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The Internet's Largest List of Gaming Systems

 

​Introduction | Table of Contents | Early Gaming | Home Pong | Pong Chips | Consoles | Plug and Play | Downloadable | Microconsoles | Educational | Dedicated Portable | Handheld | Mobile | Mainframe and Minicomputer | Microcomputer | Home Computer | Modern PCs | Microprocessors | Online Gaming | Arcade | Resources

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previous page - List of Pong Chips | next page - Video Gaming Consoles: Second Generation

Video Gaming Consoles: First Generation

Generation 1 | Generation 2 | Generation 3 | Generation 4 | Generation 5 | 

Generation 6 | Generation 7 | Generation 8 | Generation 9

Sources

Did you know:

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Twice within less than a decade the video gaming industry had two major financial meltdowns. Many know about the "Crash of '83," but the first crash happen in 1977 and would threaten the future of the entire medium. The crash in the market was caused by the success of the Pong home console. Many electronics and toy manufactures wanted to capitalize on the growing trend of video games and attempted to make their own clones of the Pong system. At the time the idea of copyright infringement in the industry hadn’t been fully brought into practice. Unlike in today’s video game market which operates on a global level, many consoles where produced and sold locally in European and Asian countries where American copyright law couldn’t reach them. With so many systems for sale around the world many major manufacturers couldn’t get a share of the market in countries where Pong clones where being produced at an unsustainable rate. It is easy to see why the market for video games couldn’t sustain such large number of consoles, which forced many manufactures to sell their systems at a loss just too clear stock. The effects of the crash were even felt into the second generation of consoles, with Fairchild and RCA abandoning plans to develop future video game consoles. The only thing that would save the video gaming industry would be ports of popular arcade games like Space Invaders, and PacMan. With better graphics and better games, companies like Atari would survive the crash and go on to dominate the second generation of video gaming consoles.

Pong, in Cartridge Form

 

The consoles in the first generation are like no other video gaming consoles, because they didn't use microprocessors to run programs, or even ROM to store programs. Before even the dedicated Pong consoles of the late 70s, video game systems used discrete transistor-based digital game logic. The very first console, the Magnavox Odyssey, for example only had simple circuits on the cartridge that, when it was plugged in, changed the way the console displayed graphics on the TV. No one had ever seen such a thing in the home before, and interacting with your television with these new "TV games" really became a sensation.

 

By 1976, General Instruments had figured out how to place all the circuits needed for a TV Pong game onto a single microchip, the first Pong-on-a-chip. This really put the new industry into high gear, because it was easier than ever to produce a TV game... and just about everyone did. Some companies figured out that you can put these new chips from GI in a cartridge and instead of trying to sell several consoles only had to sell one console with several different "game cassettes." 

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By the end of 1977, so many companies were producing Pong type gaming systems that the now flooded market began to crash. Yes, there was a "video game crash of '77," 6 years before E.T. did, or didn't, cause the crash of '83. By 1978, sales of the first generation consoles had fizzled out in North America and Europe, with Nintendo extending the first generation to 1980 with their line of TV Games. The advances in technology, and lowering prices, new systems like the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision used microprocessors and far outperformed the now dwindling Pong-on-a-chip gaming systems.

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Magnavox Odyssey
Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Here it is, the grandfather of all home video gaming consoles. Numero uno. The first console, which predates all other home consoles, even Pong. The Odyssey was the brain child of Ralph Baer. First conceived in 1951, Baer began developing the Brown Box, which is the prototype to the Odyssey, in 1966 while working for Sanders Associates. The Odyssey was licensed to Magnavox, and it was officially released to the public in September, 1972.

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. 1TL200, BLAK finish, Run 1 (1972) - First production run for the first model of the Odyssey with just “RUN 1” in red stamped on the serial sticker.

  2. 1TL200, BLAK finish, Run 1 (1972) - Odyssey with "run 1" on a second smaller sticker.

  3. 1TL200, BLAK finish, Run 1A (1972) - Odyssey with "run 1A" on a second smaller sticker.

  4. 1TL200, BLAK finish, Run 1B (1972) - Odyssey with a "B" next to the RUN number.

  5. 1TL200, BLAK finish, Run 1B (1972) - Odyssey with "run 1B" on a second smaller sticker.

  6. 1TL200, BLAK finish, Run 2 (1973) - Second production run for the first model of the Odyssey with “RUN 2” in red stamped on the serial sticker.

  7. 1TL200, BK12 finish, Run 1 (1973 -74)- First production run of the second model of the Odyssey.

