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TV w/built in pong.


King Atari

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I know this isn't exactly a 2600 topic, but it is about Atari. Awhile back (I've got a photocopy of this somewhere, I'll TRY to get a scan up) I was flipping through a National Geographic. Before I go on, I must say, I am in NO WAY one of those people who read cultural magazines like NG, my interests are video games (duh), comics, certain old figures (like the old Star Wars stuff, among others), and classic TV. Period. However, old NG's do have great old video game/TV advertisements. Now, as I was saying, I was flipping through it and right on the back was an advertisement for a series ot televisions. One of the TV's had a built in Pong system w/controllers that extended from it (I think they extended from it, they might have been right on the TV itself). My question is, does anyone have any info on this TV, was it licensed by Atari, does anyone even remember this model? I would love to get one, but I need more info. as I said, once I find my copy (I have a good idea where it is), I'll try to get a scan up.

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I remember seeing a picture of something like this on the net a while back, but I haven't a clue where I saw it. However, it definitely exists... though there could be any number of different ones floating around. Back in the days of Pong, there were dozens of companies producing these things.

 

I really doubt that Atari had anything to do with it, especially liscensing. Even though everyone credits Atari with Pong, in reality, Atari themselves got sued for putting their Pong out on the market.

 

This thread should probably be over in the "Pong, Etc." forum...

 

--Zero

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quote:

Originally posted by King Atari:

Before I go on, I must say, I am in NO WAY one of those people who read cultural magazines like NG ... (snip)

 

Umm... Is there something wrong with reading cultural magazines?

 

I love Atari as much as the rest of the people on this board (just take a look at my collection if you doubt it). But I also am very interested in other cultural areas.

 

I subscribe to:

... The 2600 Connection

... ArtNews

... Art & Auction

... Architectural Digest

 

And at work I get:

... Wired

... Communication Arts

... Time

 

...and many more.

 

I guess all I am saying is that hopefully noone here will look down on you for having interests outside of gaming. It is healthy to have a wide variety of interests.

 

Or maybe I'm just "one of those people."

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quote:

Umm... Is there something wrong with reading cultural magazines?

 


 

Not at all, I just don't want people to think that I'm smart. I'm not insulting the mag or anyone who reads it, I just want people to know that it's not me. I'm sorry if this was taken the wrong way. Anyways, it was definitely a Magnavox set, no doubt about that. Also, I forgot about the PONG section, since this is the only section I really belong to.

 

quote
 i have seen in those mags 2 Commodore PETs and 1 Atari 2600 and maybe an Atari 800.

 

70's,

 

I've mainly seen Intellivision (one of them had them comparing their baseball game against "Home Run", pretty unfair if you ask me) and Odyssey adds.

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King Atari-

 

No problems.

 

Anyhow, I've seen these Magnavox TV's with the built in pong before. Unfortunately I cannot remember where. I'll try to dig it up again -- there was a site someplace at one point in time.

 

Atari 70's-

 

If you like the adss in Nat'l Geographic, you should sometimes check out some late-70s / early-80s issues of Popular Mechanics (or many other technological / scientific mags from that period). There are tons of weird advertisements & articles about everything from the 2600 to obscure pongs and 8-bit computers. I see them from time to time at a few of the thrifts around here, but have never decided to purchase one yet.

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quote:

Originally posted by twit:

Actually, I
do
think I've seen one on eBay before -- unfortunately it was a few years back. Shipping would probably be a nightmare, though... they're
huge
!

 

Heh, yep. But I pay about a thousand dollars a month in shipping anyway... so I'd never notice.

 

Please let me know if you ever find any... I looked tonight, no go.

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Okay, I've found the ad, it is a Magnavox, model number 4305 (almost 4205, Russ). It says "Go from color TV to Odyssey at the touch of a button". Apparently I remembered wrong, there's no mention of the controllers, I can only guess that they extended from the back. It looks like a 4-player pong is on the screen, although my copy is in B/W and two of the paddles don't show well. There's a little close-up of someone pushing a button right over the top knob (yeah, it's that old, had knobs.). Unfortunatly, there's no date, I'm guessing it was between 1976-1982. If you're going to look for it, it also describes three other TV's. All I can say is that if I find one it's gonna sit right next to my Atari's. Think how cool it'd be, hooking an Atari up to a TV with a built in PONG game! This brings up a question, do you think it would be possible to actually install a 2600 into a TV? Of course you'll have to do some remodeling, and I have no idea how you'd work out a place for the joysticks/paddles, but do you think it would be possible?

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King Atari wrote:

quote:

Think how cool it'd be, hooking an Atari up to a TV with a built in PONG game!


 

Actually, I think it would even cooler to build Pong into a NEW TV somehow. You've got friends over, you pick up the remote, change in to "The Pong Channel" and play Pong with the remote. They won't believe their eyes. Then you hand them a universal remote that's tuned to your TV and reset to a two-player game and trounce them 15-0.

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Zero,

 

to be honest, I've tried, but I can't get thing to go, hopefully there's a copy floating around a site somewhere.

 

quote
Actually, I think it would even cooler to build Pong into a NEW TV somehow. You've got friends over, you pick up the remote, change in to "The Pong Channel"

 

That would be pretty cool, but if I get a PONG system I won't take it apart for anything, and I have no idea how to program stuff like that.

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i have found the ad. it's on the back cover of the may 1978 issue of national grographic magazine. unfortunatly i don't have a scanner, so i can't post a picture. i will try taking a close-up picture with my parents digital camera and see if that works. it does show a four player pong on the screen.

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Back in the early summer, I managed to aquire a pair of home made pong systems. One is pong and one is tank. Both have seen better days and need some rework. I also got the guy to scan his documentation so when I have time I have no doubt I'll be able to get the units to fire up. My plan is to take an old watchman TV, and make a portable pong system. - Similiar to a 2600CE.

 

I haven't decided if I want to use the GI AY-8500 series chips or attempt to build one from scratch using all discretes. (The plans were widely available in electronic magazines in the late 70's.) The GI chip will have the advantage of a smaller size, but I kind of like the idea of leaving the guys homebrews they way they are. I could always open some spare units I have, pull the chip and redesign a smaller board. I'll let you know the progress when I finally get around to it.

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quote
i have found the ad. it's on the back cover of the may 1978 issue of national grographic magazine

 

Thanks, Paul, next I time I go past the library, I'll stop and get a color copy. Anyways, I'm toying with the idea of putting a 2600 in a TV, of course I have to figure out what I'm doing first!

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i found it in a thrift shop for 10 cents.

i just went through all the national geographic magazines and checked the back covers of the years you mentioned it should be between, and there it was.

i had already gone through the magazines there once before, but i had missed that particular ad.

 

paul

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