website/content/museum/coleco-telstar-arcade.md

title, categories, origins, years, params

title	categories	origins	years	params
Coleco Telstar Arcade	Consoles	U.S.A.	1977	name image logo company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos links software oc_id source Telstar Arcade /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar_arcade.jpg /media/museum/logos/coleco_telstar-arcade_logo.gif /companies/coleco Coleco label value NAME Telstar Arcade label value MANUFACTURER Coleco label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1977 label value KEYBOARD 2 paddles, a steering wheel and a gun label value CPU MOS Technology MPS-7600 customised microcontrollers contained in each cartridge label value GRAPHIC MODES Unknown label value COLORS Yes label value SOUND Built-in beeper label value I/O PORTS RF TV output, cartridge slot label value BUILT IN MEDIA Triangular cartridges label value OS 1 - Road Race/Tennis/Quick Draw\ 2 - Hockey/Tennis/Handball/Target\ 3 - Bonus Pinball/Shooting Gallery/Shoot the bear/Deluxe Pinball\ 4 - Naval Battle/Speed Ball/Blast-Away label value POWER SUPPLY 9v DC photos software links 646 title subtitle text image LOGO Thanks to [www.pong-story.com](http://www.pong-story.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-arcade_logo.jpg title subtitle text image TOP Thanks to [www.pong-story.com](http://www.pong-story.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-arcade_top.jpg title subtitle text image PONG PANEL Thanks to [www.pong-story.com](http://www.pong-story.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-arcade_pong-side.jpg title subtitle text image SHOOTING GAMES PANEL Thanks to [www.pong-story.com](http://www.pong-story.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-arcade_gun-side.jpg title subtitle text image DRIVING PANEL Thanks to [www.pong-story.com](http://www.pong-story.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-arcade_auto-side.jpg title subtitle text image BOX Thanks to [www.pong-story.com](http://www.pong-story.com) for this picture /media/museum/photos/coleco_telstar-arcade_box_2.jpg title url text Pong-Story.com http://www.pong-story.com/coleco_arcade.htm David Winter's has put up a very complete page about the Telstar Arcade /software/bonus-pinball-deluxe-pinball-shooting-gallery-shoot-the-bear /software/hockey-tennis-handball-target /software/naval-battle-blast-away-speed-ball /software/road-race-tennis-quick-draw 661 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230614010944/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=661 2023-06-14

The Telstar Arcade is maybe one of the most interesting systems made by Coleco, and also the most advanced PONG system released in America, although it played non-PONG games.

Made in a triangular case, the system could play three types of games, each being played on one of the three sides of the case. Obviously, the first side allowed playing PONG games (TENNIS and the like), and the second side allowed playing target shooting games. Nothing very different from most other systems, except the gun storage.

The third face was the most interesting: it allowed playing car racing games. Very few systems offering that type of games were released at this time, and the games were only played using rotary controllers or some sort of joysticks. Best of Coleco's Telstar Arcade was the wheel and the gear box for the car racing games.

Since several types of games could be played, the system used interchangeable cartridges. Telstar Arcade is therefore of the earliest systems to use cartridges containing a dedicated game chip. Each cartridge contains a chip made by MOS Technology: the MPS-7600. The four versions of this chip contain customised circuits because of the types of games, but they all use the same technology: a basic frame processor that controls the circuits, driven by a small program in ROM (the 8 PONG games chip has a 512-word program). Therefore, the MPS-7600 chips are not like the other PONG chips: they are customized microcontrollers.

Coleco used a very uncommon cartridge format: a silver triangular case which connects horizontally on the top of the console. Nothing in common with the other black cartridges whith plug vertically.

Coleco released only four cartridges. The first one was sold with the system and the others were available separately for the price of $25. Two flyers came with the system to order cartridges #2 and #3.

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Text from www.pong-story.com

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