  8. 1TL200, BK12 finish, Run 2 (1974 - 75) - Second production run of the second model of the Odyssey.

  9. 1TL200, BK12 finish, Run 2 (1974 - 75) - Odyssey with the Magnavox logo on the front woodgrain.

  10. 1TL200, BK12 finish, Run 2 (1974 - 75) - Odyssey with "yellow" console and controllers (maybe a different plastic was used which got yellow over the years. Very few of these "yellow" systems are known to exist).

  11. (export) 1TL200, BK13 finish, Run 1 (1974) - Export Odyssey with 24 page English manual.

  12. (export) 1TL200, BK11 finish, Run 1 (1974) - Export Odyssey with twin German manuals.

  13. (export) 6TL200 - Odyssey system sold in Mexico renamed ODISEA.

  14. (export) Odyssey system sold in Brazil.

  15. (licensed) ITT Odysee (1973) - German system sold by ITT.

  16. (licensed) Kanal 34 (1976) - Odyssey sold in Sweden.

  17. (clone) Overkall (1975) - Odyssey clone sold in Spain.

  18. (clone) Panoramic Telematch (1975) - Odyssey clone sold in Argentina

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Games

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  1. Table Tennis (card 1) – included with console

  2. Ski (card 2) – included with console

  3. Simon Says (card 2) – included with console

  4. Tennis (card 3) – included with console

  5. Analogic (card 3) – included with console

  6. Hockey (card 3) – included with console

  7. Football (card 3, 4) – included with console (US only)

  8. Cat and Mouse (card 4) – included with console (US only), sold separately (Int. only)

  9. Haunted House (card 4) – included with console (US only), sold separately (Int. only)

  10. Submarine (card 5) – included with console

  11. Roulette (card 6) – included with console (US only), sold separately (Int. only)

  12. States (card 6) – included with console (US only)

  13. Fun Zoo (card 2) – sold separately (US only)

  14. Baseball (card 3) – sold separately (US only)

  15. Invasion (card 4, 5, 6) – sold separately (US only)

  16. Wipeout (card 5) – sold separately (US only), included with console (Int. only)

  17. Volleyball (card 7) – sold separately (US only), included with console (Int. only)

  18. Soccer (card 8) – included with console (Int. Only)

  19. Handball (card 8) – sold separately (US only)

  20. Prehistoric Safari (card 9) – sold with Light Gun

  21. Dogfight! (card 9) – sold with Light Gun

  22. Shootout! (card 9) – sold with Light Gun

  23. Shooting Gallery (card 10) – sold with Light Gun

  24. Percepts (card 2) – free with survey (US only)

  25. Brain Wave (card 3) – sold separately, 1973 (US only)

  26. W.I.N. (card 4) – sold separately, 1973 (US only)

  27. Basketball (card 8) – sold separately, 1973 (US only)

  28. Interplanetary Voyage (card 12) – sold separately, 1973 (US only)

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Emulators

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  1. OdyEmu by Paul Robson and David Winter - the first ever emulator, for the first ever home console. Written for DOS, so you will need to run it in DOSBox. Includes all of the 12 original Odyssey cartridges, although the only playable games are Table Tennis, Tennis and Volleyball (the latter lacks an overlay).

  2. OdySim by Sylvain De Chantal (aka Sly DC) - OdySim is a set of executables using the LÖVE engine. The first 12 games that came packed with the Odyssey are available for download at Archive.org. There are 6 additional games, including the homebrew Dodgeball, available for download at OdySim (in the right column).

 

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Homebrew

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Discussion at AtariAge

  1. Released Homebrews:

    1. Odball by Revrob

    2. Mentis Cohorts by Revrob

    3. Red vs Blue by Revrob

    4. Odball: LE (Limited Edition) by Revrob, included Red vs Blue

    5. Dodgeball by Atariland2600

    6. Odyssey Evil by ManCaveArcade

    7. Captain Bruce by Atariland2600

  2. Unreleased Homebrews:

    1. Hunting Adventure by ManCaveArcade (Announced in 2013 No news since 2015. Cancelled?)

    2. Lava Monster by TheMichaelLant (Announced in 2014. No news since 2015. Cancelled?)

    3. Hadeaus War by djfurreh (Announced in 2015. Confirmed Pending in April 2017 - Unknown release date)

    4. Soccer by Uppy (Announced in 2015. Confirmed Pending in April 2017 - Unknown release date)

    5. Six2 by Atari2600land (Announced April 2017)

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Interton Video 2000
Interton Video 2000 (1975)

