Well it's blogging time again, and It's September again! and it means another SepTandy Spectacular! Last year, in the first SepTandy Spectacular, I went through the history of Radio Shack, and their computers along with their contributions and firsts. This year, I want to conrinue where i left off at the end of the last special, where I mentioned If I were to make another, I would talk about some of the more interesting, non computer products, like their lines of video game consoles and even various clones and licensed Tandy computers sold throughout the world, and thats what im talking about this year.
But before we begin I want to correct a statement I made last year, In the first part of last years spectacular, I said that no one on YouTube has done SepTandy since 2021, And I said that this series was meant to take up the torch. However, that's turned out to be an incorrect assumption on my part as a few YouTubers HAD done SepTandys last year. So does that mean I'm not going to continue the specials since YouTubers are doing them? Not a chance! I like looking at this kind of stuff and I feel its important to keep these ignored innovations alive. So, With that cleared up, Lets get into it!
For the first few parts of the spectacular, were going to take a look at Radio Shacks line of game consoles, and to do that, Were going to take a look at the TV Scoreboard line.
The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard line
Introduced in 1976, The TV Scoreboard line was a line of simple, inexpensive Pong Consoles sold through the chain and was Radio Shacks first dive into the video game industry.
Pong consoles refer to the game consoles made in the '70s that didn't utilize cartridges and had one or more built-in games, different variations of Pong. While on first glance, Its seems insane to think that there can be so many game consoles designed just to play one game, but it was a big deal at the time considering that the first video game console, The Magnavox Odyssey, never sold that well, So the idea of playing a game on a tv set, let alone a popular game like Pong, was very appealing.
It all started in 1973. While Atari's Pong was dominating the CoinOp industry, the company was looking for the next big breakthrough. Nolan Bushnell, the co founder and head of Atari, was pushing the engineers to come up with new products that could become Atari's next big hit. Around the same time, the large-scale integration (or LSI) Integrated Circuit, had recently been invented. The development of these LSI chips enabled hardware manufacturers to pack thousands of transistors and other related components on a single silicon chip about the size of a baby’s fingernail, allowing for smaller, more capable electronic devices to become a reality.
With that new development, Atari engineer Harold Lee proposed the idea of using LSI technology to covert the entire circuitry of Pong, and shrink it into a chip that could be incorporated into a consumer device which could allow people to play a home version of Pong that could connect to a standard TV set. Bushnell approved the idea and development on the console, codenamed codename Darlene (named, much like many of Atari's products back then, after an attractive female employee at Atari. Something Atari was famous for by the way!), was well underway. Pong engineer Al Alcorn worked with Lee to develop the designs and prototype and based them on the same digital technology used in the arcade game. The chip and a working prototype unit were finished in the latter half of 1974.
To market the product, In 1975 Atari signed a deal with Sears, Roebuck and Co. after Bushnell came across a Magnavox Odyssey advertisement in the sporting goods section of its catalog as well as overhearing that they had put a consumer pinball machine in the sporting goods department. Tom Quinn, A buying representative for Sears, was enthusiastic about the product and after a meeting with company executives at the Sears Tower in Chicago, obtained approval. After gaining some extra cash to produce an order of 150,000 units from Sears, Atari's home Pong console shipped in the fall of 1975, just in time for the holiday season. It proved to be an instant hit, selling all 150,000 units by the end of the year.
With Its success, Other companies naturally sought to do something similar, But due to the Atari chips were not available to other manufacturers, It limited the possibility. However, there was nothing stopping other companies from making a similar chip and that's what happened. By 1976, there were numerous manufactures making "Pong On A Chip" ICs, But the leader in that field was General Instrument Microelectronics, also known as General Instruments (Or GI).
They were founded in 1923, and got their start manufacturing parts for radios. In the 1950s, the began a series of mergers with other electronics companies to diversify into manufacturing devices like radios, Tv sets, and early cable TV boxes. In the 1970's the were an expert as designing LSI circuits, and after seeing the interest in "Pong On A Chip" ICs, decided to make their own. The chip had began development at the GI Glenrothes plant in Scotland in 1975, at the behest of Finnish TV manufacturer Salora Oy for use in a design for a TV set (The set would release 2 years later as The Salora Playmaster, considered to be the first video game console released in Finland). The chip became very popular in Europe, So GI decided to bring the chip to the U.S. and work on an American version began at GI's plant in Hicksville, NY. and in February 1976, The AY-3-8500 went on sale in the U.S. and was an immediate success.
Dozens of manufacturers in the U.S. took advantage of the chip, With Radio Shack being one of them, Launching the TV Scoreboard line that year. The first unit in the range was the titular TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3050, launched in 1976 for $99.95 as part of its product line up for 1977.
Now other than the catalog listing, I can't actually find much information about this unit or an actual photo of one, so I don't know exactly what the unit looks like in action or if it uses the GI chip. However I have a theory that it does, as the unit looks very much the same as another pong console, The Ricochet by MicroElectronics, released around the same time.
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So its possible that Radio Shack either licensed it to sell under their name, or just simply copied the housing both are possible but it seems that the former seems more likely. If this is the case It's probably the only model in the range using the GI chip that was in color, as the rest of the units were simply Black and White. Its also one of the more unusual designs for a pong console, as it's not just 2 controllers, its 2 consoles! One is for Player 1, on the top has setting switches for speed, English, serving rackets, color, and the reset button. below that is the game selector switch, the paddle itself, and buttons for Pro Slam, Pro English, and Manual Serve. It also has the wires for both the second console and the RF modulator cable to hook it up to a TV, with the channel selector switch on the bottom. The other is for Player 2, and has the power switch and a sound switch to turn the sound on or off. Bellow that is the paddle, and a duplicate set of buttons for Pro Slam, Pro English, and Manual Serve. It also contains the speaker. Yes, as was typical for most Pong Consoles of the era, the sound doesn't come from the TV, but rather a speaker inside the console itself. It also contains the battery compartment, Again typical for typical for most Pong Consoles they usually ran off a few C cell batteries. There is a spot for an external AC adapter, so you can plug it into the wall. Now I don't know why the system is designed like this, I assume it was so you and a second player could put them on your laps and play from a couch, But this is just a guess.
