We now have a PDF version of the APF TV Fun - Model 401 Manual available for download. Many thanks to Alex!

APF TV Fun Model 401 is a classic pong system. It is one of the first system based on the common AY-3-8500 chipset from General Instruments. Thus, it offers four basic pong games : tennis, hockey, squash and single handball. The case is quite nice with woodgrain style finish and silver-like knobs, switches and buttons. Switches are used to turn the system on and off, select game option and service mode (auto/manual).

The Schmid TVG 2000 is a Emerson Arcadia 2001 and Hanimex HMG-2650 compatible system. The TVG 2000 was marketed in Germany. The Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit console released by Emerson Radio Corp. The game library was composed of 51 unique games and about 10 variations. The graphic quality is similar to that of the Intellivision and the Odyssey². Based on the Philips Signetics platform and the 2637 chipset.

What's the score? The time. Our signed Pong Clock # 283.

As Pong randomly plays, the score shown is the time of day on this unusual timepiece by Sander Mulder / Buro Vormkrijgers. In the old school Pong you could put the paddles in such a position, that the ball kept bouncing forever.

Quite hypnotic, and it became the inspiration for this time-killer/clock. The release of the limited edition of 400 Pong Clocks created such a hype that it sold out in 1 day. We are happy to have Pong Clock #283 from the original owner Julian Brannigan, UK in the museum's collection. The Designer Sander Mulder  signed our Pong Clock in December 2009. See the photos here.

New in collection: original Zanussi Ping-O-Tronic and Gun-O-Tronic print advertisement from Italy.

Zanussi, a well known Italian furniture company, released two game systems: Ping-O-Tronic, an analog game first released in late 1974 but really successful during 1975, and Play-O-Tronic, an AY-3-8500 game released in 1977 (this particular model was also released by Universum in Germany). Zanussi obtained the Sanders Associates License Agreement on April 21st, 1975. Zanussi reported 21,514 Play-O-Tronic units sold between October 1st and December 31st, 1977 (3 months) for a total amount of 620,408,000 lire, on which a 5.5% royalty was paid to Sanders (34,122,440 lire). Considering this amount, each game would have cost around 28,800 lire during this period, which seems quite low. Unfortunately there is no similar information for Ping-O-Tronic.

Click on the pictures to get a bigger view.

More Info about the Zanussi Pong at pong-story.com

Immediately after Pong’s release,

Atari was having problems with Pong clones selling better than Atari’s machines. Part of their problem was the coin-operated amusement industry distribution system, in which regional vendors had exclusive contracts.

If one provider carried Atari, others in the area could not. Everyone wanted a piece of the lucrative Pong action, and clones were the solution for non-Atari vendors. Read the complete Article.

Mr. Ralph H. Baer, Inventor of Home Video Games and the Odyssey, signed our museum´s collectable in Berlin on July 29, 2009.

Mr. Baer visited Berlin to celebrate the online launch of the "History of Video Games Timeline" by Computerspiele Museum Berlin. See the photos here.

See the first 8 minutes of the keynote by Mr. Baer, a short introduction to the very first years of Video Games. Sorry for the sound - the PA was near to be defect.

Pong Clock # 283

What's the score? The time. As Pong randomly plays, the score shown is the time of day on this unusual timepiece by Buro Vormkrijgers.

The release of the limited edition of 400 Pong Clocks created such a hype in 2006 that it sold out in 1 day. We are happy to have Pong Clock #283 from the original owner Julian Brannigan, UK in the museum's collection.

Read more about the Pong Clock here.