Coleco Telstar
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The Telstar is a video game console produced by Coleco which first went on sale in 1976. Originally a Pong clone based on General Instrument's AY-3-8500 chip, the many versions of the Telstar included:
[edit] Models
- Telstar - (model 6040, 1976) Three Pong variants (hockey, handball, tennis), two paddle controllers fixed on console. This was the very first game to use the AY-3-8500 chip.
- Telstar Classic - (model 6045, 1976) Same as the Telstar, with deluxe wood case.
- Telstar Deluxe - (1977) aka "Video World Of Sports", same as the Telstar but brown pedestal case with wood panel, made for Canadian market with French and English text.
- Telstar Ranger - (model 6046, 1977) Four Pong variants (hockey, handball, tennis, jai alai) and two gun games(target, skeet), black and white plastic case, includes revolver-style light gun and separate paddle controllers. Uses the AY-3-8500 chip.
- Telstar Alpha - (model 6030, 1977) Four Pong variants, black and white plastic case, fixed paddles. Uses the AY-3-8500 chip.
- Telstar Colormatic - (model 6130, 1977) Same as the Telstar Alpha but with detached wired paddles as well as color graphics. Uses the AY-3-8500 game chip and the Texas Instruments SN76499N chip for color.
- Telstar Regent - (model 6036, 1977) Same as the Telstar Colormatic but no color and black and white case.
- Telstar Sportsman - (1978) Similar to Telstar Regent, but with an additional light gun and different setting switches.
- Telstar Combat! - (model 6065, 1977) Four variations on Kee Games' Tank, four fixed joysticks (two per player), uses a General Instruments AY-3-8700 Tank chip.
- Telstar Colortron - (model 6135, 1978) Four Pong variants, in color, built in sound, fixed paddles, uses AY-3-8510 chip.
- Telstar Marksman - (model 6136, 1978) Four Pong variants and two gun games in color, larger light gun with removable stock, fixed paddles, uses AY-3-8512 chip.
- Telstar Galaxy - Separate joysticks and fixed paddles, uses AY-3-8600 game chip and AY-3-8615 color encoder.
- Telstar Gemini - (1978) Four pinball games and two light-gun games in color, light gun, two flipper buttons on left and right sides of case, pinball launch button and field adjustment sliders on top, light gun, uses a MOS Technology MPS 7600-004 chip.
- Telstar Arcade - Cartridge-based, triangular case includes light gun, steering wheel with gear shift, and paddles, one on each side. Each cartridge includes a customized MOS Technology MPS-7600 chip. The chip contained custom logic circuits driven by a basic processor which ran a very small program stored in ROM.
The large product lineup and the impending fading out of the Pong machines led Coleco to face near-bankruptcy in 1980.
[edit] External links
- Pong-Story: All Coleco Telstar systems, with photos
- Telstar and other systems
- The Dot Eaters entry on the history of Telstar and Coleco
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