Powering up the console, Your greeted with the familiar playfield, paddles and scoring system, there are four games, Tennis (Your standard Pong game), Hockey (which adds an additional paddle for both players and dividers to resemble a Hockey Rink), Racketball (Also known as Squash, Smash, or Handball on other Pong consoles, which both player hit the ball against a wall), and Ricochet (Also known as Practice or solo on other Pong consoles, Which is a 1 player version of Racketball). the switches on the Player 1 Unit select different game settings. The Speed switch adjusts the speed (Obviously) between a slow speed (Marked Normal) and a fast speed (Marked Pro), the English switch adjust the angles the ball can travel between 2 and 4, the Serve switch selects between serving the ball automatically after every loss or manually by hitting the manual serve button on each unit, Serving Rackets adjusts the size of the paddles between a large set and a small set, and the Color switch switches between a green background (labeled Court) and the traditional black background (labeled Player).
Interestingly enough, All the Scoreboard unit have the same settings, other than the color switch as well as some consoles dropping switches for cheaper units.
The next two models, also introduced in 1976, were the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3051 and the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3052. These weren't listed in the catalog so i dont know their exact price, but they are very much the same as the 60-3050, only they're in much more standard (Well except the 3052, its shape is still a little weird) design, and they've switched to the much more standard Black and White display.
The 60-3053 is not a console but rather a power supply after the 60-3050, which included one in the box, Radio Shack dropped including an AC adapter and instead made it an optional extra. Whether they did this as a way to get the consumer to spend more on batteries or to drop the price I don't know.
The next model was the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3054, introduced in 1977. This was also not listed in the catalog so I don't know their exact price, but as far as I can tell it may just be a rebadged 60-3051.
The Next model was the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3055, introduced in 1977 for $59.95.
This unit was quite a basic model as it can only play 3 games Tennis, Hockey, and Handball. It does have a unique feature though, There a small Players switch on the front that when set to one, will allow the games to be played in solo, with both paddles of the games using the same controller.
The unit is also different than the previous ones because it doesn't use the GI chip, but rather a chip from National Semiconductor, the MM-57100N, Introduced in 1976, around the same time as the AY-3-8500, and was effectively its closest competitor.
As a result, the visuals are quite different. Unfortunately there is currently no emulator that I can use to simulate the MM-57100N, but I can show a video of another unit with one for demonstration.
The next model was the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3056, Also introduced in 1977 for $39.95.
For this unit we go back to in a 60-3051 style case (with some minor differences) and the Black and White AY-3-8500 again, but this time, with lever style Paddle controllers as apposed to the dial and slider ones of previous units.
The next model was the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3057, also introduced in 1977 for $79.95.
This is probably the only unit that has 4 player capability. there are extra controllers that plug in to back and there are extra score markers on the unit for the 2 extra players. It also has two light gun gams built in with a colt 45 styled lightgun and attachments to turn it into a riffle included.
Much like the 60-3055, This unit also doesn't use the GI chip, but rather a the MPS-7600-001 a chip from a surprising source, MOS Technology. The same company that created the 6502 CPU and the KIM-1 and was bought by Commodore to become their own chip fabrication arm
Again there is currently no emulator that I can use to simulate the MPS-7600-001, so here's another video of a unit with one for demonstration.
The next model was the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3060, introduced in 1978 for $29.95.
For this unit we go back to the Black and White AY-3-8500 again, but this time, in a completely new case. It looks kind of like a tv remote with a detachable paddle on the side. It also takes 6 AA batteries instead of C batteries
The Last model was the TV Scoreboard, Catalog item number 60-3061, Also introduced in 1979 for $39.95.
This unit is pretty much the same as the 60-3060, only the dials and switches are black instead of blue, and it also contains some extra gun games.
This is the only unit that takes full advantage of the GI chip, as the two gun games, Known as Target and Skeet, were already built into the AY-3-8500. So lets finish this look by powering up the unit shall we?
Tandy continued to sell the TV Scoreboard line until it was dropped from Radio Shacks catalog in 1983. The Tv Scoreboard, along with its fellow Pong Console Bretherin, have quite a historical importance, not only because they where some of the first video game console that were truly successful, but also for a much more darker reason, They contributed to the industries first real Video Game Crash.
Youve probably realized that all these Tv Scoreboard units are essentially the same just in different cases. That wasn't just the case for Radio Shack, but every other Pong Console manufacturer at the time. In 1976 alone there were 75 manufacturers making Pong Consoles and a majority of them used the GI AY-3-8500. this lead to an oversaturation in the market leading to video games slowly losing their appeal to consumers. With Numerous Pong Consoles, A rehash of old game ideas in arcades, and new cartridge based game consoles like the Fairchild Channel F and the RCA Studio II lacking appealing games, video games were close to becoming a fad. But after the subsequent success of the Atari 2600, as well as the release of games like Space Invaders, The interest in video games came back and bigger than ever!
So this concludes my look at the The Radio Shack TV Scoreboard range and concludes Part 1 of my second Septandy Spectacular, join me next time as we move forward to 1982, and look at a Tandy console that came from an unexpected source.
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