[First cartridge system made in Europe]

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Interton Video 2000 (1975) – Interton (Germany)

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Games

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  1. Cassette 1: Sparring (Squash)

  2. Cassette 2: Badminton

  3. Cassette 3: Attacke

  4. Cassette 4: Tennis

  5. Cassette 5: Super Tennis

  6. Car Race (not released)

  7. Naval Battle (not released)

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The Interton Video 2000 was released in 1975 in Germany. The system contains 14 CMOS chips that draw the basic graphic objects (players, central line and ball), and produce sound effects. Additional graphic objects, scoring, and things like collision management were produced by the cartridges, which powered on the Video 2000 automatically when inserted.

Philips Tele-Spiel
Philips Tele-Spiel (1975)

 

 

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Philips Tele-Spiel, model ES 2201 (1975) – Philips (Netherlands)

  2. Philips Tele-Spiel, model ES 2201 (1975) (Germany)

  3. Philips Telespel, model ES 2201 (Holland)

  4. Philips Tele-Peli, model ES 2201 (Finland)

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Games (English / German / French)

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The Philips Tele-Spiel model ES 2201 was released in Europe in late 1975. The system uses discrete components including seven CMOS chips. Cartridges contain a small circuit board with discrete components and no integrated circuits. Interestingly, the controllers plug to the cartridges instead of the system.

Teletenis Multijuegos
Teletenis Multijuegos (1976)

 

 

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Togisa TeleTenis Multi-Juegos (1976) (Spain)

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Games

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  1. Fronton Simple (Squash for one player)

  2. Fronton Doble (Squash for two players)

  3. Pelota (Tennis without net)

  4. Tenis (Tennis)

  5. Tenis con rebote (Tennis with Rebound)

  6. Futbol (Football)

  7. Carrera de coches (Car Race) *unreleased

  8. Bombardeo naval (Naval bombardment) *unreleased

Teletenis Multijuegos is a Spanish video game system made of discrete components and released in 1976. The system generates the graphics used by all games. The discrete components of the cartridges configure how these graphics are shown, how they eventually interact together. Eight games were announced for this system, of which only six were released.

PC-50x Family
PC-50x Family (1976)

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones (not a complete list)

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  1. Acetronic Color TV Game (UK)

