RCA Studio II (1976)

RCA couldn't accept the truth that they let the Odyssey mistake through their fingers (Ralph Baer the designer of Odyssey approached RCA with the deal 1st), and into the hands of their TV rival Magnavox. The RCA Studio II is their answer for the Magnavox Odyssey. Releasing in 1976 a few months after the release of the Fairchild Channel F, it may have been the first programmable video game system (Fairchild beat them to the release gate).

The console was doomed from the start. The lack of a color and command paddles made this unit old and dated. With only 8 games, the Studio II suffered the same destiny as Channel F. Overshadowing and rendered obsolete by the Atari VCS / 2600

The RCA Studio II should have been an colour console, a few games were intended for color, but the video output of the console was black & white. A Studio II clone released in the UK called The Sheen M1200 released in 1978, and produced PAL colour with RCA Studio II games and was a more success unit.

Fairchild Channel F (1976)

The Channel F is the first programmable video game system, including plug-in cartridges containing ROM and microprocessor code slightly than dedicated circuits. Not a very general or entertaining method, it was nonetheless important at the time for having several previous features which were imitated by later more successful video game systems.

Fairchild released 26 different cartridges for this video game system, with up to four games being on each cartridge. The games included sports (Hockey, Tennis and Baseball, educational, such as Maths Quiz, board games, such as Checkers, and shooting games, such as Space War). The cartridges had labels that enclosed the game instructions on them and each were given a sequential number. Fairchild ongoing a trend in tiresome to boost game sales by numbering them and so appealing to consumers who wanted to collect their collection.

The Channel F console's famous lowered when the Atari released their VCS in 1977 because the VCS had much better games, graphics and sound.

Magnavox Odyssey 500 (1976)

The Magnavox Odyssey 500 was released in 1976, and was very advanced in that time because of the technology. It was in statement the only system of its kind. As a trouble of detail, the white paddles representing players replaced by simple graphics: two tennis players with their rackets (TENNIS game), two squash players (SQUASH), or two hockey players holding their sticks (HOCKEY).

Magnavox released Magnavox Odyssey 2000, 3000 and 4000 in 1977. Magnavox Odyssey 5000 was intended but never released. It was intended to have 24 games (7 different types) for two or four players. The Odyssey 4000 was the last PONG video game system released by Magnavox.

Magnavox Odyssey 400 (1976)

Still in 1976, Magnavox released the Magnavox Odyssey 400.and have same games with Magnavox Odyssey 200 and worn the additional Texas Instruments chips to pose digital on-screen scoring (it was the first analog Magnavox Odyssey system to display digital on-screen scoring). On-screen scoring was rather well designed. the fact is the scores were large and were only shown when the balls was lost, and a large 'W' letter was displayed on the winner's section when the games is over.

Like the Magnavox Odyssey 100 and 200, the Magnavox Odyssey 400 worn the same three knobs to move the bats and control the "English" effect on the ball.

Magnavox Odyssey 300 (1976)

Magnavox worn several Texas Instruments chips, each having a unique function (overlap detection, on-screen scoring, and many more). Atari had the gain of with the first chips often called "PONG in a chip," but the chips were not available to other manufacturers. Each different Atari system used a unique chip. Of course, a few discreet components interfaced the chip to the system (video modulator, player controls, etc). These chips replaced most of the numerous components used in analog and digital systems. Although Atari chips were a smart purpose, the idea of integrating complex circuits into a track piece was a mutual idea at that time, and other video game manufacturers would soon release their video game chips.

Magnavox continued with the Odyssey 300 in 1976, which was one of the first video game system to use a single game chip containing the major circuit of a PONG (after the 1975 Atari PONG video game system).

Coleco Telstar Classic (1976)

The Telstar video game system produced by Coleco first went on sale in 1976. It was a video tennis clone similar to Pong. With an estimate of $50, budget minded clients loved it. Coleco sold over 1,000,000 units in 1976.

Releasing the same year as the previous Telstar, the Telstar Classic section was essentially the same as the Telstar. It purely added a classic 1970's lumber grain container to it. This unit have 3 games (Tennis, Hockey, Handball) and 3 different difficulty levels.

In the Christmas term of 1977, nine new designs of the Telstar were released, each of the liability virtually the same thing. It was labeled "Video Sports" with four different games, all of them PONG clones. During it's life span, Coleco had produced about nine different variations of their engine and tossed about one million 'obsolete' machine.

Coleco Telstar (1976)

Telstar, Coleco's was released in 1976 and played only three games with three difficulty levels. It was the first video game system to use GI's AY-3-8500 chip and was a real success because over a million units were sold.

The AY-3-8500 chip played six games with more addition difficulty levels, and the games would also be played in colour. It was obvious that Coleco would release more systems. At least 15 different games were released in two years with the only differences between the "pong" systems being the number of games, the way the difficulty levels were worn, and the kind of pictured.

An amazing design is the way Coleco packed their video game systems, they were sold somewhat assembled. The systems were electronically immediate to play, but the users had to put on the knobs and stick the decorative stickers on the plastic case. only Coleco is known to have released their systems this way. They thought that this was done to save the assembling costs budget.

