sold by Quelle. Due to the AY-3-8500 chipset from General Instrument, the console has six integrated games: Tennis, Football, Practice, Squash, Skeet and Moving target. It had a list price of 198 Deutsche Mark (DM).
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 Wonder Wizard is a dedicated first-generation home video game console which was manufactured by Magnavox and released by General Home Products in June 1976 only in the United States.
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