The T.V. Game

[@JoeEmb776]

"teevee game" has the same energy to it as "EeePeeCee"

[@sparkywilson1405]

oh, that's a blast from the past, I loved that shitty little thing

[@RadeonVega64]

dankpods

[@crispycuero]

r/unexpecteddankpods

[@spingleboygle]

TeeVee Game is the secondcoming of the legendary EeePeeCee

[@spingleboygle]

@@crispycuerothis is dankpod’s friend’s channel though

[@PlayMadness]

This must be what Mike Butters was talking about in Pepsiman when he delivered the classic line, "Pepsi for T.V. Game!"

[@spartacus778]

Mike Butters the living legend 💯

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Um actually TV game is a Japanese term for home video games? Since テレビ/Terebi is a shortening of Television (most directly translated as TV) and ゲーム means game? So TV Game is the most fitting and direct translation? 🤓

[@LocusNevernight]

​@@JomasterTheSecondit stands for tewi wison.

[@RedChampagne_enjoyer]

Fr fr

[@PlayMadness]

@@JomasterTheSecond My dude, my friend, my internet brother in Christ, I spent years in Japan. I know.

[@aukora129]

This seems to be an original version of one Lasonic 2000 TV Game. The lasonic 2000 was a french pong machine, and it is exactly what you have there. The interesting part is that the motherboard of the Lasonic 2000 has the words "TV game IEE-100" on it. It's really strange to see one saying IEE and Tee Vee Game on the label since no such console I can find exists. I truly think it might just be a prototype Lasonic 2000. Update: unsure if this is a whitelabel product made by IEE and distributed by Lasonic later on, but there are at least two, maybe three consoles with this name and 2 of the three are lasonic branded. Two of them might also just be the same console misnamed on the internet but it's hard to tell. Anyways the lasonic that seems would have made this product does not seem to have existed until 12 years after this product was branded as Lasonic. I am very confused and if anyone can figure it out I'd love the answer.

[@Riamoka]

Wow that's interesting, such history

[@DumbArse]

Or the lasonic 2000 was this consoles rebadge

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

Good call. If you search for Lasonic 2000 there is a picture of this exact box with the words "Lasonic 2000" added. I'd post a link but KZbin would take the whole post down.

[@judo_ashtray]

the pong-story site seen in the video says the lasonic 2000 came out "around 1976". The box is exactly the same, just with two lasonic 2000 stickers added. This very well might be the original

[@aukora129]

@@DumbArse I'd agree with that but considering IEE doesn't seem to come up as a name other than on the motherboard and this specific version, I can only assume it was in very limited production by a company that doesn't directly sell their own product and instead sells the mass product through someone else, in this case Lasonic. Could be totally wrong but thats my assumption.

[@JoshDeGering]

James is next level with two handed pong!

[@drippingwax]

I can't believe I just watched a guy play with himself.

[@derpin3576]

@@drippingwax Right?! In KZbin of all places as well!

[@itstheV01D]

@@drippingwax PHRASING!!!!

[@itstheV01D]

@@drippingwax happy now?

[@drippingwax]

@@itstheV01D My comment doesn't make sense anymore, so I deleted it.

[@irtbmtind89]

The "IEE" logo looks like a bootleg version of the IBM and ITT logos smashed together. I do like how all these pong consoles show how far back the idea of building a bunch of different no-name devices off a single chip and reference design goes (though arguably this concept can be traced back to the standardized American radio designs from the 1930s).

[@casultaser]

"There was like 9,000,000 fucking Pong consoles!" - James Rolfe, 2010

[@niccoshorto3502]

What is this, ASSHOLE Pong???

[@acid1910]

I cannot believe that I have been fooled for years, I always thought TV meant television, and not Tee Vee. So glad that I get proper education on this channel.

[@dieseldragon6756]

I have a very strange habit that causes me to always insert a „Gee“ in the middle whenever I encounter a „Tee“ and a „Vee“. I also have an immense, unshakeable passion for the French high-speed rail system. Coincidence? 🚄💨🙃

[@orijimi]

I love this channel because it reveals all these fascinatingly horrible details of playing retro games and whatnot, and I don't even have to subject myself to playing these agonizingly boring games to witness it.

[@philrod1]

Everything is relative. These games were literally amazing in the 70s

[@izanefe4231]

@@philrod1 well yeah but that was 50 years ago

[@randomcat2000]

pong's fun though

[@tarstarkusz]

A LOT of electronics were hand made at the time. A LOT. It was being phased out by the mid 70s, but there was little automation in electronics before that. Most TVs made before 1970 were hand wired and hand soldered. Same with radios.

