Coleco Telstar Arcade

Coleco Telstar Arcade Specifications

The Coleco Telstar Arcade, commonly abbreviated as Telstar Arcade, is a first-generation home video game console that was released in 1977 in Japan, North America and Europe by Coleco. It is the most advanced video game console in the Coleco Telstar series, based on the MOS Technology MPS-7600-00x chips series. Each chip is a microcontroller capable of storing 512 words of ROM.

The Telstar is a series of video game consoles produced by Coleco from 1976 to 1978. Starting with Telstar Pong clone based on General Instrument's AY-3-8500 chip in 1976, there were 14 consoles released in the Telstar branded series. One million Telstar units were sold.

The large product lineup and the impending fading out of the Pong machines led Coleco to face near-bankruptcy in 1980.

The Coleco Telstar Arcade is formed like a triangle. On every side are other game-specific controls. There is a side with a steering wheel and a lever, a side with a lightgun, and a side with two paddles. Depending on the game played, the player may use another side.

The games came on silver-colored cartridges, each containing a MOS Technology MPS-7600-00X chip. There were a total of 4 cartridges released for the system by Coleco. Every cartridge has a triangular shape which connects on the top of the console.