  2. Acetronic Telesports IV

  3. Audiosonic PP-790 (Netherlands)

  4. Audiosonic Telesports IV (UK)

  5. Binatone Cablestar (UK)

  6. Binatone Superstar 01-4354 (UK)

  7. Black Point (New Zealand)

  8. Bodefund Programmable Video System (UK)

  9. CAT Programmable TV Game

  10. Creatronic Program 2000 SD-050 (FR)

  11. Dick Smith Programmable TV Game, model Y-1160 (Australia)

  12. Elbex Programmable 2003 (EU)

  13. Grandstand SD-050 (UK)

  14. Grandstand Colour Programmable SD-070 (UK)

  15. Hanimex Optim 600

  16. Hanimex SD-050 (France)

  17. Hanimex SD-070 Couleur (France)

  18. Hanimex TVG 070C

  19. Hanimex TVG 3000

  20. HGS Telesport (Switzerland)

  21. Ingersoll XK1010 Battle Command (UK)

  22. Intel Universal Tele-Play D-744/34 (Germany)

  23. Interstate Programaster 1125 (UK)

  24. ITMC SD-050 (France)

  25. ITMC SD-090

  26. Lark Programmable TV Game

  27. Mark TVG-64562

  28. Mark TVG-57253 Programmable Colour TV Game (EU)

  29. MBO Teleball Cassetten System (Germany)

  30. MBO Color Teleball Cassetten System II (Germany)

  31. MBO Telesport (Germany)

  32. Mercury Commander Programmable (UK)

  33. Mercury Commander Mark 3 (Italy)

  34. Monarch CTX-2000 (France)

  35. Mustang 9015 (Germany)

  36. Novex TV-1010 (Italy)

  37. OPL Optim 600 colour (UK)

  38. Otron Gamatic 8600

  39. Palladium Tele-Cassetten-Game (Germany)

  40. Polycon PG-7 Programmable TV Games

  41. Poppy 9015 (Germany)

  42. Poppy TVG 10 (Germany)

  43. Prinztronic Grandprix (UK)

  44. Prinztronic Micro 5500 (UK)

  45. Prinztronic Tournament 2000 (UK)

  46. Prinztronic Tournament 5000 (UK)

  47. Radofin Telesports III (Europe)

  48. Radofin Telesports IV (Europe)

  49. Rollet Video Secam System 4/303 (France)

  50. Sanwa Color-Cassetten-Spiel 9015 (Germany)

  51. Sheen 48A

  52. SHG Blackpoint, model FS-2000 (Germany)

  53. SHG Blackpoint, model FS-1003 (Germany)

  54. SHG Telesports (Germany)

  55. Sipo (Hong Kong)

  56. Soundic Sports SD-070

  57. Soundic TV Sports SD-090

  58. Sovereign Coloursports Programmable

  59. Tectronic Programmable TV Game

  60. Teleng Colourstars (UK)

  61. Teleplay Colour Programagame

  62. Teleplay Video Entertainment Unit

  63. Tempest Programmable TV Game SD-050 (Australia)

  64. TCR Video Sport 900PC (USA)

  65. Tristar SD-050

  66. Unimex Mark VI

  67. Unimex Mark IX (Germany)

  68. Universum Programmable TV Game (Germany)

  69. Univox Tele-sports III (France)

  70. Univox Jeu Video Cassette Interchangeable (France)

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Games

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  1. PC-501 Sports / Supersportic / Supersportif (AY-3-8610) – 8 variants of tennis + 2 shooting games

  2. PC-502 Motor Cycle / Motorcyclette (AY-3-8760) – 4 motorsport games

  3. PC-503 Tank Battle / Bataille de chars (AY-3-8710) – 2 tank games

  4. PC-504 Racing Cars / Grand Prix / Race Car GP / Course de voitures GP (AY-3-8603) – 2 racing games

  5. PC-505 Submarine / Bataille navale (AY-3-8605) – 3 naval games

  6. PC-506 Super Wipeout / Jeu de destruction (AY -3-8606) – 10 destruction games

  7. PC-507 Shooting Gallery / Jeux de tir (AY-3-8607) – 3 shooting games

  8. PC-508 Fundamental / 6 jeux de base (AY-3-8500?)

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Emulators

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  1. WinArcadia 24.6 by Amigan Software emulates AY-3-8550/8600-based Pong systems (among other things). The emulator is full of features and active, so it gets regular updates. Other common systems it emulates is the Emerson Arcadia 2001 and the Interton VC 4000 (and their many, many clones).

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The PC-50x family of gaming consoles all used General Instrument AY-3-86xx/87xx game chips. Where they differ from dedicated Pong consoles is that the chips they use are found in the cartridges. There are 8 games available, corresponding to the 8 GI chips, usually numbers from PC-501 to PC-508, thus the name of this category of consoles. It is said there are about 200 different consoles in this family most of which were sold in Europe, specifically the UK. A couple can be found in Australia and New Zealand. And one American version was recently discovered.

Occitane Occitel 003
Occitane (SOE) Occitel 003 (1977)

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Occitane Occitel 003 Modular TV Game with Tele-ball 4 (France)

  2. Occitane Occitel 003 Modular TV Game with Tele-ball 8 (France)

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Games

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  1. Tele Ball 4 module (AY-3-8550)​ with 2 joysticks

  2. Tele Ball 8 module (AY-3-8610)​ with 2 joysticks

  3. Tele Tank module (AY-3-8710) with 2 joypads

  4. Tele Motocross (AY-3-8760) with 1 paddle

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This is a strange one, and there is very little information available for it. The Occitel 003 was released in 1976 or 1977 by the French company Société Occitane d'électronique. It is a modular system that uses the General Instruments AY-3-8xxx chips. The system is like a docking station for the various game modules, which came with their own controllers that plugged into the module itself. The power cord for the system also plugged into each module, in the top right corner. Makes you wonder what's left for the system to do, but send out the video signal to the TV, and make those Pong-like beeping noises on its funky little speaker. 

Coleco Telstar Arcade
Coleco Telstar Arcade (1977)

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Coleco Telstar Arcade (1977) – Coleco (USA)

  2. Coleco Telstar Arcade, model #6177 (Canada)

  3. Sunagawa Industry Telstar Arcade (Japan) (1978)

 

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Games

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  1. Cartridge #1 – Road Race, Tennis, Quick Draw

  2. Cartridge #2 – Hockey, Tennis, Handball, Target

  3. Cartridge #3 – Bonus Pinball, Deluxe Pinball, Shooting Gallery

  4. Cartridge #4 – Naval Battle, Blast Away, Speed-Ball

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The Telstar Arcade was released by Coleco in 1977. Made in a triangular case, the system could play three types of games, each being played on one of the three sides of the case: PONG type games, target shooting games, and car racing games. The cartridges were also unusual, in that they were triangle in shape and were placed on the top of the console. Like other systems of this generation, the games were a single chip found in the cartridge, the MPS 7600 series of chips by Mostek.