[@TheBrainSpecialist]

James just casually pulling out one of the oldest video game consoles known to man lol E: Holy shit the fact that the board was hand-soldered is so cool to me, idk why, but it is.

[@bacon.cheesecake]

In a world where basically everything is put together by machines, anything handmade just automatically becomes way cooler, especially electronics.

[@yukikofujiwara2144]

Early Ataris were hand-soldered as well.

[@Deja117]

@@bacon.cheesecake It wasn't always like that... We've truly flipped things around in the last 40-50 years.

[@irtbmtind89]

@@bacon.cheesecake Most electronics are still (at least partially) hand assembled.

[@Gabu_]

@@irtbmtind89Not even close, brother. The different parts are connected by hand, sure, but in the same sense I'm "assembling" my computer when I install a new GPU. It's waaaay cheaper to have a machine solder all the components (which is why most components are SMDs nowadays).

[@Betsybabe3218]

As a youngin I love seeing the glimpses into the past, it's different, and that fascinates me

[@Pigness7]

"it's doing a lot of weird things when I'm touching this knob." - James

[@dieseldragon6756]

_I can sense the erroneous demonetisation from here..._ 💸😉

[@948320z]

What's this? Reversed Pong? _What's this? Asshole Pong??_

[@holzwurm_hd7029]

I love the additional Cat at the end. It really makes you think.

[@tarstarkusz]

Back in this time it was very uncommon to get something with a detachable DC plug with it. That's why they made it battery operated. In this way, they could sell it anywhere the video signal was compatible with without having to worry about AC voltage standards.

[@ShawnsTechRescue]

I love these old Pong clones, I have a few from "Rally IV" to "TV Fun" and its quaint to see how much imagination you needed just to play the game and incredible how far we have come. You look at Balders Gate 3 and have to think... this in some way is here because of stuff like "T.V. Game"

[@fordesponja]

Yeah. There was one of maybe various that used overlays to put on the screen of the TV and the controls depending on the game to add to the experience, I think the Intellivision was one of those.

[@ShawnsTechRescue]

The first one to use the TV overlays to my knowledge (this is waaay before my time) was the Magnavox Odyssey, pretty creative! @@fordesponja

[@TechnicalJimActual]

That's a nice cat. Also, I swear this thing looks like something I'd expect to see on Wish or Aliexpress that was made to capitalize on nostalgia for ancient Pong consoles, especially when I see that generic packaging.

[@Code7Unltd]

The twist: this is actually old, and not put together for any ecommerce of any kind, never mind internet as it is now not being a 'thing' yet. Knowing the time, phone ordering haven't matured either, not that ordering with your voice can be too reliable anyway.

[@blakksheep736]

I think this is too old for even Wish bootlegs. They're all famiclones.

[@JemaKnight]

The same unit was sold as the "Lasonic 2000" - which there's a relatively decent amount of information about online. Same box, but it said "Lasonic 2000 T.V Game" instead - With the additional text added by a sticker. Same design, but the text is in French. Same games. Same everything.

[@aukora129]

not just same design, same motherboard, IEE-100 marking and all.

[@JemaKnight]

@@aukora129 Yeah I'm thinking this unit may have been the OEM for other ones - considering the fact the Lasonic text on the box was added via a sticker. It's possible this unit never actually had a production run under this name. It may have just been a demo designed to send to other companies.

[@WeekdayWeekend]

TV Game. Ah yes, inspiring product name. My new product is going to be called Screen Amusement.

[@Games_for_James]

I’d buy it

[@smugs7921]

I love this channel an absolute gem. Thank you fellow James your content is delightful

[@Lazarus7000]

There's nothing like the directly coupled feeling of moving the bat on the screen with a potentiometer like in these games; gaming has come an awfully long way but the incredibly low latency and smoothness inherent in the simple design is an experience that cannot be replicated.

[@KC9UDX]

Amen

[@blakksheep736]

To be fair, that's more a testament to how basic it is then how good. This thing is so simple that any fault would be a deal-breaker, essentially.

[@luphone2781]

You deserve way more likes compared to the views you get. I absolutely love both your content and the way you script and/or improv. I hope your channel continues to grow greatly and you retain the viewership~

[@kobalt_ren01]

That woodgrain was mighty fine, bet LGR would like that!

