The TV Scoreboard (sometimes called RadioShack TV Scoreboard) is a

Pong ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcor ...

-like dedicated

home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than ...

manufactured in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

from 1976 through the early '80s and made by Tandy. Distribution was handled exclusively by

RadioShack RadioShack, formerly RadioShack Corporation, is an American retailer founded in 1921. At its peak in 1999, RadioShack operated over 8,000 worldwide stores named RadioShack or Tandy Electronics in the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Austra ...

. The TV Scoreboard consisted of a left and right player, with dials or

paddles A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened distal end (i.e. the ''blade''), used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered w ...

on the hand held piece, and had multiple ''

'' era games. A variant also included a

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

-type

light gun A light gun is a pointing device for computers and a control device for arcade and video games, typically shaped to resemble a pistol. Early history The first light guns were produced in the 1930s, following the development of light-sensing ...

, which was used for a

clay pigeon shooting Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting a firearm at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to time ...

game. Using additional

cosmetic Cosmetic may refer to: *Cosmetics, or make-up, substances to enhance the beauty of the human body, apart from simple cleaning *Cosmetic, an adjective describing beauty, aesthetics, or appearance, especially concerning the human body *Cosmetic, a t ...

attachments to the light gun, the user could change its appearance to be that of a

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

. The games included but were not restricted to tennis, squash, hockey and practice. Games and game modes, including difficulty settings and serving settings, could be adjusted with

switches In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

. It ran on either an AC adapter, or six 1.5 V

AA batteries AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * Dou ...

. The console belongs to the first generation of video game console and is based on one single chip, the General Instrument AY-3-8500.

Versions

The system was also released in Germany under the name ''Universum Multispiel'' in 1977. Another very similar console is the ''677'' released in 1978 by

Hanimex Hanimex was an Australian distributor and manufacturer, primarily associated with photographic equipment. History Early years The company was founded by Jack Hannes (1923-2005). Born in Germany and educated in England, Hannes' family fled German ...

Games

The following ten games are playable with the system: *Tennis *Football *Squash *Practice (Pelota) *Target *Motorcycle *Enduro *Motocross *Stunt Cycle *Drag Race

External links

Photo of a shelf with various Pong clone consoles, e. g. the TV scoreboard

References

First-generation video game consoles Products introduced in 1976 Light guns {{Videogame-hardware-stub