Takatoku Video Cassette Rock
Takatoku Video Cassette Rock (1977)

[First domestic built cartridge system in Japan]

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Takatoku Video cassette rock "service set" TG-95-01, paddle version with 6 Ball games cartridge (Japan) Oct, 1977

  2. Takatoku Video cassette rock "basic set" TG-95-01, joystick version with 8 Ball games cartridge (Japan) Dec, 1977

 

 

Games

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  1. 95-1 Rhythm box

  2. 95-2 Sound Effector (synthesizer)

  3. 95-3 Tank game (AY-3-8700)

  4. 95-5 Car race (AY-3-8603)

  5. 95-6 6 Ball games (AY-3-8500)

  6. 95-7 8 Ball games (AY-3-8600)

  7. Stunt Rider (???)

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The Video Cassette Rock (you sometimes see "Lock" in translation) released in October, 1977 by toy manufacturer Takatoku was the first cartridge based console produced in Japan. Like other systems of this generation, the cartridges contained the AY-3-8xxx line of game chips from General Instrument. The first console to be released was the "service set" which had paddles and came with the Ball 6 game cartridge. A few months later, Takatoku released the "basic set" which had joysticks in place of the paddles and came with the Ball 8 game cartridge.

Bandai TV Jack 5000
Bandai TV Jack 5000 (1978)

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. Bandai Video Mate TV Jack 5000 (Beige) (Japan)
    https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/OXkAAOSw-89ZPSnJ/s-l225.jpg

  2. Bandai Video Mate TV Jack 5000 (Blue) (Japan)
    https://vgcollect.com/images/front-box-art/97243.jpg

  3. Bandai Video Mate TV Jack 5000 (Yellow) (Japan) [packed w/ Ball Game and Road Race]

  4. Bandai Video Mate TV Jack 5000 (Yellow w/ eject button removed) (Japan) [packed w/ Ball Game and Block 10]

 

 

Games

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  1. Sports (AY-3-8610?)

  2. Car Racing (AY-3-8603?)

  3. Motocross? (AY-3-8760?)

  4. Block 10 (AY-3-8606?)

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Bandai had a long line of dedicated Pong systems called TV Jack. The 5000 (and later the TV Jack 8000) were different in they were cartridge systems. This console used the GI AY-3-8xxx series of game chips, which were found in the cartridges, like other first generation consoles. Bandai released several versions of the TV Jack 5000. The cartridges are similar to the Channel F, a later ROM cartridge based system, but are not compatible.

VideoMaster Colour Cartridge
​​​​​​VideoMaster Colour Cartridge (1978)

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Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

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  1. VideoMaster Colour Cartridge, model VMV12 (1979) – VideoMaster (UK)

  2. Palson "Game Cassette System", model CX 336 (Spain, circa 1978-79) (white case)

  3. Palson CX 336 (shipped in a modified red CX 306 case)

 

 

Games

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  1. VideoMaster Colour game cartridges

    1. All Sport (10 Pong games) – included with system

    2. Road Race

    3. Stunt Rider

    4. Super Wipeout

  2. Palson game cartridges

    1. Super sport

    2. Moto

    3. Grand Prix

    4. Wipeout

    5. Tank Battle

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The Colour Cartridge (model VMV12) was released in 1979 and was Videomaster's last PONG system. Like other systems in the first generation, the Colour Cartridge used the GI AY-3-8xxx game chips placed in each cartridge. The system is unique in that it doesn't have a dust cover over the cartridge port in the system. Only one other system is known to have used the same cartridges: the Palson "Game Cassette System", model CX 336 (Spain, circa 1978-79).

previous page - List of Pong Chips | next page - Video Gaming Consoles: Second Generation

 

​Introduction | Table of Contents | Early Gaming | Home Pong | Pong Chips | Consoles | Plug and Play | Downloadable | Microconsoles | Educational | Dedicated Portable | Handheld | Mobile | Mainframe and Minicomputer | Microcomputer | Home Computer | Modern PCs | Microprocessors | Online Gaming | Arcade | Resources

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