Telstar Arcade: Very First Cartridge Console

[fiddlepaddle]

This last weekend, I picked up a couple of triangular shaped cartridges made for the Coleco Telstar. I don't have the game system, I only bought them because they were $1 each and I thought they were interesting.

 

 

After doing some research, I discovered that the Telstar was Colecos game system before the Colecovision. Even though there have been previous threads here discussing which cartridge system was the first, either the Telstar was not discussed or I missed it, because I didn't realize that this was the first console to incorporate programmable game cartridges, each of which includes ROM and a microcontroller.

[+pboland]

I seem to remember a conversation some years back (can't remember if it was here or somewhere else) about the idea of the Telstar Arcade being the first programable cart based system. From what I remember the Telstar Arcade doesn't use software programable carts. I want to say they are basically pong chips on the carts. If you open up a Telstar Arcade you will find no cpu, ram, or rom. The system itself is just the control surface. Each cart is an integrated circuit chip that was used in stand alone systems back in the day. I hope that helps. Maybe someone with more technical knowledge can chime in and explain it better.

 

I did have one of these systems for a while. I wish I still had it. It's really quite a cool system.

Edited May 30, 2013 by pboland

[fiddlepaddle]

Yes, those carts contain a single chip, which IS derivative of the pong chip. They do, however, contain ROM, so I suppose they are "hardware" programmable cartridges.

 

http://www.pong-stor...leco_arcade.htm

[CatPix]

From what I remember the Telstar Arcade was released in 1977.

Both Fairchild Channel F and Radofin 1292 APVS were released one year before, so it's not the first cart based game system.

 

Plus, even if the cartridge seems to house a microprocessor and ROM on a chip, the base itself is just used to link the video output, controllers, power for the cart itself.

So it's not exactly a Pong on a chip, but it's certainly not the first programmable cartridge system as we define them, only a little oddity on it's own.

 

In the same fashion, in Europe, the SD-050 and SD-090 family of Pong machines were popular (were those machines ever released in North America?)

What they are is nothing but Pong chips of the AY family on carts. The nice thing being that you can get all the games on carts rather than having to collect rare and bulky systems.

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2013 by CatPix

[Blazing Lazers]

Just to note, anyone interested in this system will only have 4 games plus the system to get in order to complete their collection. Good luck getting all of them boxed though, especially the 4 th cartridge, which is one of the absolute rarest games ver released in the US and Canada.

[Atari_Bill]

#3 in box with the controllers is pretty tough too. From everything I've seen, the extra paddle controllers that sold with the cart #3 are nearly as rare as cart #4!

[Blazing Lazers]

Would'ny that be #2 in box you're thinking of?

[xDragonWarrior]

Fairchild Channel F was the first

 

[high voltage]

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

PC-50X (1975) (Coleco Telstar was similar)

Fairchild Channel F (1976)

Edited May 30, 2013 by high voltage

[Atari_Bill]

Would'ny that be #2 in box you're thinking of?

 

My mistake. You are correct sir.

[fiddlepaddle]

OK, so not the first (that website I linked to has incorrect information). But still, they're cool little carts....

[+Ransom]

OK, so not the first (that website I linked to has incorrect information). But still, they're cool little carts....

 

They sure are. That was the first game system my parents bought me, back when it was first released. I loved playing those games. It was a really neat system for the time, and the design itself is cool.

[CatPix]

PC-50X (1975) (Coleco Telstar was similar)

I think you're wrong?

All documents and articles I can find on the AY Pong chipsay that the first ones were released on 1976.

The PC-50* cannot be older than the chip itself...

As for the Telstar, it defenitively house a microcontroller and a ROM, so it's a bit more evolved... but still, many websites mention 1977 as the release date.