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Gameroom Tele-Pong
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| Manufacturer | Entex Industries |
|---|---|
| Type | Dedicated home video game console |
| Released | 1976[1] |
| Display | TV |
The Gameroom Tele-Pong (sometimes also called Entex Gameroom Tele-Pong or ENTEX Gameroom Tele-Pong) is a dedicated first-generation home video game console developed, published and marketed by Entex Industries starting in 1976.[2][3] It had a price of US$60.[4] The Gameroom Tele-Pong displays the games in black and white. The score is built in the console. It does have sound. The Gameroom Tele-Pong is similar[why?] to the first Japanese video game console, Epoch's TV Tennis Electrotennis, released a year prior.
The console does not contain a central CPU but uses 8 discrete SN74LS00 chips. It is only battery-operated (1.5V "C" cell x 4).[5]
There was also a version released in the United Kingdom marketed by Binatone called the TV Game Unit.[6] It had a price of £23.95.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ TV games turn your set into a sports arena, By William J. Hawkins, Popular Science, Nov 1976, Page 91, Table: ...Entex / Tele-Pong / $60 / Tennis, table tennis, handball, practice / Digital scoring, sound, skill selector, (H-V movement on table tennis)...
- ^ ENTEX Gameroom Tele-Pong, OLD-COMPUTERS.COM Museum
- ^ Vox. "Entex Gameroom Tele-Pong is a video game console". Vox Odyssey. Retrieved 2019-06-17.
- ^ TV games turn your set into a sports arena, By William J. Hawkins, Popular Science, Nov 1976, Page 91, Table: ...Entex / Tele-Pong / $60 / Tennis, table tennis, handball, practice / Digital scoring, sound, skill selector, (H-V movement on table tennis)...
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20230201075922/https://www.old-computers.com/museum/forum.asp?c=1041&st=1[bare URL][unreliable source]
- ^ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-01.
- ^ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". 2023-06-01. Archived from the original on 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
External links
[edit]- Entex Gameroom Tele-Pong on YouTube (Feb 18, 2015. By Sly DC.)
- Gameroom Tele-Pong at www.old-computers.com
- Gameroom Tele-Pong on MobyGames
Gameroom Tele-Pong
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
History
Development and origins
The Gameroom Tele-Pong was developed, published, and marketed by Entex Industries as a dedicated first-generation home video game console, with its release beginning in 1976.[1] It entered the market amid the rapid proliferation of Pong-style home consoles that followed the commercial success of Atari's Home Pong, released in 1975 through Sears and widely credited with popularizing the format for home use.[2] The console bears a close similarity to the TV Tennis Electrotennis, released by Epoch Co. in Japan on September 12, 1975, which is recognized as the first video game console released in Japan.[1][3] This resemblance reflects the swift international adaptation of the Pong concept during the mid-1970s.Release and distribution
The Gameroom Tele-Pong was released in 1976 by Entex Industries in the United States at a retail price of US$60.[4] This launch positioned it as an affordable dedicated home video game console amid the mid-1970s surge in Pong-style systems, where similar devices typically ranged from $60 to $120 depending on features.[4] The console was marketed and distributed primarily in the United States as a plug-and-play television accessory for home use.[5] A licensed version was also distributed in the United Kingdom by Binatone under the name TV Game Unit.[5]Hardware
Design and architecture
The Gameroom Tele-Pong features a discrete logic architecture without a central microprocessor, relying instead on hardwired circuitry built around exactly eight SN74LS00 chips. Each SN74LS00 is a quadruple 2-input NAND gate TTL integrated circuit, providing the logical operations required to generate game signals, paddle movement, ball physics, and boundary detection in its Pong-style gameplay.[6] This design choice reflects early first-generation console approaches that used transistor-transistor logic (TTL) components from the 7400 series to implement functionality directly through gates and flip-flops, avoiding the complexity and cost of a programmable processor. The architecture combines digital logic for control and timing with analog elements for video signal generation.[7] The console outputs a black-and-white video signal to a television via RF modulation on channels 26 or 31 (selectable via a dial or push button on the console), with on-console adjustments for vertical and horizontal hold to stabilize the display. Scoring is manual, tracked using two numbered wheels on the console rather than overlaid on the TV screen, and the console features no sound.[5]Power and connectivity
The Gameroom Tele-Pong is powered exclusively by four 1.5V "C" cell batteries, with no provision for an external AC adapter or alternative power source.[8][9] This design enables portable operation independent of household electrical outlets, though battery life depends on usage duration and may require frequent replacement during extended play sessions. The console connects to a television set via a simple one-wire hook-up to the antenna screw terminals on the back of the TV, supporting black-and-white display on both black-and-white and color television sets.[10] Some units include a TV switch adapter to facilitate connection and switching between broadcast television and game input.[8] This RF-based connection method was typical of first-generation dedicated consoles, requiring manual tuning to the appropriate VHF channel for proper signal reception.Gameplay