[@luheartswarm4573]

man, being into games in the 70's was ROUGH kind of amazing to see how games and tech evolved since then

[@armadilloneister]

Finally, something to go with my interchangeable game child

[@mmmlinux]

Thanks for the tip on the stickers! now I have to buy a sticker machine.

[@AgentOrange96]

Adrian's Digital Basement just did a video about removing polystyrene from cords. I mean it was just alcohol and lots of scrubbing, but still good timing!

[@sparkywilson1405]

I am IMMEDIATELY reminded of the That 70's Show episode where Kelso hardware hacks Red's Pong console so the paddles are smaller.

[@LuucyBa]

3:18 "aaah gameplay spoilers" I had to pause because I couldnt stop laughing why is this so silly klsdakalsajjflkhbhgdsf

[@weebldy7651]

It’s Christmas, the prophet James has brought us two tech nuggies this week

[@googoogaagaayt]

Pepsi for tv game

[@silpheedTandy]

i love the glitchy warble when the game mode is changed. it makes me think that the world that the little paddle dudes live in is warbling and shifting.

[@Frank_Pods]

Ah yes the Magnavox. The only Manga not to blow blue smoke.

[@abunk8691]

I had to double take while reading your comment. It seems like you have mispelled Magna as Manga

[@randomgamingin144p]

magnetbox

[@gustavgnoettgen]

The box is as detailed as the games inside.

[@AstonsVintageTechnologyWorkshp]

Barcodes weren't fully adopted world-wide until the late 70's, and even then only primarily by supermarkets. Low tier manufacturers didn't even bother until the mid 80's, when the cost of equipment became justifiable.

[@Games_for_James]

I didn’t think of that!

[@leweirdplushbros5788]

2:53 it looks like the IBM logo

[@RandomnesssE]

thats what I thought!

[@Likenow1245]

same

[@bargtheguy]

yez

[@nameless5413]

Man i love this stuff, one of many holes in computing i have owing to the fact i was not born till 86. I thought that there was some huge transistor revolution around 70s ,but i am not so sure since vacuum tubes were not used since second gen computers in 50-60s. Point is that there is a ton of exciting stuff to be gleamed from that computing era, i mean just look at those bodge cables! When one dose not do their printed circuitry right they have to bypass using those cables, bodge in XD. Clearly a rush job at very least as i imagine that amount of error on the board would have been fixed if they could (cables are not free and all that). Yeah trying to search for anything yielded just speculation, "International Electronics & Engineering" MIGHT be associated with IEE but most searches go to IEEE for whatever dumb reason *shrug*. Very fascinating era of computing this, thanks James for bringing it to my attention.

[@BigOlSmellyFlashlight]

that packaging had me thinking it was from around 20 or so years ago, i was shocked when i saw that date code

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

The cable did not only melt through the styrofoam but through the case bottom too (watch the streak marks). This happened also with many 1980th Italian music keyboards (Antonelli, Bontempi etc.) because the plasticizer apparently was more acrid and so locally turned polystytol based plastic into tar-like goo. I always wrap these cables in PE plastic bags to avoid further contact with case plastic.

[@reddashgames7550]

Same with a lot of my early 70s systems such as my UK VideoMaster units, kinda funny as a simple food-bag is enough protection from the reaction.

[@cyberyogicowindler2448]

​@@reddashgames7550 Polystyrene dissolves very easily (even gets slightly softened by isopropanol), while PE/PP plastic is almost indestructible by common organic solvents or oils. I guess the plasticizer of old PVC cables was more aggressive (might be toxic "PCB" oil?, or ordinary phthalate?) than in modern cables. These old cables also tend to stay soft like new while many modern cables turn hard or even brittle after decades.

[@kelza0]

James, Despite being new to your channel, I already adore it. I think it is really neat how you fix up random junk like this-you live my dream! ❤

[@Games_for_James]

Awesome, thank you!

[@sidnavalentine1490]

im very glad james made a channel i really love seeing old tech and this guy is just pleasant while subtly funny

[@dieseldragon6756]

I saw something like this in the UK as well; Single game unit (Pong only), generic, unbranded, and scoring was by means of numbered dimples in the top of the console in which a steel ball was placed to keep track of each players score. 🎱 When opened up it seemed to have quite the large array of chips in it (We're talking more than 20, perhaps all generic logic ICs) unfortunately, 8-year-old me didn't think to record the IC numbers or the date of manufacture, and without digital photography back then there wasn't any possibility of taking images of the interior either.