Wonder Wizard 7702 (1976)

The Wonder Wizard 7702 was sold in 1976 and have a Magnavox Odyssey 300 circuit board housed into a derivate of the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey case. The bottom part of the case is same, only the top differs and was made in two versions: one with silver knobs and woodgrain only in the segment containing the "Wonder Wizard" name, and one (as pictured) with black knobs and woodgrain everywhere.

Like Odyssey 300, this video game system used a 3-posture switch to show one of three predefined combinations of difficulties, avoiding the change of the ball speed, ball angle and bat size. Few systems used this devise.

Atari Super PONG (1976)

Atari's sales of the Home PONG console were phenomenal. Atari would persist to cash in of the PONG franchise by releasing yet another home side of one of its arcade game assets. This timed it would be Atari Super PONG. Now home players could decide for 4 different selections of PONG games to entertain them for hours.

Meanwhile abundant hammer-off PONG-type consoles were hitting the market. However, because of Atari's now well known presence in the coin-op marketing, its name recognition helped it to stand. Also Atari's unique Pedestal design helped Atari stand out in the Sears Retail Stores as well as other stores who were now shipping Atari goods.

When compared to the excess of ordinary and boxy "Me-Too" consoles by so many other companies, the Atari PONG line of consoles minimally stood out. Atari's consoles had eye catching rainbow colours and a sonorous and ear catching PONG sound from their built in speaker. Most other consoles were still far behind playing grab up with B&W displays, awkward controllers and some even without speakers.

Magnavox Odyssey 200

Still in 1975, Magnavox appear with bigger improved version of the Magnavox Odyssey 100: the Magnavox Odyssey 200. It was same as the Magnavox Odyssey 100 but with two added chips from Texas Instruments, with addition of a third game: SMASH and some on-screen scoring. The Magnavox Odyssey 200 could be played by 2 or 4 players (first video game system to offer this), and displayed actual basic on-screen scoring using tiny rectangles (it still had the two artificial cursors to store the scores). Each time a player marked a point, his white rectangle would about-face on the right. The champ was obiviously the first whose rectangle would reach the rightmost position on the screen. Although the scores were not yet digital, the Magnavox Odyssey 200 remained added advanced than the last home version of Atari PONG because it played three alternate games for two or four players.

1975 marked as a starting of a continued history. Both Atari and Magnavox release their video games systems,

Magnavox Odyssey 100 (1975)

The Odyssey 100 was an analog video games system which used four Texas Instruments chips. It did not use cartridges and played just two games: TENNIS and HOCKEY. this video games was powered by six batteries, or by AC adaptor.

The Odyssey 100 is a very basic system and don't have the features of the million-sellerPONG systems of the next years. The knobs were fixed: there were no detached controllersyet. There was no digital scoring: the players mark their scores via two little plastic cursors on the system. The serve couldn't be changed: it is automatic. This could looks strange compared to the last Atari PONG systems which already had digital on-screen scoring. In fact, this was aloof a question of technology. On-screen scoring would require appropriate added components, which would require addition of the cost of the system. Nevertheless, on-screen scoring was added in latest systems although the last attempts to use ancient graphics. The last Magnavox video game system to offer digital on-screen was the Odyssey 300 in 1976.

Atari Pong (1975)

In 1973, afterwards the success of the PONG coin-op, an Atari architect, Harold Lee came up with the new idea of a home PONG unit. Since the PONG coin-op that Alan Alcorn advised was nothing than the game board connected to an absolute television set, he thought it would be accessible to scale it bottomward a bit and modify it for use at home. This would be a new direction for the apprentice Atari customer electronics. If they could pull it off, they would be one of the ancestors of application high tech custom chip circuits in the customer industry.

In 1975 it is decided Sears would sell PONG beneath it's own specially created Tele-Games label, and productionj was initially projected at 50,000 units. This was soon aloft to 150,000 for the 1975 Christmas season. Atari agreed to give Sears absolute rights for the afterward year, and would continue to accomplish custom Tele-Games versions for any future new consoles. This was the starting of a long relation amid Atari and Sears, which would continue even afterwards Nolan Bushnellsold Atari to Warner.

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

The Magnavox Odyssey is the ancestor of home video game console, predating the Atari PONG home consoles by 3 years. The Odyssey was advised by Ralph Baer, who had the prototype accomplished by 1968. This Magnavox Prototype is affectionately accepted as the "Brown Box" to classical video game hobbyists. Clashing best video games consoles, Magnavox Odyssey is analog rather than digital, which makes its invention all amazing in spite of its rather awkward graphics and controller response. Also, unlike any conventional console, this system was powered by battery. The Odyssey and its variants lacks of sound. that means this console is silent console, which was not uncommon in PONG systems of that era.

The Odyssey was appear in May 1972. While it did not accomplish badly, it did not booty continued afore it succumbed to poor business by Magnavox retail chains. One of their blunders was misleading consumers into believing that the Odyssey would work alone on Magnavox televisions.