$39.95 USD
CPU: General Instruments AY-3-8500
Built-In Games: 4 (6 in the shooter version)
The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard was one of the more popular Pong clone consoles of the 1970s and early 80s. Once you see the above picture of this system I am sure that you will recognise this handheld console if you were around at the time. The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard was released many times over its lifetime. Really with the changes mostly being in the colour of the console itself.
Radio Shack TV Scoreboard - 1976 (4 game version)
While the Radio Shack logo is all over the packaging and the actual console it was actually developed by electronics manufacturer Tandy. The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard looks radically different from the other Pong systems of this era. Many people are probably wondering where the console is. Well that is one of the main interesting things about this system; the console is in the controller. There is also a 2nd paddle controller that is attached to it, but it can be detached and does have a small cord.
It is not really the most attractive looking thing in the world. It looks like it would be more at home taking radiation readings or mixing some late 70s disco song. As well as the actual paddle controllers there are also various switches that are used to change up the various settings of the games. Like the majority of Pong systems, the Radio Shack TV Scoreboard could be powered by both batteries and an AC adapter.
The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard came with four Pong clone games. The games that were on offer were Tennis, Squash, Football and Practice. It was a pretty standard set of games for the time. This four game version of the Radio Shack TV Scoreboard seems to be harder to find in boxed form for collecting than the shooter version reviewed below.
Radio Shack TV Scoreboard - 1976 (shooter version)
The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard may, on the inside, seem like a basic Pong clone system, but people really bought into it. Part of the reason for its success was because it did not require a console and people could just put the Radio Shack TV Scoreboard in a drawer or wherever once they had finished using it.
There was a more popular version of this console that on the surface looked exactly the same. It had the same look and it also had the same four games that were on the aforementioned version. However, this version of the Radio Shack TV Scoreboard had one big difference, and that was that it came with a really cool looking light gun.
You know what is so great about the light guns of this era? It is just how close to a real gun they look. Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony would never in a million years be allowed to put out a light gun that looks like a real weapon these days.
Anyway, along with the cool looking light gun came two extra games that were not in the other version. Skeet and Target shooting were added to the mix. This is the most popular version of the Radio Shack TV Scoreboard.
12 – Nintendo Color TV Range
Color TV Game Block Breaker CC Image – Wikipedia – Evan-Amos
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 1977 - 1980
Original Price: Around 15,000 yen
CPU: a /N CPU
Origin: Japan
Built-Games: 6 (variations of 1 game)
Ah now here we have something very special for you guys. The very first home console from a little video game company called Nintendo. Yep that’s right, before they gave us the Nintendo Entertainment System or even before they gave the good people of Japan the Famicom there was the Color TV game. Today we are going to have a look at the first two consoles that were released under the Color TV brand.
Nintendo Color TV Game 6 – 1977 - Japan Only
It may sound like a odd name, but the reason for this is because it was the first home console to offer gaming in colour. At this point in time Pong clones were not really flying off the shelves in Japan. A man at Nintendo called Hiroshi Yamauchi thought the main reason for this was because they were so expensive. So he wanted a games console that was affordable. The console was a huge hit selling well over a quarter of a million units
The aesthetics of the console really just look like any other Pong clone on the market. It has a blinding orange colour scheme that could cause someone to have a migraine. In fact, the colour is so striking that it almost slaps you in the face when you look at it. On each side of the console there are two paddle controllers and in the middle you have your switches that alter the game settings.
I am sure that as the console is called Color TV Game 6 you are probably assuming that there are 6 games on it. Well sadly there is only one game, Light Tennis. Light Tennis, if you have not guessed by now, is really just Pong, but you can mess with the settings which in total give you 6 variations of the game. What this does have over the other Pong clones is just how bright and colourful it is. That is perhaps how they got away with calling the game Light Tennis and not just Pong.
There is no power-in, as this console runs on batteries.
Nintendo Color TV Game 15 -1978 - Japan Only
Nintendo had such a huge hit with their Color TV Game 6 console that they got right to work on a successor, thus the Color TV Game 15 was born around a year later. The Color TV Game 15 was even more successful than its predecessor. This bad boy shifted over a million units.
The look of the console is kind of similar, but different (does that make any sense?) The console has the same kind of shape, but where the Color TV Game 6 had built in paddles the Color TV Game 15 had removable ones that actually had a decent cable length on them. At a glance it really does not look all that different, but once you take the time to have a good look at it you will notice that it does have its own distinguished look. The first release of the Color TV Game 15 had that same orange plastic casing, but it was also released with a much nicer Mario red plastic casing.
As far as the game selection goes it again just offers Light Tennis, but this time there are 15 variations. The variations this time are called different things. Tennis A and B, Volley A and B, Hockey A and B, Ping Pong and Shooting Game. All the games except for the Shooting game can be played in two player thus making up the 15 games.
Nintendo had such a huge hit with their Color TV Game 6 and Color TV Game 15 consoles that they were not going to stop there. There would be three more very interesting consoles to be released under the Color TV name. So we are going to have a little look at these and see what makes them so special.
Color TV Racing 112 – 1978 - Japan Only
Back in the early days of video games you had three main genres, sports games, shooters and racing games. Really it's funny to think about this as right now as I write this, sports games, shooters and racing games are still some of the most popular games on modern gaming systems. Anyway Nintendo wanted a piece of the pie that was the racing game scene. Racing games in the arcades that let you use a steering wheel were a huge hit and Nintendo wanted in. This was one of the very first home consoles to have a steering wheel.
This console is a monster. The thing is huge,