[@MouseCakes4]

I love the research you put into these videos too, comparisons between different consoles of the same type, it's a neat lil nugget of history

[@hexyoutubeaccount]

James i love this channel so much. I've always thought pong consoles were neat but i didn't even realize they were all getting bootlegged from eachother and stolen. IDK something about you explaining all the parts of this board just totally activated my almonds and now i'm super curious. Thank you!

[@RetroArcadeGuy]

"Pepsi for T.V. game!"

[@kingpotatoebroadcastingass8250]

man, those visual glitches are honestly super cool looking. I really want to try and recreate it in an animation or something

[@drrnvevo]

reminds me alot of flcl's ending

[@dcurry7287]

I was thinking the same thing. They're almost reminiscent of a pixel-sorting decay line, I'm going to start my attempt at remaking it with a feedback sampling path.

[@blakksheep736]

​@@dcurry7287 well?

[@blakksheep736]

​@@dcurry7287 any luck?

[@blakksheep736]

​@@dcurry7287👀

[@Whaleswillbewhales]

what a handsome little device imagine the children of yesteryear hitting each other over TV Game hockey

[@user-sn4xo2ex7z]

Im so happy I went to the toilet before finding this channel, binged everything without taking a break.

[@gertchy]

loving the insight into more of the restoration side of old consoles! very cool

[@some-replies]

Looks 30 years old but also brand new. Wild Oh shit 30 years ago was 93... Nevermind

[@Games_for_James]

Yeah I was a bit shocked when I realised this thing is almost half a century old 😂

[@Ricotraficante]

I wish james uploaded more

[@nameless5413]

i do not mind more sporadic uploads as long as its this tier of interesting to be fair. how manny channels pull random 70s console out of nowhere one week, do some arcade cabinet another and than work on garbage garage nuggets in between?

[@ALittleBitOfGay]

Quality > quantity I wouldn't mind more uploads, but I would rather keep the sporadic schedule and the current greatness than get more and worse videos.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Finally. A game for TVs.

[@piuthemagicman]

Groundbreaking, innit

[@Cssquarepants]

thats really cool, even after all these years, old school gaming is the best

[@AdamFedorczuk]

This is very early, the consoles had atleast one bug, I think.

[@killswitch2685]

Love this channel and supporting on patreon ❤ you and dankpods make great stuff

[@Games_for_James]

Thank you so much!

[@AaronSkone]

Your videos give me life James.

[@Croatilillious]

I wish consoles and stuff put fake wood grain on it. I'd pay money to have my PC bedazzled with faux wood

[@bacon.cheesecake]

There are pc cases you can get that use wood, think fractal design makes some.

[@S28426]

That logo is hilarious, it looks like someone took one look at the IBM logo and then had to reproduce it from memory.

[@MegaHunts]

Love watching retro and bootleg console videos but for you to go a few steps further and take a look inside of a console, fixing ones that were busted, is so captivating to watch.

[@GroupNebula563]

Sorry I couldn’t help you find anything on this, but I am thankful you didn’t have to re-film more segments :P

[@The_Boctor]

The Professional/Amateur switch brings back some memories. I think there's a tabletop LED Pac-Man game with that.

[@tarstarkusz]

This thing is absolutely not from 1974. The very first dedicated pong machine was from Atari for Christmas 1975. GI didn't create their pong on a chip until the AY-3-8500 released in 1976.

[@wisteela]

That would go so well with my 1970s Plustron TV17 17 inch black and white portable TV.

[@GigaLem]

Pong was basically par for the course at the time. Admittedly when I heard "TV Game" I was thinking "You found Nintendo's oldest console, the Color TV Game?" but yeah, also there's too much power in letting your paddle move back and fourth or changing the direction with the serve ball button.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Its probably a colour tv game clone 😂

[@GigaLem]

@@haruhisuzumiya6650 Wouldn't surprise me there, there were probably many back then as there are famiclones nowadays

[@Code7Unltd]

@@GigaLem There were quite a bit of Pong systems. Most of them were made for the multiple broadcast systems (B, D, G, K, N), however. As you can guess the core difference between most of the Pong consoles is the modulation, since they had to go into a aerial socket.

[@Games_for_James]

I have a Nintendo Color TV-Game 15, but not the 6, which came out a week earlier

[@BoloH.]