Included games
The Gameroom Tele-Pong includes four built-in Pong-style games: tennis, table tennis, handball, and practice mode. These variations provide different gameplay experiences while retaining the core mechanics of paddle-and-ball action displayed in black and white on a television set. The standard tennis game follows the classic format of early Pong consoles, with two paddles (one for each player) batting a ball back and forth across a central net. Table tennis introduces a variation with horizontal and vertical movement, allowing the ball and paddles to traverse both axes of the screen for more dynamic play. Handball offers a different challenge, typically involving bouncing the ball off a wall in a manner similar to squash or single-player rebound action. The practice mode serves as a solo option, enabling players to hone their skills against an automated opponent or wall without competitive scoring pressure. These games are selected via the console's built-in controls. Scoring is tracked manually using wheels on the console, consistent with the console's design.[11]Features and controls
The Gameroom Tele-Pong featured built-in digital scoring displayed directly on the console via mechanical counters, allowing players to track points without manual paper tracking or on-screen overlays.[4][5] It also included electronic sound effects for ball impacts, wall bounces, and scoring events, providing auditory feedback that enhanced immersion compared to silent contemporaries.[4][12] A skill selector switch enabled difficulty adjustment, typically by altering ball speed or paddle responsiveness, making the system accessible to beginners while offering challenge for experienced players.[4] Controls consisted of rotary knobs serving as paddle controllers, with each player using two dedicated knobs—one for horizontal movement and one for vertical movement—to provide precise paddle positioning, particularly useful in modes requiring full directional control.[5] Additional top-mounted knobs adjusted display hold settings for stable television output.[5] These paddle-based controls, combined with the console's integrated scoring, sound, and skill adjustment, created a self-contained user experience focused on straightforward, family-oriented play.[4]Variants
Binatone TV Game Unit
The Binatone TV Game Unit was the United Kingdom variant of the Entex Gameroom Tele-Pong, marketed by Binatone in 1976. It retailed for £23.95.[13] This model (01-4990) is recognized as a close clone of the Entex original, sharing the same analog discrete logic design, battery-powered operation using four C cells, RF television output, and overall functionality.[14][13] It offered equivalent gameplay capabilities to the US version, with no notable hardware or feature differences documented.[13]Legacy
Collectibility and modern interest
The Gameroom Tele-Pong remains a niche collectible among enthusiasts of first-generation home video game consoles, owing to its relative obscurity and use of discrete logic rather than a microprocessor. It is documented in specialized rarity guides for early Pong-style systems, where it carries a historical price estimate of $40 USD for examples in typical condition.[14] Modern interest is primarily evident through its occasional appearance in online marketplaces, where units vary widely in price based on condition; non-working or incomplete examples have listed around $50, while better-preserved pre-owned units have reached approximately $175.[15][16] This reflects sustained, though limited, demand among collectors focused on rare early hardware variants. No widespread emulation or formal preservation initiatives are documented for the system, with interest centered on physical examples and historical significance within the Pong clone ecosystem.Comparisons to contemporaries
The Gameroom Tele-Pong exhibited a close resemblance to the Epoch TV Tennis Electrotennis, released in Japan in 1975 as the country's first home video game console. Both systems were dedicated Pong-style devices that relied on discrete logic circuitry rather than a central microprocessor, delivering black-and-white tennis-based gameplay with two-player and single-player (against AI) modes, along with manual scoring via mechanical wheels or dials on the console.[1][17] This design approach aligned the Gameroom Tele-Pong with other discrete-logic Pong variants of the era, which typically used transistor-transistor logic (TTL) components to generate simple paddle-and-ball mechanics on a television screen. In contrast, emerging microprocessor-based consoles appearing around the same time, such as the Fairchild Channel F in 1976, introduced programmable capabilities and greater flexibility, marking a shift away from the hardwired, dedicated logic found in the Gameroom Tele-Pong and its contemporaries.[14]References
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/First_generation_consoles