Ping-O-Tronic
Home video game console by Zanussi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ping-O-Tronic (stylized on its logo as ping·o·tronic and also known as Zanussi Ping-O-Tronic or Sèleco Ping-O-Tronic) is a dedicated first-generation home video game console produced by Zanussi, an Italian home appliance company, and released under their Sèleco brand in late-1974 only in Italy.[1][2] It was the first Italian video game console, excluding Magnavox Odyssey imports and clones.[3]
A Zanussi Ping-O-Tronic with its two paddle-based game controllers | |
| Also known as | Zanussi Ping-O-Tronic Séleco Ping-O-Tronic |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Zanussi |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console |
| Generation | First generation |
| Released | Late 1974 |
| Availability | Late 1974 |
| Lifespan | 1974-1983 |
| Introductory price | Estimated 70.000–130.000 Italian lira (Play-O-Tronic) |
| Units sold | c. 1 million with Play-O-Tronic (as of 1983) |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Play-O-Tronic |
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The Ping-O-Tronic came in an orange and white plastic container with a paddles housing. The control logic is based on three 7400 chips. Usable games are only three similar ones: Pong, Squash/Solo and Automatic/Attract.[3][4] The last one was the only game that did not require players and was used by stores to demonstrate the system without having anyone play it.[5]
There are several versions of the Ping-O-Tronic, marked by the abbreviations PP-1 up to PP-10. Starting from the PP-5, there was a new slot to which an optical gun could be connected to play a new aiming game. This accessory is called Gun-O-Tronic (stylized as gun·o·tronic).[3] The only other known consoles at the time which allowed the user to play aiming games were the Magnavox Odyssey and Philips Tele-Game ES 2201.[4]
On April 21, 1975, Zanussi obtained the license to implement Pong from Sanders Associates.[2]
Play-O-Tronic
In 1977, Zanussi produced and sold a new model of a Pong-like console called Play-O-Tronic (stylized as play·o·tronic and also known as Zanussi Play-O-Tronic or Sèleco Play-O-Tronic). Unlike the Ping-O-Tronic, which was built with discrete components, the Play-O-Tronic was built from a single AY-3-8500 chip.[4]
The console was also sold in Germany by German mailorder company Quelle, who sold the console under the name Universum TV Multi-Spiel (stylized as UNIVERSUM TV Multi-Spiel).[6][7][8] A built-in power supply comes with the Multi-Spiel.[6]
Sales
Zanussi was reported to have sold 21,514 units of the Play-O-Tronic from October 1 to December 31, 1977, and earned a total of 620,408,000 Italian lira (US$127,782,334), of which 5.5%, 34,122,440 lira (US$7,028,028) went to Sanders Associates.[2]
External links
- Play-O-Tronic on MobyGames
- Play-O-Tronic on pong-story.com