Not movie game, not video game, but TV game. Ooh, how convenient!

[@CSLucasEpic]

I love that wood finish. I wish more stuff would have wood finish today. I wish I had an Xbox in wood finish.

[@rompetiss]

You're getting the edits down pretty well now mate! im keen to see even more

[@hafo821]

We had a very similar "thingy" in Czechoslovakia back in the day

[@Markleford]

It's in my contract that I must always comment: KITTY! 😹 (but no mistake, I also I love the fix-it and history content!)

[@juststuffwithwolfe4482]

I’m so happy when you make video because I do learn a little bit from this channel and I wish you could upload more

[@simon258456]

Slightly disappointed at the lack of PKCells

[@thisisdvd8094]

1:52 I feel you... I have a small audio mixer that came like that, took forever to scrape the crud off the cables.

[@OldVHSTapefrom-wo7qh]

Systems like these is a reason why the Japanese (which were plentiful in Japan back in the day. Even Nintendo's first incursion in video games where making things like these. The Nintendo "Color TV-Game") don't say Video Games. They say TV Games. (No, I'm serious. The Japanese say TV Games when referring to Video Games.)

[@39PSIOnTheDaily]

Just a suggestion: Perhaps IEE (since it is an acronym, as evidenced by the dots in between the letters on the board) stands for “Interactive Electronic Entertainment” or “Interactive Entertainment Electronics”. Dunno if it helps, but hopefully we can track the company down!

[@gembonita404002010]

2:26 leave to James to not only preserve old consoles but also stickers.

[@markoforfun]

fantastic video.thanks for sharing

[@blakksheep736]

1:38 ngl, that's genius for cable management, if you manage to implement it so that pushing the cable in isn't a chore.

[@CreamAle]

That is infact a t.v. game. The console was not lying.

[@NALTOHQ]

I sure do like to Game on my T.V.

[@john_michael97]

The next step is Color TV Game (by Nintendo!)

[@trollozori]

Just like eating a big place of INFORMATIONE, I NEED MORE!

[@LinkiePup]

Clearly the box tells you all you need! It IS a T.V. Game!

[@sw0578]

Those D batteries are probably 2 hours of gameplay

[@gorfelbt]

That "IEE" looks familiar... nah. I'D BE MOST concerned if the company got sued for copyright infringement by a certain computer company that we all know...

[@spaghettinoodlechop3163]

You’re like dankpods very entertaining informative and easy to listen to

[@hi_tech_reptiles]

They could have made thousands, in 1974, made in Singapore? Hand soldered probably up to tens of thousands before they even considered automating board soldering at least for the through hole parts lol. Maybe im off, but ive seen pics of many hand soldering factories from back then and into the 80s that are from surprising levels of products numbers wise. Super cool stuff James!

[@1-eye-willy]

plot twist: james was dankpods all along

[@spartacus778]

Singapore KZbin be like: "You Watch Video"

[@carrioncrow8191]

James I always with the facts and history

[@umbrellacorp.]

Now this is Retro gaming. 😄👍💯

[@EnheTook50Benadryl]

proffesional tv gamer

[@andrewzelitt]

I see notification James released a new video, I click

[@siliconecheese697]

I would totally love to collect these if the issue was that i would get absolutely swamped by the amount of them

[@oscarcacnio8418]

Oh, if only I could reverse engineer that curcuit board to make my own pong console...

[@Ermagerdddrohernnnn]

My dad had this one! I remember putting in the ABSURD amount of chungus batteries. It smelt really bad too.

[@Channel84VarietyShow]

Can’t imagine a time before barcodes. All those retailers having to type in price tags per item.

[@bacon.cheesecake]

Oh my god, the odyssey 100s foosball style manual score counters are so hilariously janky, I love it. These things are really cool, I might have to see if I can get hold of something like this. There are a couple untested units for sale in my country for about a hundred aussie bucks each, one of them has a light gun even, tempting but seems a bit pricey for something not guaranteed to work, I'll keep my eyes peeled though, maybe try to haggle a bit with the guy selling them.

[@ludditzthrell2061]

It's 4 am. I was going to do something several hours ago, but I keep watching. Dammit, James! Why do you have to be so compelling?

[@thelucasaulenbachershow9255]

Finally, avgn can finally know what "Pepsi for TV game!" Means!

[@Gabi_90.]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Khardankov]

I keep thinking of that AVGN episode... "Pepsi for TV Game"

[@aresez64]

The Australian video game nerd